What I mean by that is how do you make a whole new variety? That's pretty much all I want to know. If you got some info please share with a noob like me! Thanks.
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breeding How do people cross peppers?
- Thread starter backyardpepper
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It depends on the pepper. Insulting their mother seems to work very well.
This link is much more useful than my sense of humor: http://www.fatalii.net/Growing_chile_peppers/Breeding
This link is much more useful than my sense of humor: http://www.fatalii.net/Growing_chile_peppers/Breeding
ajdrew said:
Woah that looks pretty easy to do, I thought there would be more. Thanks man! I'll try it next year.
EDIT: If I wanted a true cross would I need to pick the pod, plant the seeds, and cross it again? Could I pick the pod, plant the seeds, then cross with another plant?
I am sorry, I do not understand the question. You could buy seeds from anywhere and cross pollinate. Maybe you are thinking about growing them out. The seeds produced by a cross generally have a wide range of dna that needs to be narrowed if you want a plant that will produce seed that look like the mama. So you cross and get seeds with wide dna. You grow them and then pick seeds from the plant that demonstrates the desired attributes. Do that over and over, season after season, until your seeds are all growing in to plants that look alike and that produce pods that look alike.
I am no there yet with anything I have been goofing with. I understand it takes eight generations.
I am no there yet with anything I have been goofing with. I understand it takes eight generations.
backyardpepper said:
There is. Putting pollen from one pepper on the flower of another pepper is all it takes to create a new hybrid, yes. The seeds from that cross will give you a new, unstable F1 hybrid. To make "a whole new variety" that F1 hybrid must be stabilized (meaning the offspring grow true to the parent) over subsequent generations. I'm no expert, but conventional wisdom seems to be about 8 generations are needed to get something really stable, i.e "a new variety".
backyardpepper said:
Yes, you could. But the seeds from that cross would then be a new, unstable, F1 3-way cross, and you would begin the process of stabilizing it all over again. But such 3-way crosses can be done of course. I believe the Chocolate Bhutlah is a 3 way cross.
EDIT: I typed too slow. I see ajdrew already covered pretty much the same ground...
ajdrew said:
8 Generations? Well that just about killed it for me. Seems interesting. Maybe I'll try it one day but most likely not. Thanks for the info!BlackFatalii said:
Zenemij said:
No. The only way to cross them is for the pollen from one pepper to pollinate the flower of another pepper. A human can do it, or the pollen can be brought in by bees or other insects. But planting different seeds together will not do it. Unless you mean that growing different peppers close to each other increases the chance of natural cross pollination. That is true. It happens by bees going from flower to flower, and cross pollinating the different varieties that were growing close to each other. But simply sticking different seeds in the same hole will only give you different pepper plants growing right on top of each other.
backyardpepper said:
Sorry to hear that. I wasn't trying to discourage you from trying out different crossing ideas. I was just trying to explain that there is a big difference between creating a new, unstable F1 hybrid pepper vs. creating a new, stable variety of pepper. This doesn't mean that you can't make an interesting and unique new F1 hybrid; it just means that it won't be considered a "new variety" until it is stable. I have a few ideas for crosses myself, that I will likely try and see what happens. I don't know that I will be growing any of them out for 8 generations; I just plan to have fun with it and hope that I get something interesting in the process.
So don't be discouraged from trying out your ideas. You just might get something interesting like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_-cohTTxnw
rying it. I read up a little more on other forums about it and I actually kind of want to do it. Too bad I have to wait until my seedlings grow. If I do cross some peppers and then plant the seeds will all the peppers look the same or will the peppers all look different? It would be neat to grow a plant that grows 2 different types of peppers, but that's probably stupid to even think haha.BlackFatalii said:
Sorry to hear that. I wasn't trying to discourage you from trying out different crossing ideas. I was just trying to explain that there is a big difference between creating a new, unstable F1 hybrid pepper vs. creating a new, stable variety of pepper. This doesn't mean that you can't make an interesting and unique new F1 hybrid; it just means that it won't be considered a "new variety" until it is stable. I have a few ideas for crosses myself, that I will likely try and see what happens. I don't know that I will be growing any of them out for 8 generations; I just plan to have fun with it and hope that I get something interesting in the process.
backyardpepper said:
No, you are not going to get 2 entirely different peppers on the same plant. So if you cross a Reaper and a Scotch Bonnet, you will not get a plant that puts out some Reapers and some Scotch Bonnets. But if you have 10 hybrid plants, you might get some plants that look like Bonnets and others that throw more Reaper-like pods. You might get something that looks like a Reaper and tastes like a Bonnet, or looks like a Bonnet and tastes like a Reaper. Or you may get something entirely unique. You are spinning the genetic roulette wheel when you cross them, especially with that first F1 generation. But that is part of what makes crossing projects interesting, at least to me. You take an idea and run with it, and then see what happens.
