In article >,
Sonoran Dude > wrote:

> Omelet wrote:
> > In article >,
> > Sonoran Dude > wrote:
>
>
> > You can see the dead growth in the background. I was afraid to trim it
> > off because with these bushes, sometimes it's hard to tell and new
> > growth will spring out from what looks like dead branches.
> >
> > This bush is several years old now and produces hundreds of fruits per
> > year about the size of my pinky fingernail. :-) The Cocaktoo is the
> > lucky recipient of many of them. Good source of C which birds need.
>
> Nice looking bush... you must be in a cooler climate to have fruit this
> early in the season. The Sonoran monsoon rains are rumbling in the
> distance as I type and we should have showers every night for the next
> few weeks. My bush will transform to twice it's size and blossom around
> September and the small fruit will be ready by Nov-Dec.

Central Texas.

I will wait until they turn red tho'. I generally get ripe fruit late
summer/early fall for about 4 to 6 weeks.

>
> This guy was only about 8 inches tall when I found him. I didn't think
> he made the cross-town trip in the middle of the summer heat 3 years
> ago. It looked like he was totally dead but put him in the same distance
> from a north facing wall where I found him and he was alive and kicking
> in a week. I've never fertilized him other than letting the pack-rats
> nest under him and the occasional dead bird carcass from messy owls and
> hawks. My soil is native desert so he seems to be happy.
>
> I know it's time to pick when I see Red Cardinals hanging out on the
> wall behind the bush. As you can see I don't protect him from freezing,
> don't trim him much unless a dead branch is in the way of my picking and
> don't baby him. The flavor from this fruit is unbelievably delicious
> with a thrilling burn that is nothing like the imported chiltepin from
> Chihuahua. I collect about 1 or 2 oz of chiltepin and they last me most
> of the year. Looking at the size of him now I should double that
> quantity this year. At this time there is not one single blossom even
> beginning to bud.
>
> Here is the link to my ugly bush... It's about 108 degrees in the
> shade... just the way he likes it. I'm not sure what sex he is but his
> name is George.
>
> http://www.desktoptrouble.com/chiltepin.jpg

They are hermaphroditic. :-)
He/she is a very nice plant! Just needs a bit more moisture it seems.

I think mine looks this nice as we've been getting tons of rain, and I
amended the soil around it last year with shovelings from what used to
be an emu pen.

I never neglect my bush.

<eg>
--
Peace, Om

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"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson