Capsicum flexuosum - help with germination in the Pacific Wet Coast

My friend, possibly in a moment of weakness as seed catalogues will do that to a human, bought some Capsicum flexuosum seeds at a moderately outrageous price. She tried germinating a few of them last spring, and it was a total bust.

Now it's up to me and the 6 remaining seeds to try to do the impossible!

Questions:
1. Likely temperature minimum for germination:
2. Special soil recommendations:
3. Likely days to germination:

Any information or experiences that you've had, could be helpful for me to know. I've not even tried to grow that many peppers because I've not found them to do that well in my climate most years, although I once had 3 Thai Dragon Peppers go berserk and give me a stash of dried peppers that lasted me 3 years. So much is weather dependent.

Long term, I'm told this plant is deciduous and can live 30 years. Anyone know the minimal temp it can survive in the winter? Notes on the envelope also states that I need 2 of them, so that increases the pressure...   help!!!

Sadly, I'm not here to answer all your questions, but I am excited to see someone else do that. I'm pretty handy at starting peppers, but both tries with a packet of flexuosum have resulted in 0% germination for me -- not sure if that's my fault or the fault of the seed-sellers. Good luck!

I'd never heard of Capiscum flexuosum, but it does sound interesting. small island seeds has quite a bit of information:

Sow the seeds 1/4 inch below the soil surface. Store in a warm area until tiny sprouts emerge from the soil. A heat mat greatly aids in this step, but is not necessary.

So they sound like any other pepper to me, needing a bit of heat. Small Island seeds also suggest to start early (presumably so the plants are big enough to survive the winter) and they make take 4 - 10 weeks to germinate.

image from small island seeds.
They describe the fruit as like a berry - juicy through not hollow -tasting like "juicy candy". The plant is supposed to be pretty cold tolerant surviving down to -12 to -15 degrees C. This seems to be confirmed by Welsh dragon chilli who have it growing in their polytunnel (in Wales) where it keeps most of it's leaves over winter.

Nancy Reading wrote:... they make take 4 - 10 weeks to germinate.

Any mention of whether scarifying might help? I've had it make a huge difference with some uncommon seeds I've tried to start in the past.

I think with some of these sorts of seeds, a visit to a bird's crop is step one, which is Mother Nature's scarifying technique!

No mention of scarifying, although they do say

Some people find it helps to water with a 50% dilution of hydrogen peroxide, as it slightly softens the seeds' hard coating; however, this isn't necessary

If the seed is big enough it probably wouldn't do any harm to nick some of them slightly.
I would be inclined to just sow them in a propagator and see what happens. Freshness of the seed really helps in my experience, so if they didn't germinate last year they may not this year either.
If there are so few seeds, you could try just germinating them on damp cotton wool in a warm place and transfer them to a pot with compost when they start to shoot. I admit to poking in my pots sometimes to see if the seeds are growing, and having them visible means I don't have to and can still keep an eye on them. I found this a good way of starting my old tomato seeds of dubious viability. Just remember to check them often for signs of germination or rot.

Sometimes the best thing is to just take the plunge!

Between the baseboard heater, and a dog heating mat, I've managed to get my germination area up to the 80's F in a few spots.

The seeds seemed dryer and thicker than my usual pepper seeds, so I slid each one down the fine file a single time in hopes of thinning the wall enough to help the seed hydrate.


As much as Nancy's suggestion of germinating them on wool makes, I'm really good at getting busy and not realizing until the risk of damaging it's first root is a bit higher than I want, so I decided to go for my 3" deep paper pots. I have good success with this method not because I think it's the best option, but because of my own nature. I spend the time in the evenings up front getting seeds started, and when transplant time comes, I just have to make a hole and drop the whole pot it. Trying to transplant little roots just never works as well for me. If I was transplanting huge numbers, it would be a problem, but Sunshine is my limiting factor, followed by warmth, so I'm normally not working with large numbers.



So now if everyone reading this would cross their fingers and toes, and think positive growing thoughts this direction, I would greatly appreciate it! And thanks for all your help, Nancy!

Good luck!