breeding Pollination crossing confusion

Hi i've been on this forum for around 4 hours and i'm getting closer to the answer i want but things are getting more confusing each step of the way.

I bought 3 types of chilli seeds for growing indoors, germination went well and they all stand around an inch tall, i was quite happy with the way things are going until a horrible thing happened, my friend 'invented' pollination!!!
I always thought plants just grow and fruit. I've looked into it and understand how the process work, but now i'm running into words and areas that i either don't understand or can't find the corrrect answers to.

I found a lot of info on thechileman.org, like the following about my plants
Thai dragon (Annuum)
Maui Purple (Annuum)
Jelapeno Early (Annuum)


I don't know if them all being the same species is a good thing?

I know that if they cross pollinate each other Prolific happens(wtf is this?)

if they do cross pollinate to cause a hybrid is it possible to target different flowers of the same plant with differnt pollen in order to experiment with different hybrids growing at the sametime on one plant? and after i try this will the plant be 'infected' and produce hybrids from then on?
will the seed from the hybrid be able to produce more of it's self if grow?

Can i pollinate my plants just by rubbing the pollen of the flower without the need to collect pollen from another?



I know i'm full of questions, all i really wanted was a few easy self grown plants in my room (i've dug my hole and i can't help but lie in it). Any answer will be appreciated, and btw HI i'm Dave.

Hi Dave! Welcome to the Hot Pepper!

Pollination, or cross pollination, does not affect the pepper pods that you will harvest this year. Pollination fertilizes the seeds that produce next year's crop. The pepper pods (or fruits, or just peppers, all the same thing) that you harvest this year will be just like the descriptions you found on chileman.org.

Most pepper flowers don't need any help with fertilization. Even indoors they fertilize themselves. All the talk of hand pollinating comes about when people are trying to produce pure seed (seeds for next season that will produce true to the parent plant) or a specific cross between two types of peppers, like web of Hair's jalapeño/habanero cross. If all you want is to have lots of peppers to pick, you don't have to do anything but sit back and watch 'em grow!

Welcome urban eagle,

Very well said Pam.

Dale

Pam said:

Hi Dave! Welcome to the Hot Pepper!

Pollination, or cross pollination, does not affect the pepper pods that you will harvest this year. Pollination fertilizes the seeds that produce next year's crop. The pepper pods (or fruits, or just peppers, all the same thing) that you harvest this year will be just like the descriptions you found on chileman.org.

Most pepper flowers don't need any help with fertilization. Even indoors they fertilize themselves. All the talk of hand pollinating comes about when people are trying to produce pure seed (seeds for next season that will produce true to the parent plant) or a specific cross between two types of peppers, like web of Hair's jalapeño/habanero cross. If all you want is to have lots of peppers to pick, you don't have to do anything but sit back and watch 'em grow!

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Thanks Pam . So at the end of it all, i got what i wanted; a few simple house plants. Thanks again.

Pam, with all your friendly and helpful knowledge you truely are a Gardening Goddess!!

Pepp3rFreak said:

Pam, with all your friendly and helpful knowledge you truely are a Gardening Goddess!!

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*blush*

When you've killed as many plants as I have, you're bound to pick up a little bit of know how.

...but thanks, that was very nice of you to say.

hehe, your very welcome and deserving of the title!

Some say the best way to learn is by learning by our mistakes, so hopefully my knowledge base is increasing

like its already been said, yep you dont need to do anything to the flowers or plant because they will grow chiles on their own w/o you needing to help them.

as for your thoughts on making hybrids, IMO dont waste your time UNLESS you really have the urge to cross 2 different kinds of chiles & the time to do so. because theres over 500 different kinds of chiles you can buy seeds or a seedling. many of those have also been crossed to produce a different chile. I'm sure you could find a certain chile out of those numbers (500 +) that has the qualities you're searching for in a chile.

Indeed, peppers don't need a hand when it comes to pollination, nature will do (wind, insects,...). Peppers cross pollinate easily so they needs isolation if you want the seeds of the fruits resemble the parent. To keep the characteristics you can either manually pollinate and seal the flower or you can seal the flower before it opens so it has to self-pollinate (no cross there). I you want a specific cross (white pepper + red pepper gives ???) you pollinate manually, seal and label your cross.
Mostly you just want nice hot peppers so you could just let nature be nature, harvest seeds and see what comes from them. Years of selecting seeds only from fruits that appeal to you, could give you nice peppers that are suited for your taste, environment,...
If you want specific characteristics (super hot, special color, special form;...) you select the seeds from a shop or an amateur grower that isolates correctly.
There is no reason to exclude a pepper seed from your garden (seeds from hybrid varieties can be different since they can give you sterile seeds - don't germinate - or fruits with completely different characteristics and probably less than you expected)

Not to complicate things, but are you growing them under lights? Peppers want a ton of light and I have never really heard of them referred to as "house plants". Not that they couldn't be grown in windows, Just curious!

cheezydemon said:

Not to complicate things, but are you growing them under lights? Peppers want a ton of light and I have never really heard of them referred to as "house plants". Not that they couldn't be grown in windows, Just curious!

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Some of them can survive in low light (certain ornimatals), but Cheezy's correct. Give em loads of sun.