best way to save pepper seeds???

Could anyone give me their way of saving pepper seeds? I have some I want to save, and all I normally do is leave a pepper on the plant until it's starting to wrinkle, then cut it open, take out the seeds, and leave to dry out. I'm not sure if this is right or not.

That's exactly what I do, and it has always worked for me. Actually, most of the time, I don't want to waste the pepper, so I cut it before it wrinkles, take out the seeds and add the pepper to whatever I am making. In "Seed to Seed", Ashworth says that as long as the pepper is mature, the seeds will be fine. Since I always dry the bulk of my chilis, I just save some of the seed when I am using them!
Ashworth also says that if the seed does not break when bent, it is not yet dry enough, so if you stored it in a closed container, it would rot. I have a friend who lets all of her "seed peppers" dry completely, uses them as Christmas ornaments, and then "harvests" the seeds at time to start plants.

Thank you Potagere! Interesting about the seed breaking/being dry, it makes sense.

I don't think my kids would like me hanging peppers on the Christmas tree, but that makes sense too. What better place to store them than in the pod. LOL

You'll get higher germination % if the peppers you want to save seeds from are harvested at peak condition. Split open and take out seeds, let dry.

That's not to say that over-ripe ones won't produce lots of viable seeds...they do.

I posed this question to William Woys Weaver (author and seed saver...Google his name) and that is what he told me.

Thanks Melody

This message was edited Jul 18, 2008 11:04 PM

Hey, Melody is right. So is WWW .

Of course, what is "peak" condition?

Peppers aren't like turkeys: they don't come with those little built-in red pop-up buttons saying:
"Pick Me! I am in Peak Condition."

In peppers, 1 man's "peak condition" is WWW's "well, not quite there" is another man's "wrinkled & past it".

U.S. Federal Germination Standard for commercially grown pepper seed is 55%. Get that?!? If you buy commercial seed in the US, and if about 1 out of every 2 seeds you plant sprouts, that's "good"!

Harvesting seeds in any of the ways we have discussed, I've never run under 80% germination the 1st year --- usually 95-100%. I have some 5 year-old seed that's getting DOWN to the US standard, and I'm about to pitch it in favour of newly harvested seed.

I put in 24-48 plants of 4-6 varieties each year. I always have excess plants to give away or - reluctantly - to compost. This isn't "rocket science", folks nor, in the ordinary garden, does it demand "rocket levels" of production.

My friend actually uses most of the peppers on holiday wreaths, Melissa.

So, don't let anyone with any bunch of numbers deter you!
You're doing just fine.

Let's be real here.
The reason we even HAVE peppers is because a bunch of gardeners a lot like our grandparents planted seeds, grew them out, saved seeds from the ones they liked and repeated the process. The seed companies, the USDA and "standards" for germination are laughably late arrivals on the scene.

Trust yourself and your own feel for the plant.
If it don't work this year, you'll adjust, and it'll work next year.
As my dad would have said: "Hhmm. Well, we'll sow those seeds thicker next year."

This message was edited Jul 18, 2008 11:02 PM

This message was edited Jul 18, 2008 11:05 PM

This message was edited Jul 21, 2008 6:30 AM

Potagere . . . have you had any problem with cross-pollination? Plan to save Bhut Jolokia, Santaka and Sweet Pickle Pepper seeds this year. Most of what I grow, around 90 plants, are sweet frying peppers (Jimmy Nardello). The Bhuts are within a few feet of the Nardellos. The others 30 yards or so away. From what I read, this isn't enough. However, I don't need perfection. But some idea of the odds would be helpful.

David_Paul, I grow all my peppers together in one plot, so they are literally within inches of one another. Still, I've not noticed significant hybridizing. Maybe I am lucky. Pepper flowers are perfect and self-pollinating. Still, they can be crossed by insect pollinators, so Asworth recommends 500ft (about 160 metres) between varieties to ensure seed purity. I couldn't do that here, but then I've been happy with what I am getting so far and don't offer my seeds as "pure". I've never heard of the Bhuts or the Santakas. I grow a number of Hungarian peppers whose seeds originated from peppers I bought at the Budapest Market several years ago as well as a few Asian chilis. I think you will be OK. You might want to save seed and then try starting some of the saved seed and some new seed next year and see if you note a real difference (plus, that way, you'll still have 'the real thing' if the saved seed di cross badly). Another hint: collect you seeds from plants in the MIDDLE of each 'group' of peppers; all seeds research seems to show a statistically higher percentage of crosses at the edge of groups of a single variety than in the middle.
Good luck!

Thanks Potagere . . .the one pepper I didn't mention (because I have enough seeds) is Hungarian: Alma Paprika. Do you make your own paprika from the varieties you purchased at the Budapest Market? I've never done it before.

Article on Bhut Jolokias in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year started somewhat of a craze for the pepper in America:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120191360681137059.html

Santaka is an Asia pepper described as "very hot" by the Chile Pepper institute at New Mexico State University.

No, David_Paul, I've never grown enough to try making paprika! When I was in Macedonia, I learned to make ayvar and pinjur from a similar pepper, but these are more like a relish. The one I have with a name is Pritamin Paprika. I continue to grow it because it is one of the tastiest sweet peppers I have ever had, with a hint of wild cherry. The others I grow are unnamed; all are long peppers, rather like a frying pepper; one is green (eventually becoming red, but I pick it green), one is yellow and one is golden. Together, they are all tasty and productive, so I have stuck with them. I also have an unnamed chile that was brought to me from Algeria, used in making harissa; another unnamed chile from Vietnam often used in Pho; and Chi-chien, a Chinese chile.
Interested in swapping some seeds? If so, DMail me!