Saving seed from ornamental peppers

14 years ago

Hi everyone,

I grow a variety of ornamental pepper and I always save the seed to share with other people. I usually harvest them in late summer and put them in a 5 gallon bucket with some water and set them out where it's hot to ferment. After 3 to 4 days the peppers get real soft and it's real easy to separate the seed from the rest of the pepper.

This year I was late starting my peppers and they are just now getting ripe but the weather is already cooling off.

Is there a way to get them to ferment without the heat?

Thanks

Jim

Featured Answer

sprouts_honor

14 years ago

Last season, I was tired of cutting open Black Pearl peppers to collect the seeds. So the last few I harvested dried up in a shallow dish on the counter. Months later, it was easy to crush them into dust and collect the seeds. Just becareful not to get the dust on you or inhale it.

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Comments (11)

kj_57701
14 years ago
I don't think I've heard of anybody doing that with Pepper seeds. Just taking them out and leave them on a piece of paper in a dry/moderately warm place like on top of fridge is all it should take. But, it might just be my inexperience that is talking.

Tomato seeds on the other hand......
jim_6b
Original Author
14 years ago
I'm not sure where I got the idea, but it works the same way as tomatoes. I've done it several times before and it works real well, especially if you have a 5 gallon bucket full of small peppers. After 3 or 4 days with the right heat the peppers turn to mush and the seed sink to the bottom.
Jim
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Image by: wintersown There's two ways to save pepper seeds. You can save them from dried peppers or you can save them from fresh peppers too. You need red peppers as they are the ripest and the seeds are generally mature in them. To save them from dried peppers: I take the ripe peppers and place them uncovered in single layers on paper plates. I then put them in a warm and dry location and let them air dry for a period of a few weeks, the peppers and their seeds inside will dessicate (dry out). When the pepper is quite dry and leathery it is ready and can be saved for cooking, or you can give them as holiday gifts for cooks. You run a needle and thread through the dried pepper and tie it onto a gift package as a decorative ornament. You can store the peppers threaded and hung together on a string. The seeds can be then collected when the pepper is cut open and used for cooking. (If you live in a warm and arid climate you can string the ripe peppers together while they're fresh and hang them outdoors to allow them to dessicate in the warm breezes. ) To dry the seeds of ripe fresh peppers cut open the pepper and remove the seeds from the inner white membrane using the end of a kitchen knife to scrape them from the membrane. Place the seeds on an open plate and let them dry for a few days in an out-of-the-way safe location. Stir them every now and then to assure that the bottom layer of the seeds is exposed to the air and that the seeds are evenly dried. After they dry you can store them in paper packets. I urge you to please be cautious when working with hot peppers. Wash your hands several, SEVERAL times with a good strong detergent after touching hot peppers or their seeds. The capsicum oil in the hot peppers can burn the soft tissues of your body, it will hurt very badly if you accidently rub your eyes and that capsicum oil is still on your fingers. You may also use disposable gloves when preparing hot peppers, toss them in the trash after your done in the kitchen, and then wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. Good luck with your peppers seeds! Trudi
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The way I save all my seeds from fruit such as peppers, tomatoes, etc. is quite simple and not at all scientific. LOL! I usually collect seeds from food I'm eating such as salads or sandwiches. So I just tear a paper napkin in half and write the fruit type, where I got it and the date near the top edge. Then I flip the napkin over and write the same information on the bottom edge. Then I flip it back to the first side and picking up some seeds with a spoon place them on the paper then spread them out up near where I wrote the data. Then I fold up the napkin and allow it to dry while I finish my meal. (Now the note from the back side is visible on the top side.) Here are some seeds I saved from an eggplant from the grocery store: When I get home, I put the folded napkin on a window sill to fully dry. When it does, I stick it into a cleaned out 16 ounce plastic yogurt tub marked with the year I collected the seeds. I have several such tubs going back 5 or 6 years. When winter starts to fade, I pry open the napkins and put the seeds into sterile seed starter that is in pairs of small 3 ounce white plastic cups that I buy in bags of 150 for a couple dollars. These are sold as disposable bathroom drinking cups in my local Kroger grocery store. I heat the tip of a cheap Phillips screw driver and melt a hole in the bottom middle of half of the cups. The sterile seed starter goes in these cups. The cups without a hole are where I put the water. This way the seeds, new roots and tender shoots are evenly bottom fed. I use a black Sharpie pen to write the seed information, date I started them etc. on the white plastic. Here is a pair of cups where the seed starter has just started to absorb some of the water from the bottom one: Once the seeds have spouted, the stem grown and real leaves get going, I transfer the plant to pairs of 8 ounce beverage cups that I have prepared in the same manner but with those I use potting soil or Mel's Mix instead of sterile seed starter. When those plants get going I transfer them again to pairs of 16 ounce beverage cups prepared in the same manner. For final containers I decapitate 2 liter plastic soft drink bottles then burn a hole in the bottom of them for drainage. Or the plants are now ready for the garden. Here are various peppers that are happily growing in the manner that I have described: As I said, my method of collecting seeds to grow is not at all scientific but it is fast, simple, cheap and works. Terry Thomas Brookhaven Gardens Brookhaven (Atlanta), Georgia USA Skype: AtlantaTerry
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spiced_ham
14 years ago
Put them in a blender with good bit of water and blend on low for a few seconds. The seeds will sink and you can pour off the pulp.
vic01
14 years ago
Tomato seeds need fermenting, peppers don't. Just take the seeds out and dry them.
jim_6b
Original Author
14 years ago
Just take the seed out of a 5 gallon bucket full of small peppers? I want to share the seed with other people, not spend the rest of the year cutting open hundreds of peppers.:) Like I said above, I have done this before and it works well as long as it is hot outside.
Jim
jessicavanderhoff
14 years ago
Jim, that's good to know for saving large quantities of seed. I always wondered how commercial seed places do it-- I bet they ferment in big drums. Do you have to cut the peppers/tomatoes open before doing it?

