F1 F2 F3 ...

I bought an Espelette at farmers market today. See picture. Very healthy with pods. It was different from all others and seemed to be reputable/knowledgeable grower. I’m happy with it.

I am newbie Pepper grower, but already thinking this will be my over-winter candidate as well as seed saver (provided I don’t kill it.). If it does well ... can I share some seeds with others in the future?

So, I want to learn more about the genetics, etc ... and have been reading the F1 , F2, etc. references here. Where can I learn more? What search words might produce the best posts on this subject?

Since I know nothing about this plant history ... is this a plant that a serious grower would have no interest in?

Should I be talking to the supplier?

Thanks in advance...


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Hey rfchisholm,
 
Cool find at the market.  Check out this thread that might interest you - http://thehotpepper.com/topic/69619-end-of-summer-in-france-piment-despelette-time/

 
The F1, F2, F3... stabilization applies when you intentionally or accidentally cross two varieties and want to take the time to stabilize true seeds to produce the resulting mixed/hybrid plant that you like.  You don't need that here. 
 
Just isolate the next and future flowers that appear on the plant to be sure they don't cross with anything else and as long as that is a true Espelette plant you will have true and stable seeds for the future.  No way to be sure about any pod that's on it already as that may have already hybridized with another variety and the seeds may be mixed.  You could ask the grower I suppose, but it's probably not very likely he isolated the plant.
 
This is the best site I know of for the quick and easy basics of genetics.  After the basics it gets progressively more complicated.

 
http://kdcomm.net/~tomato/gene/genes.html
 
http://kdcomm.net/~tomato/gene/genes2.html
 
Good luck!
 
I will contact grower. They have an established business, and seemed to be quite friendly and knowledgeable.

I assume there are different methods for isolating future flowers. Are there posts on this subject worth sharing?
 
The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
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I tried the organza bags but didn't have very good results on individual flowers (Too many dropped.) so I went to Vegfetable Mesh Bag with Drawstring and never looked back (Did a branch and had better results.).
 
That's helpful info NECM.  Is the material itself any softer?  I'm not a particularly big fan of the little organza bags I currently have because they're stiff and a little small, so they tend to mash the leaves and flower underneath them if the leaf/branch setup isn't favorable and I'm not super careful.  I've also had flower drop I've attributed to the "mashing" effect - or maybe it's that they don't breath as well underneath the bags
 
These look like a better size as well because you could cover more branch and let it bag out some would reduce pressure and leave room to mark individual flowers within the bag.
 
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