I had always thought peppers were quite likely to cross pollinate. So, in order to save pure seed for growing peppers in future years, I thought the plants or flowers needed to be isolated to prevent bees from mixing the DNA with nearby peppers. There have also been multiple threads on this site where folks discuss the odd peppers they have growing, and knowledgeable posters advise that the pepper seeds must have been from peppers whose flowers where cross pollinated the year before.

However, I have been going down rabbit holes online and found several (at least three today) sites that are recommending simply saving seeds from the mature peppers you harvest from your diverse pepper patch. This includes the "Pepper Geek" site, which I thought was pretty scientifically rigorous.

What actual experience do any of you have when attempting to grow seeds saved from peppers which have not been isolated, but have been grown near other peppers?

Martha