seeds saving pepper seeds

lgreen said:
Thank you, that has been very helpful. Now I have a starting point. When I learn what a pod is I'll be 1/2 way there.
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A pepper pod, the fruit of the pepper plant, the bit that you eat.
 
Pam said:
I make sure mine are good and dry, then put them in a small paper envelope, carefully label it, then put it in a larger zip lock bag. The bag goes in a plastic container with my other seeds, and into the 'fridge until I'm ready to plant.

I don't soak seeds unless I expect poor germination, but lots of other people do soak them.

You can start them any time you want, I do mine in the spring because I don't have the space to over-winter but a couple of plants, and we do have a bit of winter here. It's the kind of winter that makes people up north sneer and even laugh uproariously when I mention it, but things freeze and plants die, so it counts as winter.
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You have to put them in the fridge pam?

So basically its

after they dry in small envelopes then into a ziplock and then put them in a tupperware and in the fridge?? correct me if wrong..
 
never refigerated or frozen but i hear they will last longer if done correctly. i think stored correctly, like Potawie and myself they will be fine for 5+ years.
 
i got great germination from seeds that were stored in a manila envelope and others just stored in a clear plastic tub. 5 years old and then some on a few of them. just stuffed them into the book case so i don't lose them. most of the ones i dried i just dropped the whole paper towel and seeds into a zip lock bag then threw them into the envelope. this year i grew out my left overs and had great luck.
nick
 
I've certainly saved seed without putting it in the refrigerator, and it will germinate just fine...most of the time. Sometimes there are problems, though, and chilling is a simple bit of insurance for rare or valuable seed, and so I just go ahead and put all of them together, rare or not. Plus, none of you live in the Great Mildew State. Keeping mine in a nice plastic container in the 'fridge makes sure they don't mold if we have a damp fall.
 
I actually had higher germination rates this year with the seed from the fridge, than the seed I kept in the cupboard. The only reason I can think is that the cool temp of a fridge simulates the "winter" or cool season then when the seed warms up in the soil it knows its time to get movin. Could be complete malarky, but it makes sense in my mind and thats all that matters to me.
 
We have run seed swaps for years All our seeds are open pollinated from our own source. We also receive seed from over at the Hillsbourgh County Jail which are all open pollinated and have only had a couple shown signs off any cross I unserstand it does happen all I'm saying is on most varieties it don't really seem to matter. It seems every year we produce pods that look and act like the pictures & descriptions of the chile
Would like to hear most anyones opinion.

Mick
Kato's
 
I've haven't yet had an obvious cross with open pollinated peppers, but I've only saved seeds for a few years now. I still like to isolate certain rare plants for truer seeds but only by distance, no tulle etc. Early pods seem best for seed saving, at least for me there is no bees or major insects around early.
 
kato said:
We have run seed swaps for years All our seeds are open pollinated from our own source. We also receive seed from over at the Hillsbourgh County Jail which are all open pollinated and have only had a couple shown signs off any cross I unserstand it does happen all I'm saying is on most varieties it don't really seem to matter. It seems every year we produce pods that look and act like the pictures & descriptions of the chile
Would like to hear most anyones opinion.
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Ok, so, you're saying you don't take any precautions against cross-pollination? And these are the seeds you offer for trade?

If it works for you, that's great; but I would be annoyed to be told after I made a trade that there was a pretty good chance I was getting seed that wasn't pure. I'm pretty anal about getting pure seed. I usually prefer to get my seed from commercial sources unless I know the person I'm trading with is as careful as I am about saving seed.
 
I agree Pam. You can't beat high quality, fresh seed dependability. Cheap seed is neither dependable nor is it inexpensive. I reckon in most cases you are better off buying seed from reliable sources rather than stocking up on free/swapped seed unless you have absolute faith in its origins.
 
That is exactly what I am saying> We've done this for a good number of years. The same insect that pollinates our habanero's is the sameone that can pollinate our jalapeno's we've never had a problem.

I don't understand why the hang up on pure seed. We have only had less then 5 varities show any signs of a cross. Out of 100's of varieties. This has worked for a good number of years.

Mick
Kato's
 
kato said:
That is exactly what I am saying> We've done this for a good number of years. The same insect that pollinates our habanero's is the sameone that can pollinate our jalapeno's we've never had a problem.
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How would you define "problem" in this context? I ask because what I consider to be a problem might be something you'd brush off as overly persnickety or not important.

I don't understand why the hang up on pure seed. We have only had less then 5 varities show any signs of a cross. Out of 100's of varieties. This has worked for a good number of years.
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ObWarning: I am Loquacious of Borg. You will be assailed. Resistance is futile.


Web_Of_Hair's Jalabanero looks like a jalapeño, but it's hotter. If he had given seeds of it to someone as a jalapeño, and they expected a pepper of that heat, it might ruin the summer if they found the one or two plants they had room for produced a pepper that was too hot for them to enjoy eating.

When I give away peppers or share dishes made from my peppers, I take great pride in matching the heat of the pepper or dish to the comfort level of the recipient. If my Lemon Drops were suddenly three times as hot, and I turned someone off peppers because I nuked 'em rather then provide a pleasant dining experience, I'd be upset.

If I planted some Almapaprika seeds thinking I was going to get the sweet hot, thick-fleshed, juicy red fruits I love, but it had been accidentally crossed with a tart, firmer, and thinner fleshed Lemon Drop, I'd be pissed. When I plant an Almapaprika, I want an Almapaprika, not a sorta kinds mostly Almapaprika.


Also, what if the seeds you sent me were some of the few that have what you consider to be problems? What if I'd invested a chunk of my gardening time and resources into growing them at the expense of growing my Almapaprikas or Lemon Drops? By the time I found out they weren't what they were supposed to be, it would be too late for me to start a pepper that I really wanted. A chunk of my growing space and season would have been wasted.

And, finally, if you're doing this generation after generation, you don't really know how much genetic impurity has accumulated and at what point people using your seed will start getting strange results. Look at all the people who've posted in the last few months about how disappointed they are to have gotten odd peppers from what turned out to be unpure seed.

Florida has a long and glorious growing season that makes it reasonably easy to replant if you're not getting what you wanted. My growing season is longer than most, but it's not as long as yours. Try and imagine how you'd feel if you only had 4 or 5 months for a season, and of the ten Nagas you'd planted to make sauces and powders and the like to get you through the winter, only 2 produced Naga pods, the rest were a mix of pods that looked entirely different and didn't have nearly the heat or the taste of a Naga.
 
I do understand your concerns but as always when we post our list of seeds we tell everyone they are open pollinated.

As for doing the same seeds for generations. What usually happens is we've moved on to other seeds.

What we consider a problem is the pods stray from their picture and description listed at such reputable dealers like Cross Country.

Like I had mentioned before we've been doing this seed swap since 2000( growing peppers since the 80's) and have had less then 5 varieties do a cross. Do some varieties gain a bit of heat. Sure but most stay very true as a habanero do not take on the character of a jalapeno or vice versa.
Just nothing I've seen before.

Not to say I'm an expert or anything but do have a little knowledge.

I like arguing with you but I don't see where we are that different.

So all I say is you won't change my thoughts and I won't try to change yours.

Mick
Kato's
 
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