Investigate the word "Metaxenia". The short summary is that metaxenia is when pollen affects the female plant tissue. It is possible that hot pepper pollen could cause a sweet pepper to develop some capsaicin but as previously posted, many years of research says it does not happen. Corn is a different story. When you grow white corn and it is pollinated by pollen from a corn plant that produces yellow seed, then the white corn plant produces kernels that are yellow. This is because one set of dna from the pollen is incorporated into the corn seed and since that dna codes for yellow corn and since yellow is dominant over white, the result is yellow corn kernels. The general rule of thumb is that the seed are affected by the pollen source but the fruit that houses the seed is not. There are examples such as apple that break this rule for specific characters. DarJones

Ok, I did a reasonably thorough Google site search of the Hot Pepper Forum as suggested, and really only found what has been stated by TAMU and spiced_ham. Heat (capsaicinoids) cannot be produced anywhere in the current generation pepper, and particularly not in the seeds, by the cross pollinator. Virtually all other references to the contrary were categorized as 'old wives tales'. I found none that supported the 'tale' when told, though that doesn't necessarily mean they don't exist since I didn't search past 18 pages of results. June '05 (quote) Posted by opqdan z5 OH (My Page) on Wed, Jul 6, 05 at 11:39 The walls and placenta (white part seeds where seeds are attached) of a pepper are made of the same genetic material as the parent plant meaning that the heat level is unaffected by the pollinator. Only the seeds contain a mix of both parents, and if planted can possibly produce a different pepper. (end quote) May '06 (quote) Posted by opqdan z5 NE OH (My Page) on Tue, May 23, 06 at 16:54 Seeds produce no capsaicinoids (the stuff that make peppers hot). The only reason that they are hot is due to their close proximity to the placenta, they absorb some of the capsaicin. Capsaicin is produced in the placental tissue, usually concentrated where the ribs meet the wall. When people remove the seeds, they also tend to remove this material which leads to the false presumption that the seeds are the cause of the heat. The placental tissue only contains maternal tissue. The same as the pepper walls, etc. (end quote)

andyandy: How much heat? Actually, there are many mildly, hot peppers that are sweet if you let them ripen to final color. Jalapeno, serrano, poblano, pasilla, and anaheims to name a few. Hell! Even the Nagas I grew last summer were real sweet. Of course, the focus on flavor went out the door about 30 seconds later...LOL Sunnibel: Yeah. I was just hoping to isolate seed easier. Plant a chinense next to an annuum without the need for netting blooms. Oh well...learn something new every day. Kevin

Yes you are understanding correctly. I am only a second year grower, and to me I thought anything 50,000 and less would not be that bad. I think I got some more reading to do.... She did really enjoy th eJim Nardello and Hungarian Wax peppers last year, as well as the Early California Wonders. Thanks for the help so far.