How do I save my pepper seeds??

Lowlander · August 13, 2012

What do I need to do to save my bell and hot pepper seeds??

Thanks

Darren Abbey · August 13, 2012

What I've done is to dry the ripe pods whole, then either store them whole or crushed and cleaned.

I have Serrano chile seeds from ~29 years ago which still show good germination. The pods were sliced in half and dried with a food dehydrator, then stored in a jar.

The primary use of the dried pods was for food, so the jar was periodically opened and resealed without any particular concern about the humidity or other environmental considerations. The jar travelled with me to college and back, from Texas to Minnesota. After all that time I decided to try and grow a batch and had 4/6 pop up really quick (the other two never came up).

Lowlander · August 13, 2012

OK Darren, what do you mean by "pods"?? did you just cut the peppers in half and dehydrate them?? scoop out the seed area and dry that?? can I just dehydrate the seeds themselves?? what temp and how long??

thanks

Darren Abbey · August 13, 2012

pods = fruit. My family had just planned to dry the peppers for later use. We cut them in half so they would dry more effectively. The air in our dehydrator was warm, but not uncomfortably warm. I don't know the specific temperature it was set to. I think they were drying for a few days, but again there was no specific plan.

I have other pepper seeds which I took from peppers which had been dried whole, as well as others that I removed from peppers before drying. The Serranos are the oldest sees I've tried and they worked fine without any particular concern to their well-being.

The dried seeds should be hard to the touch. If you can bend a seed and not have it crack in half, they're probably not dry enough.

Lowlander · August 13, 2012

so I assume my thai chili's, since they are small anyway, can be kept for cooking after dehydrating, and next year I just crack open a few and germinate the seeds?

thanks

Darren Abbey · August 13, 2012

Oh yes, I expect they will work fine. So long as they don't go moldy, they should last a few years without any difficulty.

biscgolf · August 13, 2012

i usually separate my seeds out prior to drying the pods- there is a temperature point in dehydration at which seed germination begins to be effected. (i want to say it's around 110 degrees but that may be incorrect).

my method is to pull the seeds then leave them in a dry part of the house on paper towels for a few weeks.

your main concern is that they are fully dry before you pack them up.

feldon30 · August 13, 2012

Nobody has mentioned crossing, which has a higher percentage probability for peppers than for tomatoes.

recruiterg · August 13, 2012

I usually take a paring knife and cut around the central core of the fully ripe pepper. I gently remove the flesh, then keep the central core with the seeds attached. I dry the central core on a paper plate for a couple of weeks. When it is totally dry, I remove the seeds and store in paper envelopes. Some peppers don't have a central core. These ones I cut in half and dry on paper plates, then remove seeds.

biscgolf · August 13, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by feldon30

Nobody has mentioned crossing, which has a higher percentage probability for peppers than for tomatoes.

he asked how we save seeds... not whether they were worth saving.

Lowlander · August 13, 2012

what exactly is "crossing"?

Worth1 · August 13, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lowlander

what exactly is "crossing"?

Crossing is when an insect flies from one blossom the the next and cross pollinates the pepper.
This is very common with peppers.

Worth

feldon30 · August 13, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by biscgolf

he asked how we save seeds... not whether they were worth saving.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lowlander

what exactly is "crossing"?

I could have just answered the question asked. I anticipated something he might not be aware of.

What happened to trying to help each other?

Worth1 · August 13, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by feldon30

What happened to trying to help each other?

I have no idea.

You would think that insuring seeds were not crossed would be part of seed saving.

As for me I split fresh ripe peppers open shake out the seeds and put them in a coin envelope.
Nothing to it they dry on there own.

Worth

Lowlander · August 13, 2012

so, if my thai chilis and jalepenos were next to each other,..is that going to cause a problem with my seeds??

also, I know not to put hot peppers by sweet peppers,..but how far apart do all varietys need to be??

August 13, 2012	#1
Lowlander Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Eastern Shore of Maryland Posts: 76	How do I save my pepper seeds?? What do I need to do to save my bell and hot pepper seeds?? Thanks

August 13, 2012	#2
Darren Abbey Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Minnesota Posts: 586	What I've done is to dry the ripe pods whole, then either store them whole or crushed and cleaned. I have Serrano chile seeds from ~29 years ago which still show good germination. The pods were sliced in half and dried with a food dehydrator, then stored in a jar. The primary use of the dried pods was for food, so the jar was periodically opened and resealed without any particular concern about the humidity or other environmental considerations. The jar travelled with me to college and back, from Texas to Minnesota. After all that time I decided to try and grow a batch and had 4/6 pop up really quick (the other two never came up). Last edited by Darren Abbey; August 13, 2012 at 01:04 AM.

August 13, 2012	#4
Darren Abbey Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Minnesota Posts: 586	pods = fruit. My family had just planned to dry the peppers for later use. We cut them in half so they would dry more effectively. The air in our dehydrator was warm, but not uncomfortably warm. I don't know the specific temperature it was set to. I think they were drying for a few days, but again there was no specific plan. I have other pepper seeds which I took from peppers which had been dried whole, as well as others that I removed from peppers before drying. The Serranos are the oldest sees I've tried and they worked fine without any particular concern to their well-being. The dried seeds should be hard to the touch. If you can bend a seed and not have it crack in half, they're probably not dry enough. Last edited by Darren Abbey; August 13, 2012 at 01:23 AM.

August 13, 2012	#8
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Nobody has mentioned crossing, which has a higher percentage probability for peppers than for tomatoes. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

August 13, 2012	#7
biscgolf Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Virginia Posts: 353	i usually separate my seeds out prior to drying the pods- there is a temperature point in dehydration at which seed germination begins to be effected. (i want to say it's around 110 degrees but that may be incorrect). my method is to pull the seeds then leave them in a dry part of the house on paper towels for a few weeks. your main concern is that they are fully dry before you pack them up.

August 13, 2012	#9
recruiterg Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Edina, MN (Zone 4) Posts: 945	I usually take a paring knife and cut around the central core of the fully ripe pepper. I gently remove the flesh, then keep the central core with the seeds attached. I dry the central core on a paper plate for a couple of weeks. When it is totally dry, I remove the seeds and store in paper envelopes. Some peppers don't have a central core. These ones I cut in half and dry on paper plates, then remove seeds.