When and how far?

[Boarider]

To keep the strain original when and how far do you seperate your plants?
All are in buckets so no problem in separating them, I just don't want to cross what I have now.

 

[AndyW]

Just moving them away from each other won't ensure that they won't cross-pollinate. You'd want to use some kind of mesh to keep pollinators out for a branch or full plant.

Personally, I'd just isolate a couple flowers on each to save seed from. You can do individual flowers with glue.

 

[Boarider]

Thanks for the fast reply.
Pretty sure it would be impossible for me.
My wife does grow Milkweed in the front for her Monarch butterflies and I'm sure their little ass whould find their way to the back and bounce on my peppers (Not the catapilers) to pollinate .

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

`
Posted distances vary widely.... But to better answer your question, read the whole article this quote comes from:

Hot peppers as a rule of thumb may require approximately four times as much isolation distance as do sweet bell peppers. Flowers of hot peppers have style and stigma (female reproductive structures) which protrude further beyond the anther cone (male reproductive structure). This situation is called stigma exsertion, and whenever the stigma is exserted, the flower is more likely to be cross-pollinated.

..YMMV
NECM

 

[Spicy Mushroom]

Bees fly, yo. I have an apple tree here that is not self-fertile, and yet it gets apples most years. This is due to pollinators traveling a good distance from whatever other apple tree is somewhere in the neighborhood or further, and then to mine. I agree with AndyW, it's best  to cover the plant instead of banking on adequate distance.
 
How many seeds are you needing? You could always isolate individual flowers instead of the whole plant.

 

[karoo]

Don't try to isolate the plant, isolate the flowers one by one, even one flower/ pod gives plenty of seeds.

My favorite method , the teabag ,without the tea of course , just tied around the flower , before opening.

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

 

[Walchit]

I've heard of other plants wind pollinating from a mile away. I can't remember how far bees travel. If you have some serious acreage you might be able to separate them lol. 

 

[solid7]

My favorite method , the teabag 

 
So, I totally get what you're saying, here, but I just can't help but have a laugh. 

 

[AJ Drew]

Isolating via distance works if the distance is great and you randomize seeds, but that is mainly for the big boy seed growers.  Folk who plant an acre of a single crop in one location and then another in another location will experience some cross pollination, but then they randomize seeds in such a quantity that the chances of a single customer getting more than one bad seed is low.  That and many of the cross pollinated seeds are not viable so the grower never notices
 
Smaller growers and hobby folk need barrier protection.  Its so easy for small time growers to isolate, that i have no idea why seed savers do not all isolate.  Gluing flowers shut does work, but you can do half a plant with a single five gallon paint strainer bag from Lowes.

 

[Boarider]

I'm by far a hobbyist and don't have the room. I've come to the conclusion that it would be impossible for me to isolate any plants. I use my Crepe myrtle as shade for my peppers.

 

[nmlarson]

As a small "home" grower, I'm not interested in saving tons of seed, but to save smaller quantities, I have successfully used the organza bags they sell for wedding favors.  The bags come in a variety of sizes and have drawstrings, so they're really easy to secure.  Just tie it securely around the branch right before the blossom opens.  If you get the white ones, you can use a Sharpie and write the date and variety you're saving right on the the bag.  When you're ready to harvest, just clip the pepper, tie off the drawstring and leave the pepper in the bag to dry, if you're drying.  There's a built-in loop for hanging, too.      All the craft stores sell them and there are online sites that sell bulk quantities.