Generation M4

Observations

This was the generation which I grew out in 2025. I grew 5 plants indoors, and made various observations about the stability and patterning of the variegation. This generation was the first one to see good variegation hit rate, upwards of 70%.

Apical Dominance Issues

This generation suffered very slightly from apical dominance of non variegated branches. Unfortunately, 4 of the 5 plants sent up completely green branches, although I was vigilant to prune the flowers off so as to not collect seeds from non variegated branches.

Selection

I selected seeds from the one plant which did not produce any green branches, only variegated ones. I grew this plant out in an Autopot system in order to keep it producing for longer than the others in solo cups.

M5 and Beyond

Plans for M5

M5 seeds have been started as of 05/11/25. I want to get an early start for M5 as opposed to waiting for next year, as this generation could potentially be huge for the future of this cross.

I am going to grow 10 VSRPS plants across my outdoor growing spaces next year. The idea is to put this cultivar through a rigorous outdoor trial, so that the strongest survive to produce seeds. I will explain my reasoning for this below.

When will VSRPS Seeds be Released?

Over time, my ethos regarding crosses has shifted from "fun community experimentation" to become much more robust. I want everyone who grows this amazing cultivar to have the same experience, regardless of how they decide to grow it.

That means that I need to make sure that generations of growing this variety exclusively indoors hasn't taken its toll on its genome. It needs to be equipped for the less than ideal conditions thrust upon it by British weather.

Chris Fowler did a lot of the hard work acclimating this variety for British weather, but his Welsh polytunnel conditions may be a step above naked, unprotected English summer.

I've proven that this variety can be comfortably grown indoors in hydroponics, solo cups, and soil based containers under artificial lighting and strictly controlled moisture levels. Now it's time for these plants to face the real world. I'm not expecting it to be pretty, I'm expecting a bloodbath. Hence why I'm growing 10 of them, and in different locations. I have garden areas completely exposed to wind, in full shade, in full sun, and damper corners.

The results of this trial is going to shape the future of this cross. If this experiment goes very well, seeds will be on sale from November 2026. If not, we may well have to wait another year. Concerningly, it could end with the loss of 2026's crop entirely, which would set me back a further year.

When it comes to decision time, I'll consider all options. It may be that the VSRPS has to be crossed with something a bit more robust to ensure its survival outdoors.

Closing Notes

Finally, I thank you all for your continued patience. I know that a lot of you have been waiting a long time for seeds, but I'm sure you will understand that I do not want to rush this process. It would be very easy for me to put these seeds on sale tomorrow and cash out on this project.

But that wouldn't be fair to you all. I've seen time and time again that this cultivar continues to throw curveballs. It has fundamental genetic issues baked in still - and I haven't even touched on the stripes yet.

I'm not striving for perfection, but I'd like to do a hell of a lot better than other hybridisers that release unstable peppers which become vulnerable to renames, genetic issues, and overall end up confusing growers. The most egregious examples simply refuse to germinate, have laughably poor growth, and fail to produce peppers. This issue deeply permeates our community, with off pheno examples being an extremely common occurrence. I want to change this. I want to do better.

So with that in mind, I hope you'll continue to follow along with my journey, and that you will be happy with the end result.