You might put the bucket under a cold frame, if you've got one, or cover it in plastic to heat it up. I think clear would work better than black, but I'm not positive. Failing that, I think blending is the best suggestion so far. Might take multiple blender loads, but it sure sounds better than pulling seeds out from 5 gallons of peppers!

Not sure if it's hot enough, but if you could dry them, you could give your friends a dried pepper each and let them fend for themselves. Some people have reported using a dehydrator with good results. I'd definitely test a few and make sure they germinate before risking your whole crop, but it might be worth a try.
spiced_ham
14 years ago
I have fermented tomatoes at room temperature indoors in the winter, so high temperatures are not needed. But you are using a 5 gallon bucket, you could put it in a bathtub full of warm water to bost the temps and get the process going. Precrushing the peppers would help give the microbes more to eat/grow at the outset.
vstarvickie
14 years ago
Total Newbie at peppers (veggie gardening for that matter) here. I grew a bed full of Serrano Peppers which I have started to harvest. So far, so good. Bought the Ball Blue Book and made my first batch of Pepper Jelly, which looks pretty good. Now I'm going overboard, but the peppers were seeded for the jelly, so now I think I can just spread out the seeds on wax paper, dry them for a few days and plant those next year? Newly retired and think I can do it all :) Is drying seeds all that practical, or should I just pitch them and buy new plants in the spring?
spiced_ham
14 years ago
Yes, as long as the serranos were red or nearly so (seeds are mature) and you didn't subject your seeds to high temps in a dehydrator etc they will be fine. If you are uncertain of success just do a germination test between now and then to see what percentage of seeds are going to sprout.
vstarvickie
14 years ago
Thanks Spiced Ham. Will give it a try, the peppers were a beautiful red when I used them :)

Saving seed from ornamental peppers

sprouts_honor

Comments (11)

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Saving seed from ornamental peppers

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