Gardener123
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Location: 25 miles west of CC Philadelphia

How far away so you don't cross?

I bought some small plants from a guy in California - hot peppers. To insure that his plants don't cross pollinate, and his seeds stay true, he literally plants in yards all over his town.

Just a guess, but he might have planted 20,000 seeds...... he says, in his blog, that even 10 acres is too close to be assured that his plants stay true.

Thoughts?

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rainbowgardener
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Location: TN/GA 7b

Depends on what you want the plants for... If two pepper plants cross pollinate, it does not affect the fruit (peppers) they produce. It only affects the seeds inside those peppers. So if you were to save those seeds and plant them, the next generation pepper plant will be a hybrid.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Haha my sceptic mind said all over town is great but how can he be sure other gardeners in those vicinities weren't growing peppers?

No... if you don have acres, best way to insure peppers (and tomatoes) don't get cross pollinated by visiting insects is to bag the blossoms to exclude them or isolate entire plant in insect screened individual cage.

In hot humid areas they won't set fruits in tiny bags and need larger bags or the more airy cages to avoid clumping pollen and heat-induced blossom drop.

pepperhead212
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Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

I agree with apple - peppers can easily cross by insects, and, while I don't know how far other insects travel, honey bees have been known to travel a couple of miles from their hive regularly, and sometimes much farther, when collecting pollen.

Here is one list, showing didtances needed between plants for seed saving.
https://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/distance_m ... aving_seed
I saw one list, which gave only 500 feet for peppers, which seems far too low, knowing what I do about bees, and I'm sure there are many other insects that forage this far, with no problem.



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