Does growing a particular pepper in a less than optimal climate effect the quality of that pepper's

Ambiotic

Ambiotic

Hello all,
 
I live in Toronto, Canada (yes, burrrr!!).  Despite that, I grow chilies that originate in northeastern India, Trinidad, and other hot places.  I do okay with my yields.  But, I am wondering if my climate is weakening the genetic integrity of the seed.  NB I do grow my own seeds, successfully, year after year. The subsequent plants look and taste great, but, I am assuming that the climate, NOT the seed, is causing less-than optimal heat in the pods).
This is my question: will the seeds that I produce be of the same quality as seeds produced in the originating climates?  After all, the first seed yield of the chilies in question were all from the same source.  I imagine that the genetics should be fine, but is a change in those genes being introduced by my location's climate?  Conversely, can an even better growing climate improve the heat\taste of a chili on a genetic level?  Yes, direct growing climate will effect that season's yield (colder, wetter weather will have an adverse effect, usually).  But, my question is about the genetics of the seed, not the season's harvest quality.  The scenerio that comes to mind is: I send some seeds, that I have grown, to someone in a more optimal climate (perhaps, even to someone who lives in the same place that the chili was first grown).  Should that person get optimal results, or will they only yield pods that are of less quality than the original chili?.
Please, reply with your thoughts.  I eagerly look forward to reading them.
Thank you.
 
Your fellow chili grower of the north.
 
I once asked the same question to a well known seedsman (a reputable one) and all he could say was he knows of no evidence to prove it either way.  Well that didn't really answer the question, but it helps, sort of.   :eh:
 
A good question Ambiotic. 
 
Well the Short Answer is they should be the same if you select right. From all the reading I have done on peppers the less heat might be to the climate as to humidity and watering so they don't seam as hot, but if you sent them to a hotter/dryer place to grow they would be as Hot as the Original, but again that is if you select right and I would think your climate might make that harder. A pulse A = A but only if there "pure"
 
If you are saving seeds the answer is yes. When we save seeds, we typically choose a plant that is thriving (and not a plant that is struggling) to be the donor. By making this selection, we are selectively choosing genetic material suited for that environment.
 
Thank you, all, for the responses, so far.
Considering the less than optimal climate for growing chilies, here, in Toronto, what would you suggest I do, in regard to seed selection?  I do have plants of varying size and pod count.  Within that constraint, the pods themselves vary in size, colour, flavour, and heat.  Is the best thing to do, what I have been doing up to now?  That is, pick the "best" pods, based on what is closest to classic descriptions of each pod's type?
I just joined a pepper seed train, here, in Canada.  I just want to be able to offer the best seeds possible.
 
The pod is just the womb for the seeds.  What shape, size, color, etc it is is merely a reflection of the conditions that site on the plant saw, not something that changes seed genetics which were determined before that pod ever grew and don't change the pod shape, except if the pod were misshapen because it was bombarded by radiation.
 
Choose the biggest healthiest looking pods because they're most likely to have viable seed, but any viable seed should share same genetics except for that always present chance of mutation unless some of them crossed with a different plant.
 
Is there a possibility your peppers are cross pollinating? If they are even remotely close together you will get cross pollination unless you use something like ultra fine mesh bags on the buds before they flower, then hand pollinate.
 
It is a very interesting topic that doesn't have a straight answer. Short-term, offsprings from your plants will have the same potential as plants from their original environment. It is the difference im climate that makes them different to some level. Theoreticaly speaking if you could manage to grow the same variety in Canada and Trinidad for a very long time (hundreds or thousands) without crossing out you would end up with 2 very different types of plants - we're talking about (micro)evolution. The change of environment expresses itself in changes of the genome - every next generations adapts.

But, you do not have natural selection - you chose wich traits pass or don't.

In the end, I think that peppers grown from your seed in an ideal climate would be true to type.
 
This past season, I merely grew Trinidad Scorpions.  So no concern for cross pollination.  I'm concluding that I can proceed with sharing out my seeds, and accepting the fact that I may  have pods that may not be as flavourful nor as hot as they could be.  Thank you all for your comments.
 
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