It's a lot of fun to play with pepper breeding unless you want to do something radical with your genetic mix (like mixing a hot with a sweet and expecting the sweet to be the heavy element...or mixing 2 genetically difficult pepper species). It can take many grow-outs to stabilize your hybrid once you find one you like. It's disappointing to see a selection regress away from desired traits, but it's a lot easier to play with hybridizing peppers than it is for many other crops. You can easily get 2 generations of plants a year in Z9 without much hassle. I've "finished" a prolific sweet pepper in the past and I'm currently working on a blocky Cubanelle x Anaheim cross. I've actually done more than this, but for one reason or another they've failed and never made it past F2-F4. The reason I say "finished" for the sweet pepper is that I didn't grow out the line long enough to stabilize the pod types. The plant produces a wide variety of 2 and 3 walled pods...and an occasional 4 walled variety. Ideally, I would want it to be mostly 2 or 3. I decided this was a minor detail since everything else I was looking for was showing up. I could have put more work into it, but I chose to move on to something else. I have limited garden space between my own garden and stuff that I have friends grow and select for me.

I originally thought about stuffers too archerb. However after looking at the picture on Fried's website I ruled this out. I based this upon the lack of gel surrounding the seeds. Stuffer tomatoes have a gel surrounding the seeds (though occassionally due to some enviornmental issue parts can be dry - seeds are usually discolored dark when I have noted this in the past). Pepper fruits' seeds are "dry" having no noticable gel around the seeds. The seeds in the Frieda picture also appear to be more pepper like in color and shape than tomato. I have wondered how many people are interested in stuffer tomatoes. One there own, I find them dry and taste-wise unappealing. However I do think that with the right chef/application smaller ones could/should be developed for the use of hors'deovuers (sp). I think this would be an excellent and appealing use for chefs looking for something different. The challenge is getting something small but hollow enough AND somewhat firm to be able to hold whatever contents added (especially if heated). What I have attempted with stuffing tomatoes is limited on the cooking time before the sides collapse and then just turn to mush. I found a heating the stuffing and then a quick run under a broiler/toaster oven to brown the top and warm makes for an acceptible presentation.

"I asked the dealer for the COP but he said they don't use it any more..they now use SEER. Even Carrier support did not have this number" C.O.P. = Coefficient of Performance = btu's produced / electrical btu's in. This number varies with outdoor temperatures. It is not a single number like SEER. You need the Operating Technical Data for the heat pump to check COP as well as other info. COP determines operating cost of the heat pump in heating mode. "I am in Northern Virginia (24 miles from DC). My bills last year for gas was $926 (.099/kwh) and electric was $1,214 ($1.61/ccf)." Lok at the cost of one milion btus of heat for both fuels based on your utility rates: Heat pump w/electricity at 10 cents per kw-hr delivered price, COP = 3.25 at 35F ambient (1,000,000 / 3413 btu per kw-hr) x .10 / 3.25 = $9.77 Natural gas at $1.61 per therm, 80% efficient furnace (1,000,000 / 103,000 btu per therm) x 1.61 / .8 = $19.53 The heat pump costs 200% less to run than the 80% gas furnace (19.53 / 9.77). As ambient temps increase from the 35F example above, COP increases and the heat pump is even cheaper to run. Here are the COP numbers for my 3-ton 14 SEER Goodman heat pump based on ambient temps: Ambient temp----COP 65F-------------4.37 55F-------------4.04 45F-------------3.64 35F-------------3.25 25F-------------2.82 15F-------------2.46 5F--------------2.06 Below the balance point of the home (around 32F or so), the heat pump cannot keep up with the heat loss of the house because the btu output of the heat pump drops with temperature. Supplimentary heat is required below the balance point. My balance point is mid/upper 20's. Your climate is perfect for a heat pump. I'm in Baltimore - same climate. If you go dual fuel (heat pump plus gas furnace back-up), you have a choice if the price of one fuel drastically changes in the future. Choices are a good thing. A few notes about a heat pump (just so you know): - Heat pumps do not produce the hot 120F air temp of a furnace. They produce heat in the mid to upper 90's. - Heat pumps have a shorter operating life than straight a/c because they run in all 4 seasons. Best to you.

It all depends. But the first pod is usually a runty mutant that has poor flavor. They tend to grow from the first fork, i usually snip those off. Personally i think this is what you are dealing with. But, the original plants could have been an F1 commercial breed labeled as "Hungarian Hot Wax". That would mean you have an F2 generation on your hands. If so, then if you had planted 10 of them, all 10 could have come out looking different. F2 is where crosses begin to change, sometimes revealing their parentage. The F3 generation will keep showing variance, by about F5 is when things begin to stabilize. The changes end around F8 or so. But, if the greenhouse starts were accidentally crossed in your backyard last year, then you would have an F1 cross on your hands. F1 plants almost always turn out looking the same as one another. Steve.