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When to pull seeds from these 3 peppers?

Smiter Q

Smiter Q

Today when I was in my local Mexican grocery store,
El Rancho, I picked up these three peppers.
An Anaheim, a red jalapeno, and a manzano.
I want to save the seeds from them.

Anaheim: Do I need to wait till this turns totally red before pulling seeds?

Red jalapeno: This is just a regular jalapeno that was left on the bush to turn red, right?
So this should be ready to go?

Manzano pepper: The stem looks pretty dry and shriveled. so I am thinking this is good at
the moment to pull the seeds too?

EDIT: Also got a nice plump serrano the other day.
Should I wait for this to turn red too? It was the largest serrano
I ever saw.

Thanks for advice and suggestions. Still learning my way.

3mexipeooers211511.jpg
 
I'd strip the seeds now, by the time the anaheim starts to change, if it can, you'll end up with a pepper thats soft and possibly moldy on the inside. Anaheims are very slow to change color when on the plants, most are harvested green, the "Joe E. Parker" pepper ripens faster.
Here's what I do, cut the pepper open then place a strainer in the sink , I seperate the seeds from the pod and rinse them under the running water, then I'll dry them off with papper towels, label papper plates set them on top and place in a room where the temps. around 70 degrees for a week...
Of course there are plenty of other methods, with this being my easiest...

good luck,
Greg
 
And when you have seperated the seeds, put them in water to see wich ones sink and wich ones floate. The ones that sink will be most likey viable seeds.
 
Thanks all.

So is it true, only seeds that sink are viable?

Should I just throw away seeds that float when I wash em?

Thanks again!

EDIT: Made a nice pineapple salsa with the manzano tonight.
All the seeds sank, so I am saving them all.

Cut and take the serrano and peno seeds out now too?
 
Now is as good a time as any. the seed will not mature any further. not off the plant anyways.

Hollow seeds usually float, even though that's not necessarily true. I've had hollow seeds sink (if they're pierced, they'll fill with water) and viable seeds float. I usually just look at them and select the best ones. it does not mean every seed I bag will germinate, but I throw away all the ones that will definitely won't. :)
 
+1 to Omri on if the seeds are good or bad. I have had plenty of floaters germinate and not every sinker does rather because it was bad to begin with or for another reason. If you have plenty of a kind then keep the best looking and toss the rest and if you don't have plenty try every seed just in case. Nothing to loose and everything to gain. I had some really old flower seeds in which the only seed to germinate were the two I was positive were bad.
 
I always soak my pepper seeds overnite, last year one container had 4 out of 5 that were floaters, by morning they were all anchored to the bottom, and all germinated.
I try to discard the "bum" looking seeds before soaking...

Greg
 
Omri said:
Now is as good a time as any. the seed will not mature any further. not off the plant anyways.

Hollow seeds usually float, even though that's not necessarily true. I've had hollow seeds sink (if they're pierced, they'll fill with water) and viable seeds float. I usually just look at them and select the best ones. it does not mean every seed I bag will germinate, but I throw away all the ones that will definitely won't. :)
Click to expand...

+1 +1 +1
Your seeds won't continue to develop irregardless, and those will probably all have viable seed. And, the aforementioned seed viability trick is not the be all to end all.
The red jalapeños are just as you suspected, rope jalapeños (much nicer if your not pickling them!)
 
Wouldn't bother with the green one - you want to let peppers ripen "on the vine" if you want to save seeds from them. ;)

Another consideration is that most store bought "garden-variety" peppers grown by commercial farmers nowadays are F1 hybrids, so are basically worthless for saving seeds from!

To be honest, both of those varieties are so easy to find dirt-cheap seeds for (last time I bought some garden-variety Jalapeno seeds, they were 10 cents a pack at a local dollar store), that if you really want to grow those particular varieties, that would probably be your best option.

That Manzano, on the other hand...

armac said:
Not like the manzanos I had.
Click to expand...
Remember guys that Manzano/Rocoto/Locoto/etc. are not the names of specific varieties of peppers, but rather are generic names used to refer to an entire species of peppers! (C. pubescens)

I might be interested in trading you for some of those Orange seeds! :cool:
 
This is a photo of the pepper cut open, if it helps at all.
Also, the other two peppers were quite large, so made this one look small.
It was close to 3 inches in length.
It had very firm flesh, firmer than sweet peppers.
I used it in a pineapple salsa, and enjoyed the flavor and heat.


manzanopepper3x600.jpg
 
One of the "Supermercado's" carries the "Chile Peron" (yellow manzano) which is round in shape with flattened top and bottom, has the scent and upfront taste of an apple, it has different heat levels, from medium to hot, I haven't found two the same. They're $9.99 lb. while the store sells their orange habs are $ 5.99.......ouch... :shocked:
Tried to grow from seed it produced a nice plant, not much fruit...

Greg
 
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