• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

seeds How to properly save and use seeds

J

joeb

My sister-in-law brought over an assortment of chillies I've never even seen before, ghost, scorpion, a purple/brown habanero looking thing, and some weird looking one with three flat "flaps" with a nub in the middle with smooth skin. Some real tiny chillies that are practically dots (thai?) that are delicious.

I'd really like to save the seeds and regrow these! I'm saving the seeds and drying them on paper towels. Once they are dried, do I have to wait for next spring to try and germinate and grow them or can I try growing them in a few weeks and bringing them indoors for the winter? I live in the Pittsburgh area.
 
They will be fine in a couple of weeks. You should dry them out on a paper towel for several days. Then I like to put mine in the fridge, because its cold and the air in there is very dry as well. Once they are completely dry they should be good to plant.
 
Are peppers dependent on wildlife to separate the pepper seeds and deposit them in piles of delicious poo, or could you just take a pepper, throw it on the ground, and expect to have a whole bunch of seedlings choking each other out a while later?
 
Wulf said:
Are peppers dependent on wildlife to separate the pepper seeds and deposit them in piles of delicious poo, or could you just take a pepper, throw it on the ground, and expect to have a whole bunch of seedlings choking each other out a while later?
Click to expand...
i think birds are mainly responsible for raining them down from above
 
Wulf said:
Are peppers dependent on wildlife to separate the pepper seeds and deposit them in piles of delicious poo, or could you just take a pepper, throw it on the ground, and expect to have a whole bunch of seedlings choking each other out a while later?
Click to expand...

In most cases they'll do just fine popping up from a pepper left on the ground -- IF nothing bad gets to it first (ie. if mold or other decomposition does not damage the insides of the seed) for the most part the seed casing will keep them safe while the pepper decomposes and the seedling will germinate once the ground temps warms up enough for them to sprout -- there are a few types that need to pass through a digestive system in order to remove some of the seed casing but most types will do just fine straight out of the pepper.
 
To make sure you've gotten rid of any nasties, soak them for a bit (couple hours) in a 10:1 mix of water and hydrogen peroxide. For the ones you've already started drying, you'll want to do this before you sprout them. For the ones you haven't started drying yet, you can do it before you start drying.
 
You can leave behind a pepper on the ground and get plants growing that way, I have two habs that just sprung up a couple weeks ago from last fall's left behind pods but the % will be low relative to sewing into the ground yourself.

A pod sitting above ground may not stay wet enough, long enough. I don't think mine would have came up except they were near tomatoes I was watering regularly so they were both moist and (probably) had some soil shifted over top of them. They were solitary plants, not a bunch of them in a spot.

There's also the issue of ground hardness, a sprout may not be able to set roots before drying out if it takes too much energy to penetrate soil to certain depth. The shorter answer is "it depends", it's not a reliable way to grow peppers.
 
Dave2000 said:
it's not a reliable way to grow peppers.
Click to expand...
I wasn't looking for a reliable way to grow them by just throwing them down, just wondering if they would.

I find that knowing all the dumb ways to do something helps you to figure out the smart ways of doing it =]
 
Some need special care, as they have long growing seasons not generally found except in the far south of the U.S. The Tiny dot chiles are likely tepins of some sort---the only chile to grow natively in the U.S.
Yes, they are tasty!.
Your best bet (if your supply is limited) is to start them indoors---Jan. or Feb.---for later transplanting outside, though the chiletepins make a nice bushy houseplant.
Just need a little room, some cheap grow lights, and attention.

Numerous methods, opinions, directions, equipment, can be found here or elsewhere on the net.

Here would be the best place to start.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top