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Extending life of pods?

LordPepper

LordPepper

Ok, so last year I grew a lot of peppers. The funny thing is I spent all that time from seed to pod waiting for the peppers, then once I had them they sat in the fridge till they turned (spoiled.) My question or question(s) are:

1. Is it better to put them in the fridge or on the counter till you determine exactly what you want to do with them. Which would make them go bad first?

2. I used all the ones that turned to save seeds. Will them being refridgerated affect if they will grow? Im planning on using them this season and would like to know beforehand.

3. Any better ways to extend their life? Maybe a good way to dry them out besides a dehydrator?

I know those are a good deal of questions but I thought this would be the best place to get some help. My problem was not being able to decide if I just wanted to eat them, make sauces, salsa, include in dishes, dry out, save seeds...etc. Eventually my time just ran out and at least now I have hopefully good seeds. I am usually very busy and work a lot but I will definitely make time this season.

Thank you guys in advance. :P
 
The fridge will always keep them longer than the counter.

Using seeds from the ones that "turned" (I assume you mean they got moldy) is a russian roulette kind of thing. It is likely some of that mold got onto the seeds, and is lurking on them, eagerly awaiting the introduction of moisture to start growing again. If those are the only seeds you have, soak them in a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water then let them dry out again before attempting to germinate them. You shouldn't need to soak them more than an hour. Even for seeds that don't come from moldy pods, I soak them at least 10 minutes.

Many people hang their pods to dry. Some make a slit in one side to speed air flow (and hence, drying) to the center. You live in Florida, which is very humid, so this may or may not work for you. I use a dehydrator and swear by it. You can also just toss whole pods into a ziploc and then into the freezer. Their texture will be soft when you thaw them, but they will be fine for cooking and sauces. Note some people will tell you that seeds from frozen pods will not be viable, but that is incorrect. Seeds from frozen pods depend upon the same factors as seeds from fresh pods - if the pod was ripe enough at the time the pod was frozen, the seeds will be viable. I can tell you this because I have sprouted seeds from frozen pods myself.
 
georgej said:
I put them in the freezer, then chop them up when frozen and put them in cooking
Click to expand...

I do the same here as well. I just pull out whatever I wanna use quick defrost in micro and chop them up for Pizza, Eggs, Burgers. I use them very often and have many freezer bags still filled with peppers to us. Sure they are not crunchy anymore due to freezing but they surely have not lost any of their heat.
 
I have frozen them before too but dont like the texture after thawing. I would prefer to dry them as it seems they have a good flavor that way. The problem is no dehydrator. But I am afraid if I leave them out to dry naturally, they will mold then just as well?

Also about the Hydrogen peroxide, that also speeds germination right, maybe by "softening" the seed?
 
Can't say if they will mold if you hang them up to dry, but you have an increased risk for it since you are in a humid environment. Just make sure they get good air circulation; run a fan in the room if necessary.

Yes, anything wet will soften the seed casing, but the length of time makes a difference. That's why I said don't soak them more than an hour (really half an hour should be fine), then redry them first. That way they're ready for whenever you want to germinate them. If you want to germinate right away, go ahead and just rinse in clear water then use whatever germination approach you wish.
 
Make ristras:
All you gotta do is just string up some peppers with needle and thread like you are making a popcorn garland, and hang it in a warm, dry place.

Once the peppers dry well, they are very well preserved.

You can then either use the dried pods in cooking (they will reconstitute very easily in a cooking process), or you can buy a cheap coffee grinder from Target (10-15USD) and create powder out of the dried pods.

These are my preferred methods when I can't use them fresh.
 
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