Yeah that makes more sense. So if I want a pepper that tastes like a scotch bonnet but looks like a reaper I would have to pull the one that looks like a reaper off the plant and plant the seeds? Will the next plant in the line give peppers that look like both a reaper and a scotch bonnet or only ones that look like reapers and taste like scotch bonnet?BlackFatalii said:
Oh and when is the plant considered F1? When you just cross the peppers and plant the seeds from the pepper you get or when you take seeds from a previously crossed plant and plant them?
Is it possible to have more than 3 crossed?
EDIT: I just re-read your post. So some plants will have peppers that look like reapers and taste like scotch bonnets and others will have peppers that look like scotch bonnets and taste like reapers. Is it possible for one plant to have peppers that look like a reaper and another that looks like a scotch bonnet? Can future generations randomly start growing scotch bonnet looking peppers instead of reaper looking ones?
OK, so I am not an expert in crossing peppers, but I will do my best to answer. 
If you cross a reaper and a bonnet then plant the seeds from the resulting pods, the hybrids that sprout from those seeds are your F1 Reaper x Bonnets (or Bonnets x Reapers, depending on which one was the "mother" and which was the "father" i.e. pollen donor) Second generation will be F2, etc.
I don't imagine that there is a limit to how many times you can cross a pepper; just remember that every time you introduce another variety into the mix you are going back to F1.
Not that they "will have". I was just speculating what might happen, in order to give an illustrative example.
I would think the answer to both questions would be yes, at least until the new hybrid is mostly stable. Once it is stable, the offspring will consistently be like the parent plant, and you will have your new variety that you crossed and then selected for over subsequent generations. But again, I am no expert on this subject.
If you cross a reaper and a bonnet then plant the seeds from the resulting pods, the hybrids that sprout from those seeds are your F1 Reaper x Bonnets (or Bonnets x Reapers, depending on which one was the "mother" and which was the "father" i.e. pollen donor) Second generation will be F2, etc.
I don't imagine that there is a limit to how many times you can cross a pepper; just remember that every time you introduce another variety into the mix you are going back to F1.
backyardpepper said:
Not that they "will have". I was just speculating what might happen, in order to give an illustrative example.
backyardpepper said:
I would think the answer to both questions would be yes, at least until the new hybrid is mostly stable. Once it is stable, the offspring will consistently be like the parent plant, and you will have your new variety that you crossed and then selected for over subsequent generations. But again, I am no expert on this subject.
Thanks for all the info. I'll go and read more on this. I'm actually more interested in this. It would be great to breed the worlds hottest pepper and get into the Guinness World Records, which will never happen to me, but I gotta try! Haha.BlackFatalii said:OK, so I am not an expert in crossing peppers, but I will do my best to answer.
If you cross a reaper and a bonnet then plant the seeds from the resulting pods, the hybrids that sprout from those seeds are your F1 Reaper x Bonnets (or Bonnets x Reapers, depending on which one was the "mother" and which was the "father" i.e. pollen donor) Second generation will be F2, etc.
I don't imagine that there is a limit to how many times you can cross a pepper; just remember that every time you introduce another variety into the mix you are going back to F1.
Not that they "will have". I was just speculating what might happen, in order to give an illustrative example.
I would think the answer to both questions would be yes, at least until the new hybrid is mostly stable. Once it is stable, the offspring will consistently be like the parent plant, and you will have your new variety that you crossed and then selected for over subsequent generations. But again, I am no expert on this subject.
backyardpepper said:
Good luck! And hopefully you will occasionally post your progress on THP. I for one would be interested to see what kinds of "Backyardpepper F1" you come up with!
BlackFatalii said:
Good luck! And hopefully you will occasionally post your progress on THP. I for one would be interested to see what kinds of "Backyardpepper F1" you come up with!
Will do, but that will probably be next year. I only have one Jalapeno plant in my garden, nothing else. I haven't really been into growing peppers... That was until my Jalapeno's grew and I wanted more heat in my kitchen. I'm currently germinating some peppers, I'll have a bunch of plants next year.
If you ever cross peppers you should post some of them on here too!
randyp said:I like to dance naked around the plants during a full moon while shooting off fireworks.They seem to get in the mood to mix it up a bit.I dont run inside until I see Red flashing lights heading down my block.
If you want a plant that grows multiple types of peppers, you should look into grafting. You can make a pepper that grows all the varieties you want. It wont be a true plant, seeds wont regrow the plant, but it can be fun to play with anywaybackyardpepper said:
From my reading up on crossing peppers, I figure it goes like this..
F1- hybrid
F2- 1 out of 12 plants will remain the hybrid, the rest revert to the parents
F3- 1 out of 6 plants will remain the hybrid, the rest revert to the parents
F4- 1 out of 3 plants will remain hybrid, the rest will revert to the parents
And down the line to F8 which by my understanding at that point will be rougly 98% of the plants will remain the hybrid. Which is why 8th gen is considered stable.
I am no expert, this is just what I have gathered from various readings. The F1 is consistant, but to have good odds of getting an actual F2 you have to grow at least a dozen plants, and that is no guarantee. Each generation after that it is another generation stable thus easier to grow the hybrid, but it takes 8 grows to "guarantee"