I was astonished to see, after a half day of sunshine on Saturday, that
about half of the skin of some of the round fruits was a brilliant,
beautiful, cherry red - not orangey. The long thinner ones are going from
green to yellow.

I'd expected, if any ripened at all, them to turn orange before going red.

AND I have one tiny mauve and white striped aubergine!

pride

On that sunny day I talked to a nurseryman who was selling capsicum plants
which were about 15" high, with fruits like mine, in 4" pots. I find it hard
to believe that they'd have grown so lush in such a small amount of compost.
Perhaps he 'helped' them ... he certainly kept the height down by cutting
them.

Mary

In article , "Mary Fisher" writes:
| I was astonished to see, after a half day of sunshine on Saturday, that
| about half of the skin of some of the round fruits was a brilliant,
| beautiful, cherry red - not orangey. The long thinner ones are going from
| green to yellow.
|
| I'd expected, if any ripened at all, them to turn orange before going red.

No, they don't, for some reason - perhaps the red and yellow are two
forms of one pigment, controlled in a simple Mendelian fashion. I was
taken aback when one of my Lemon Drop turned red. Some have all
colours of fruit, but there isn't the progression that some fruits
have.

| AND I have one tiny mauve and white striped aubergine!
|
| pride

Well done!

| On that sunny day I talked to a nurseryman who was selling capsicum plants
| which were about 15" high, with fruits like mine, in 4" pots. I find it hard
| to believe that they'd have grown so lush in such a small amount of compost.
| Perhaps he 'helped' them ... he certainly kept the height down by cutting
| them.

Daily or twice-daily watering, often with liquid fertiliser.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article , "Mary Fisher"
writes:
| I was astonished to see, after a half day of sunshine on Saturday, that
| about half of the skin of some of the round fruits was a brilliant,
| beautiful, cherry red - not orangey. The long thinner ones are going
from
| green to yellow.
|
| I'd expected, if any ripened at all, them to turn orange before going
red.

No, they don't, for some reason - perhaps the red and yellow are two
forms of one pigment, controlled in a simple Mendelian fashion. I was
taken aback when one of my Lemon Drop turned red. Some have all
colours of fruit, but there isn't the progression that some fruits
have.

It adds to the excitement though.,

| AND I have one tiny mauve and white striped aubergine!
|
| pride

Well done!

| On that sunny day I talked to a nurseryman who was selling capsicum
plants
| which were about 15" high, with fruits like mine, in 4" pots. I find it
hard
| to believe that they'd have grown so lush in such a small amount of
compost.
| Perhaps he 'helped' them ... he certainly kept the height down by
cutting
| them.

Daily or twice-daily watering, often with liquid fertiliser.

I'm pleased that I took the advice given here, to graduate to 8" pots. it's
much more attuned to my lifestyle! More or less daily watering but no
feeding.

I'll try again next year, with the benefit of hindsight. In the meantime I'm
grateful for the advice I'd had here.

Mary