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seeds Newb Question - Cross Pollination and Saving Seeds

MisterBigglesworth

MisterBigglesworth

Hello, folks thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce myself and get some feed back on saving seeds. I'm living in North Carolina and have had successful backyard pepper gardens for years. This year I'm experimenting with super hots
(who isn't?) and hope to save seeds for the following year. I'm currently germinating some habs, Scotch bonnets, datils, and bhuts. Also trying out starfish, Bolivian rainbows, and Hungarian wax. If I have space left I'll fill in with live plants from local garden stores.

I've been reading up on cross-pollination, which is more or less inevitable in a confined garden space. 25' x 25' ; or 8m x 8m


I'm going to save seeds in any case, and would like to know others' success/fail rate in similar conditions. Did you get mutant strains? Sterile seeds? Cool new variants?


<Pray for early germination>
 
:welcome: to THP from Pennsylvania. In a nutshell (or acorn if you prefer), cross pollination happens. I can cause all of the above but generally isn't a huge concern unless you are selling seeds commercially. There are A LOT of threads on here about cross pollination, so enjoy reading. . . :dance:
 
Oh, man did I just show my newb-ness.... there's a search function :lol:


BTW this site completely rocks, one of the best communities on gardening I've seen.



I do grow some tabascos every year for sauce, boy those little buggers are fertile. I have baby tabascos growing like weeds as soon as it gets warm enough.
 
Crosses are rare. To achieve a good cross or not get a small brush or feather and act like a honey bee. Wash brush with very hot water between types and you should be OK. Saving seeds now thats opening a whole can of worms. I dry my pods outside naturally. Thin skinned whole- thich skinned scrape seeds out to dry. You should get alot to chime in on that topic. I say enbrace the crossers- it's like a box of chocolates ya never know what yer gonna get :)
 
Just asked the wife if I could buzz around her hive and I'll be sleeping on the sofa tonight... Maybe it had to do with the paint brush. :eek:

Thanks buddy!
 
I saved some mature seeds from last year. I just planted them a few days ago and they just started to come up. I have bought seeds from the store this year as well and so far have the same result. I am new to the site as well and have found plenty of information on this site.
 
Save seed from the 1st to ripen. mark it. 1st. then save from 2nd mark it 2nd. keep the seeds from each pepper separate. if the seeds of the one pepper are crossed they will not contaminate the seeds from the 2nd pepper. The earliest pepper or the ones with only a few seeds are more likely to be pure.

you can bag blossoms.

Take one plant of your most valuable and put it somewhere else to set flowers. keep it in a pot away from the other peppers. After the flowers are well set you can bring it back to the garden.

plant seeds early to get early flowers when nothing else is flowering.

all kinds of tricks.
 
Cross pollination is really only a big issue when pollinating insects like bees are around in full force. I never see bees in the spring, so saving seeds from earliest pods has never been an issue for me. Otherwise I like to bring potted plants indoors(or isolated greenhouse) temporarily, or lend to a distant friend who has no other pepper plants. There are many other techniques to increase your odds, although no method is 100%
 
I agree the earliest pepper or the ones with only a few seeds are more likely to be pure. A good way I found to cross different types is to plant the two together and keep seperate from the others and with a small brush give them a hand job and clear plastic bag the plants and pot. I always keep the first produce for seedings next year. I'll even start a few in late summer just to make sure they are good for the next year ( kill em latter)
 
Clear plastic bag? I see a lot of potential problems
Most chile growers use tulle which is a finely woven fabric, and hand pollination is not required

I don't believe fewer seeds means more chance of purity
Ideal isolation distance is around a mile and a half :(
 
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