Red Bell Peppers

On Jan 27, I took a piece of the core from a red bell pepper and threw them on some potting soil in a soda bottle.

. . . and on Feb 8, just look at all the babies.

Great success there! Lookin' good!

(Did you cut the bottle in half or something to fill it up and put the seeds in?)

What I've been doing is cutting around the bottle, leaving about 3 inches on the bottom, then I cut about 4 places around the top so that I can squeeze the top together and push it into the bottom. Makes a great mini-gh. If it's too tall to fit under the lights, I remove an inch or two of the middle. If too much moisture accumulates, you can remove the top.

I was thinking about using seed from store bought peppers of various colors but I wonder if some are hybrid and will throw back to undesirable parentage?

They probably will. I don't have enough sun to grow good vegs anyway. It's a winter entertainment thing for me. I will put some out but don't expect lots of peppers.

I used "store bought" pepper seeds last year and didn't have good luck with them. I'm going back to the kind bought for growing in the garden.

I once tried La Rouge Royale, or something similar, very long sweet red peppers, and expensive in the stores; thought I'd beat them at their own game... Well, they reverted to the most miserable nasty little peppers ever!

I think if one planted enough of them, though, it is possible to select for the best each generation, and in time de-hybridize them.

Are those the large ones they sell dried?

I really don't have enough sun to grow veggies. I just mix them here and there between my flowers, and whatever grows I eat (usually right off the plant while I'm in the yard). I love to walk around looking at things and munch on a green bean. I don't use chemicals, so don't worry about washing.