• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

harvesting Harvesting Peppers for Seed

S

spujr

Hi,

I have a ton of peppers to harvest and extract seed from. I generally find it easier to extract seed from the peppers after I lay them out in the sun to dry. However, does anyone think this might cause germination issues? Is it better to extract the seed from the fruit immediately and then let the seed dry out? The air here is quite dry and by laying out the peppers I can avoid fungal/rot issues which would be one obvious concern.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Zeb
 
i dont think there would be any germination issues since that is what happens in nature anyways. I dont dry peppers so i take the seeds out when its fresh and let it dry on a paper plate in my house
 
No harm no foul. Dry the seeds in the pods whole on the thin pods or take the seeds out and dry them that way. I've done it both way with the same results :)
 
no harm as long as they dont get too hot as to cook the seeds like what happens in a dehydrator

sun drying is just fine :dance:

thanks your friend Joe
 
Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I was actually going to do a follow-up question about the temperature.

When I worked with corn we would dry the ears at 95F for 3 days prior to shelling. Do you think this can work for peppers too or will it cook the seeds? In nature it gets up to 120F during the summer, so I wouldn't imagine 95F would be detrimental.

Zeb
 
I was going to ask this question as well. Remove the seeds from the inner membrane immediately or allow them to dry attached to the inside flesh?
 
Dot Com said:
I was going to ask this question as well. Remove the seeds from the inner membrane immediately or allow them to dry attached to the inside flesh?
Click to expand...
i would tend to agree with dot com this way you know for sure your not heating the seeds in any way

i do this same thing i cut them out and dry them on paper plates it works great and as most will tell you on here that have gotten seeds from me germination was excellent
because seeds where allowed to air dry at room temperature, i would try this if i where you

thanks your friend joe
 
One thing I have noticed is the care of the pod prior to picking. Watered well: once the seeds are removed and dried they tend to have better germination. Stressed by drought: once the seeds are removed and dried I have experienced lower germination rates. Just my experience and opinions. The sweet peppers and such, which are where most of my experience comes from, get a good soaking for the 2 or 3 days before pod harvest. IMO drought stress pulls not only water but also needed nuits and such from the pod and seeds to help the plant survive. After all the plants goal is to survive first and reproduce/fruit if possible.
 
So it doesn't hurt to remove the seeds from the inner-flesh (forget what that's called) immediately? IOW- you're not supposed to leave them attached to that for a while?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top