seeds Isolating Pods For Pure Seed Stock

[Nick M]

I think the best way to keep the seeds pure is to put a small tea-bag over an unopened flower, and bind it off with a little string (not to tight!) then when the flower falls off and the pepper-pod has started growing you should label that pepper. You can do this with as much peppers on the plant as you like, but I normally only take about 5 per species (more then enough pure seeds). Those pods are harvested seperatly and those are the only seeds I use for trades and to keep for my own stock. The other (maybe) cross pollinated pods are directly going into the kitchen

 

[POTAWIE]

In my opinion the problem with isolating individual pods(or even plants) is that you are not choosing seed stock from your best plants or pods, you are just basically getting some random pods. I'm always looking to improve my seed stock by growing several plants and chosing the pods/plants with the most desirable characteristics. This just can't be done realistically with the glue or tea-bag methods

 

[Grimus]

In my opinion the problem with isolating individual pods(or even plants) is that you are not choosing seed stock from your best plants or pods, you are just basically getting some random pods. I'm always looking to improve my seed stock by growing several plants and chosing the pods/plants with the most desirable characteristics. This just can't be done realistically with the glue or tea-bag methods

Hey POTAWIE, have you had any problems with crosses doing it this way?

 

[POTAWIE]

I've had one cross using this method in the greenhouse while growing multiple varieties but I now believe it was probably an f1 already, although not 100% sure

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

Okay.. I'm really glad to hear all the input.

POTAWIE.... Thanks for the great piont about always wanting to better the stock you have. So it is definately better to isolate each variety by the whole plant or even groups of plants. NOt exactly what I wanted to hear, but I can try to manage..

I found some bulk "organza" at the fabric supply. I will probably attempt just a few bags or even some whole plant cages covered in this material....

However I may bite the bullet and continue to purchase seed from guaranteed sources...

Or simply jump on the train to try all seed (pure or not) and enjoy the multitude of variety!!! Some of the pics out here look like pretty cool crosses to me!

Thanks again everyone.. I am much more educated and can make a decision knowing the pros and cons of the choices I have..

 

[orangehero]

In my opinion the problem with isolating individual pods(or even plants) is that you are not choosing seed stock from your best plants or pods, you are just basically getting some random pods. I'm always looking to improve my seed stock by growing several plants and chosing the pods/plants with the most desirable characteristics. This just can't be done realistically with the glue or tea-bag methods

Perhaps I misunderstand plant genetics, but should it not matter which specific pod you collect seeds from...rather you can only look at the overall characteristics of the plant. So, if you have a plant that produces some pods with a characteristic you are looking for, then you can collect seed from any pod on that plant as long as the pod is healthy. Then you would grow those seeds (any seeds from the plant) and hope that that pod characteristic is expressed more in at least one of the plants in the next generation.

 

[ZanderSpice]

Interesting discussion going on.

I started wondering about this: If you only save the seed from one pod, and repeat the same year after year will the inbred seeds become weaker as they lose genetic diversity? It may not be a problem at first, but after multiple seasons it could weaken the crop. Pure seed is all well and good, but it would probably be better to grow multiple plants of the save variety together, save healthy pods from multiple plants and mix the seed together. In the single pod isolation strategy, you would have to make intentional crosses between siblings, a real pain. This may be why Dr. Bosland uses cages. I'm assuming there are many plants in a single cage, but I haven't found the article online to confirm. This is probably very tough for hobby growers like me who prefer variety vs. multiple plants of the same type.

In my garden I save seed from plants out in the open. If it crosses great. If I lose something as a result hopefully I can go back to the prior year's seeds or find seed from somewhere else. If a plant is just so great I'll try to share seeds and also try to keep it alive perhaps as a clone. I haven't yet gone to the trouble of bagging or gluing individual pods because it's extra work and isn't guaranteed to be exactly the same as the parent.

If I was in the seed business for profit I'd have to bite the bullet and go with cages. Unfortunately, I'm not.

Lastly, I'd never complain if I get accidentally crossed seed from a member. Just don't mislabel or send me a seed borne disease.

 

[franzb69]

then the best conclusion would be to save from several pods and several plants per variety. all of which have to be isolated. =D

 

[Skydiver]

I'm trying isolating for the first time this year, I'm still ticked that my chocolate habs crossed with my red devil's tongue and gave me red hot but relatively tasteless pods.

What I'm trying is this stuff from the fabric store, sorry but I don't know the name of it, all I can say is that it's some sort of lacy thing that they wrap up mints in to hand out at weddings and stuff. The woman in the fabric store was looking at me like a third arm grew out of my forehead when I told her what I was trying to use it for.

It was cheap, though, so I could wrap a large bag of it around a branch after picking off any immature pods or flowers that had already opened, so it's almost like wrapping the entire plant (I'll be doing that next season, no more taking chances, especially not if I can preserve the genetics of the one bhut in my garden, that plant is seriously awesome).

 

[Sandgroper]

I just go to our op shops (salvation army or good samaritans like 2nd hand charity stores for the poor folks)
They usually have heaps and heaps of old nana curtains. Yeknow the white net curtains. It is usually a really fine mesh.
Then I just sew up little or large baggies and tie them shut over individual pods or over whole branches if I make the biggies.
This works really well. Sometimes I leave the bag on for the whole season or sometimes I take it off after the pods have started to develop and tie some surveyors tape(brightly colored plastic tape) onto the branch or next to the pod.
If I have done a whole branch and then taken the baggie off I then have to nip off every new flower that appears on that branch so I dont get mixed up.
Once the isolated buds are about half size I dont worry about nipping the flowers so much as its easy to tell which are the old pods and which are the new.
I used this method for about 5 years and never got unwanted Xs while using it.
I am going to do this again this season.
if you take the baggies off after pod developement and wash and dry them you can reuse them year after year. If you leave them on they dont last anywhere near as long they sort of get brittle after a couple of seasons.

 

[hot stuff]

http://www.gardeners.com/Summerweight-Garden-Fabric/GardenPests_Insects,11749,default,cp.html is what I'm using on my Bhuts. You can also take a bud that hasn't flowered yet, cut off the petals and antlers, then get the antlers from another flower and pollinate it. Since it has no petals no insects will go to it. I imagine if you put enough pollen on it, you won't have to worry much about crosses from winds either.