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So my boys and I were goofing around last night with some habenaro peppers. We bought three of em from the grocery store. Surprisingly enough the were pretty decent quality and were not all wrinkled up.

My question is this....

I want to harvest the seeds and try to grow a couple of them. How do I go about it? Can I just cut em open and replant as I would a seed that I have purchased?

I have seen where you harvest them and do the nearly mold growing wait, but I think that is for saving the seeds for a long time right?

Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks.

T.M.H.

TMH,

Pepper seed saving is usually pretty straight forward... Remove the seeds from the pods, paper towel dry, spread on the paper plate and let them air dry, one to two weeks.

Here is more detailed/illustrated article: https://www.thechileman.org/guide_seedsaving.php

Couple things to keep in mind, careful with NOT touching your eyes or face (but you already new that), and depending on the variety of peppers, you may have a Hybrid in your hands, and future fruits from the seeds you save may not be true to original.

Have fun!

Regards,
D

Thank you very much! I greatly appreciate the advice and will begin hehe.

T.M.H

My orange Habs are from seed saved from the grocerystore. No problem. I even grow some stuff saved from dried packaged peppers, although not all seed from such packages are viable. You need to test them.


Two other ways to get seed from hot peppers instead of picking the seeds out of the membranes by hand.

1) You can remove the whole "seed ball" and ferment /rot the seeds off of the placental tissue in a bit of water for a few days like you would for tomatoes.


2) You can put the pepers in a blender on low with lots of water. This way is good for getting seed from little ornamental peppers. The floating flesh/gunk pours off and the clean seeds are left behind.

Thanks for more great advice. If I harvest the seeds today, do they have to dry first or can I plant them now?

T.M.H.

I've always just planted them directly, skipping the drying stage - I have fairly decent rates with market peppers that way. (In fact, it's how I came by all of the peppers I'm currently growing).

I bought some of the nice orange and big yellow sweet pepprs just for the seeds because the seeds were worth more than the pepper. Took the seeds and dried them and most grew quite well! Actually I think hot peppers germnate better than the sweet!

As Lorax, I've started sweet pepper plants few times from fresh seeds of the store bought peppers, no troubles at all (though never really compared directly to the dried seeds germination).

As for Hot pepper seeds vs. sweet/bell pepper seeds, I tend to believe the opposite in most cases (strictly based on my experiences). Some varieties of hot can be very finicky to germinate imo...

Regards,
D

As soon as I get back home I am going to make a bit of salsa then plant them seeds up and see what happens. I am not a huge fan of them but there are a few guys at work that love em. So I will give away whatever I have grossness anyhow.

Thanks for all the advice.

T.M.H

I think the proper way is to remove the seeds, let them dry out for a week on paper towels and then put them in small/mini labeled zip-lock baggies.

but I just let mine dry for 24hrs - 48hrs then put them in the mini labeled zip-lock baggies, I personally have never had an issue doing it this way. and I have harvested from lots of different store bought peppers from the produce section.

but it's true that you may end up with hybrids and not the original plants..

just my 2 cents

I am ok with ending up with a hybrid. That donnt bother me so much. Really all Tue peppers from this little experiment are goin to be given away anyhow. Its more of just to see if I can get it to work or not.

T.M.H.

Ruffsta wrote:I think the proper way is to remove the seeds, let them dry out for a week on paper towels and then put them in small/mini labeled zip-lock baggies.

I would avoid the baggies if you are storing seed for very long. Tends to collect moisture inside which is very bad for seeds. I keep my seeds in paper envelopes.

rainbowgardener wrote:

Ruffsta wrote:I think the proper way is to remove the seeds, let them dry out for a week on paper towels and then put them in small/mini labeled zip-lock baggies.

I would avoid the baggies if you are storing seed for very long. Tends to collect moisture inside which is very bad for seeds. I keep my seeds in paper envelopes.

Thanks. I was just going to grab some bagies lol. I will give the envelopes a go. I harvested two habanero peppers last night. I am going to try to get five or so of them going then save the rest for next year.

Sealed in the envelope, and placed in my drawer downstairs they should be ok right? Its about 60 down there year round.

Thanks.

T.M.H.

I am not trying to contradict rainbowgardener by any means (he has more experience than I do) but just saying how I personally do it and what works for me. and thanks to the people on here I have learned a few things and will continue to improve my gardening skills.

mine in are my room next to me and my setup (and some downstairs in the kitchen cabinet), never seen any moisture in them.

I couldn't find the paper ones when I went to staples, so I just got the baggies (nice deal on them too btw)..

tmh, keep them in a dark cool place (like a cabinet or draw) - you should be fine.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I do greatly appreciate it.

As for the Habaneros that so kindly donated theirs seeds for me last night I made an experimental batch if Pineapple Habanero Salsa. I could have used one more pepper as it was not all that hot. I did cut out the membrane inside, so this could have effected the heat levels on the salsa.

Next time one more pepper I think...

T.M.H.

TMH,

The membrane is the hottest part! I've got about 450 grams of dried peppers, everything from Paprika (which is surprisingly hot, to cayennes, jalapenoes, habaneros and others to Bhut Jolokias. I intend to grind it up and make spice blends.

If the ground ever thaws (Memorial Day?) I should have a couple pounds of horseradish roots to harvest. Last year was the second year for most of the plants so I'm hoping for enough to make at least a quart.

I love HR - great in soups, meatloaf, on sandwiches (especially pork!).

Mike

Yeah, I was a little scared that I was going to make it to hot. Now that I am a bit more familiar with it I think next time I will just scrape the seeds and leave some of the membrane.

T.M.H.