Ok. Next year, hopefully, is my first year of not buying plants, because I couldn't get the one's I wanted this year. I live in a 'Flyover' area so my resources are limited. I bought the best resource book I knew of, and I'm following their directions. I'm Midwestern and hot foods do not appeal to me. I garden mostly by the rules that I was taught by my grandmother in the back yard garden. I am a Master Gardener who learns something new about growing (and sometimes killing things) all the time, and tries to share it. This isn't a competition. I'm just trying to help. Peace. Blue Cat.

I cut open the pods, remove the seeds and membrane, place on a paper towel in a casserole dish place on top of fridge and air dry for at least three weeks before bagging them. You can label the paper towel with the seed type, then add more layers of towels with various seeds. I've read if there is still moisture in the seeds they can be damaged when freezing, so I just place mine in a dark cupboard (I like my beer extra cold so sometimes stuff freezes in the fridge).

David, I will add my 2 cents which along with 2 dollars may buy you a cup of coffee somewhere. I have never isolated tomatoes or peppers. And had never experienced any issues till this year on tomato seeds saved from last season. The pepper seeds I saved from last year that I grew again this year seem to be true. In my opinion the crosses were likely an indirect result of me planting more flowers and beneficial attracting plants in the garden. My plan was to attract the beneficials to control the bad insects. I hardly ever saw a bumble bee ect in my garden before. Now I see them every day. Something including butterflies are checking the blooms all the time. So more likely I will continue to see more crosses unless I isolate or bag blooms. I usually only save seeds from early fruit and fruit inside the plant and not outside fruit more readily available. Last year due to work schedules and also the tomatoes setting late the fruit I saved from were more on the outside of the plant. This is the first cross I have ever experienced from my seed saving. I have several mix up from purchased seeds this year. At least a couple of varieties aren't stable yet. Seed sold before variety was completely stable. I have a couple that are probably F1 crosses and one just maybe mixed seed. All of this was with tomatoes. So far I haven't found any wrong fruit types on the peppers. If you want to cut down on the chance of cross pollination you can do one or a combination of several things. You can isolate by distance. By using barriers like tall buildings, ect. You can bag blooms. You can use a cage over the plants covered with fine mesh small enough most insects can't enter. I'll link a site with some good info. You can do a search and find much more if you desire. Jay Here is a link that might be useful: How to save seeds

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