Tangerine Dream Pepper, Hybrid or OP?

[GoDawgs]

I've got a Tangerine Dream pepper going, grown from Burpee seed given to me. The packet information is not available and Burpee's website does not say if it's hybrid or OP. Not much info about this online but I did find a USDA website about this pepper with the following information:

"'Tangerine Dream' was derived from an initial cross between the sweet hybrid bell pepper cultivar 'Cadice' and the open pollinated sweet squash type pepper cultivar 'Tennessee Cheese'. The 'Tangerine Dream' ideotype was identified in the fifth generation of a population of segregating open pollinated field selections, subsequently selected for horticultural quality and stabilized under controlled pollination conditions prior to release at the twelfth generation."

Sooooo, can someone please translate this for me? OP or hybrid? If it's OP I'd like to save some seed. If it's not, I just might save some anyway just to see what happens.

[Danny]

Not sure, but the wording seems to say it would be an OP. Stabilized and then continued to be grown out seems it may mean OP, though I could be wrong. I would save seed and try it myself if it were me.

[Whwoz]

I would say OP if released at the 12th generation.. sounds interesting

[Gthegardener]

I am growing tangerine dream this year and am under the impression it is OP

[rossomendblot]

OP as far as I am aware. There is also a yellow version called Lemon Dream. I am growing both this year.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@GoDawgs Tangerine (with a splash of hot pink) is one of my favorite colors; any images of them there Peppers to share?

We raised some Orangesicle Hybrid Peppers (https://parkseed.com/parks-orangesicle- ... 736-PK-P1/) a few seasons back, with above average results, despite my foolishly crowding the $#!t out of 'em; sold out the last two (2) seasons before I could secure 'em.

The Gotch

[WoodSprite]

Tangerine Dream is on my wish list to grow some day when I have room for it in my garden. I believe only Burpee sells it. Burpee tends to list "hybrid" in the name on their website when it's hybrid. I just checked their website and it does not call Tangerine Dream "hybrid." Based on that and the description that you quoted, I'd say it started as a hybrid but has been selected and stabilized as open-pollinated now.

Do let us know what you think of it one you harvest some. Ditto to @Gthegardener and @rossomendblot.

[GoDawgs]

Thanks for the input, folks. I'm going to save the seed as the plant is in a pot up at the house away from the peppers in the garden.

@Cornelius_Gotchberg, here's the Burpee link with photo:

https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/peppe ... 00838.html

[rossomendblot]

@WoodSprite I first grew Tangerine Dream a few years ago. It was in a small container and not in the best location, but it still produced a lot of fruit. The peppers were sweet, crunchy, almost citrussy, and I am looking forward to growing it again.

[pepperhead212]

I'm going to have to try that! That description of the flavor makes me wonder if it is the same thing (just different name) as a favorite of mine - Hanoi Market. However, this one is hot - about 30k - so them saying it's not hot, makes me skeptical. Something I found many years ago (back in the 90s) on Reimer seeds, then they stopped carrying it, and I finally found it at some Australian website! Since then, I've saved seeds for it, to make sure I wouldn't lose it!

The only other orange pepper that tasted like it (and I was trying every orange variety that would appear every year!) was Bulgarian Carrot, though that was definitely hotter (about 60k). I use it all the time in Thai and Vietnamese recipes, and it is delicious in guacamole, as well. Here are some photos:
Hanoi Market, 8-4, starting to ripen by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Hanoi Market harvest 8-16-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[rossomendblot]

@pepperhead212 Tangerine Dream has a very compact, bushy habit and virtually no heat so probably not the same.

[pepperhead212]

Thanks @rossomendblot. I might still try it, to see if that flavor is similar. If it is, I could use it for friends that can't take the heat, so they could experience that flavor, like with Aji Dulce and the habanero flavor.

[WoodSprite]

Thanks, @rossomendblot. It sounds great. I've read in descriptions and reviews that the low amount of heat tends to be at one end (blossom end?) of the pepper but not the other end. I can't handle high heat so thought that was pretty cool.

[Shule]

I've got a Tangerine Dream pepper going, grown from Burpee seed given to me. The packet information is not available and Burpee's website does not say if it's hybrid or OP. Not much info about this online but I did find a USDA website about this pepper with the following information:

"'Tangerine Dream' was derived from an initial cross between the sweet hybrid bell pepper cultivar 'Cadice' and the open pollinated sweet squash type pepper cultivar 'Tennessee Cheese'. The 'Tangerine Dream' ideotype was identified in the fifth generation of a population of segregating open pollinated field selections, subsequently selected for horticultural quality and stabilized under controlled pollination conditions prior to release at the twelfth generation."

Sooooo, can someone please translate this for me? OP or hybrid? If it's OP I'd like to save some seed. If it's not, I just might save some anyway just to see what happens.

Assuming by open-pollinated you mean stable (but not necessarily an heirloom), and by hybrid you mean F1 hybrid:

The wording indicates that it's open-pollinated (they selected for traits and stabilized the pepper; you don't do that with F1 hybrids if they are to still be F1 hybrids afterward). When vendors say hybrid, they usually mean F1 hybrids.

Assuming you meant something else:
They had controlled pollination conditions; so, if we want to be impractically technical, it wasn't OP at the F12, but your saved seeds will probably be OP, unless you bag blossoms or manually cross-pollinate flowers.

Technically, it was an F12 hybrid at release, but pactically speaking you probably shouldn't keep calling it a hybrid unless you clarify what you mean.

[GoDawgs]

@Shule, thanks for the detailed explanation. BTW, I haven't kept calling it a hybrid or meaning anything, just trying to find out TD's status.

[Shule]

@Shule, thanks for the detailed explanation. BTW, I haven't kept calling it a hybrid or meaning anything, just trying to find out TD's status.

You're welcome. No worries. I didn't mean it personally as if you had already done it, or already planned to do it. It's general advice intended for everyone.

[Pippin]

I tested both the Tangerine and Lemon Dream some years back, and am actually growing the LD again this year to maintain the seed. Agree with everyone that they should be OPs, not hybrids. My 30 LD plants (from the saved seeds) look very uniform, no signs of segregation.

Dreams are nice lunchbox type peppers on very compact plants. I usually grow Orange Lunchbox only because it is sweeter and has more sofisticated flavor than the Dreams. The growth habit of OL is erect and upwards, still very small plant but these Dream peppers are shorter and more compact. Very good peppers for containers.

If I remember correctly, there was some random mild heat in the Dreams, similar way than Padrons or Shishitos, like every 10th or so had very mild heat.

[GoDawgs]

If I remember correctly, there was some random mild heat in the Dreams, similar way than Padrons or Shishitos, like every 10th or so had very mild heat.

Burpee does describe it as "...very tasty too, with a hint of heat." Other online descriptions mention that too.

Pepperscale.com says : "The default for Tangerine Dream peppers is zero heat, though some report a slight simmer to the sweet pepper. Regardless – it’s more bell pepper than jalapeño – falling at least 250 times milder than our jalapeño reference point.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

OT, but if anyone seeks a low/lower heat, productive Pepper, try the Roulette Hybrid, AKA The Heatless Habanero.
https://www.totallytomato.com/product/T03220/64

The Gotch

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

After reading this subject heading, anyone else start humming/earworming Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds...?
https://genius.com/The-beatles-lucy-in- ... nds-lyrics

The Gotch