You really cannot go wrong buying that kind of seed from peppermania.com. I got a variety of habs from her this year, and germination rate is now well over 70 % on her seeds, and it's only Day 11 and those are slow-sprouting habaneros. I expect they will top out over 90 % when all is said and done.

For sheer variety of habanero/bonnet types, you have to check out Hippie Seed Company.

For good, solid high-germination-rate seeds - a somewhat less exotic collection than the above two but really solid high-quality seeds you can depend on, take a look at tomatogrowers.com.

They are all roughly the same prices, give or take a buck here and there. $2.89 for 20 seeds is a low price that you probably will not achieve for exotic habaneros; 10 seeds for $3.50-$4.50 seems more realistic. Of course, Burpee will ship you 30 or 40 seeds for $3 if what you want is a common, higher volume cultivar.

Nurturing plants from seed to dinner plate is a bit of work; it is probably better to buy the plants if the varieties you seek are available locally. That said, I am going 100 % seeds this year, I kind of enjoy the whole nurturing-from-day-1 process, and only a few of the 24 types I'm growing would be available in a local store. It depends on how involved you want to be in the growing process.

well said megachili. I had some Hab seeds from last year and well, they're not working too great for me. I had it all planned out; I have a little greenhouse to germinate seeds, we've had some good weather lately (CA) planted them about 3 weeks ago, and still nothing as far as Habs! It takes A LOT of patience and I guess luck. I will most likely buying some plants too.

blondelle,

You have mail.

Bill

Thanks so much for the suggestions. Maybe I overlooked the obvious though. The seeds were for my mom's Jamaican caretaker. She always brings several scotch bonnet peppers with her. Couldn't we just dry and plant the seeds from those peppers? Would be a much easier way to get them. Sort of an edible seed packet :-). If it's a hybrid and not true, wouldn't we get several plants of each of the crossed varieties?

Do not buy chile seed from Reimers.

Yeah, it's true, you could get lucky if you just take some seeds from a pod and put them in some potting mix. I took one seed from one store-bought Orange Hab last year, put it in soil as an experiment (it was my first attempt at growing peppers) and got an absolutely amazing plant out of it, with 55 extra-large, super tasty pods that my Mexican next door neighbor, deeply experienced in eating habaneros cooked and fresh, said was the best he had tasted. Or you could get unlucky, and get either nothing, or a sub-standard collection of pods. The point is, it's a crap shoot when you take a seed from a pod of indeterminate origin. If you are a gambler, go for it. If you are looking to have high odds of a good, solid plant, then you should buy a pack of seeds from a reputable outlet.

Actually I just found out she did try it and she said nothing came up. How long do you need to dry them for before planting?
Why would fresh seed not come up? Do they irradiate peppers?

Fresh seed should germinate fine.

How long did she give them. Without ideal temps it can take weeks. You'll get best results if the seed is in 80F - 85F environment. Seed starter heat mats are ideal but you can get away fine by covering and placing your start tray on a cable box. Keep soil relatively moist and don't let it dry out. If the seed is viable you should see results in 2 - 3 weeks, sometimes sooner.

To my shock! I found 1 package of orange Habanero seeds for $1.25 at Lowes yesterday! The only package left and on the label it said 'at least 25 plants from this package',so I thought there were only 25 seeds. There must be 100 in the package! I planted some of them last night,in soil and put them under the lights in my AeroGrow garden,and covered the pot with plastic wrap,my way to make my peppers sprout super fast!

So,Lowes might have them now,if you have one near you go look. They actually called them Pimento peppers! If it were not for the picture of orange Habaneros on the package,and then under the Pimento it said Habanero,I would have passed it by. It was pure luck,but go look. It siad the seeds came from the Burpee company...and they want some ungodly price for a few seeds in their catalog this year. So I threw it out. I wasnt going to pay more for shipping,like 3 times as much as the few seeds they were selling for like $$2.95 I think? But if that doesnt work, Peppermania is the best!