If you have ever cut up a pepper you have most likely thrown the seeds away. Instead of throwing away these valuable seeds read this post to learn how you can save pepper seeds.
Some Reasons To Save Pepper Seeds
You may be wondering why you should even save your own pepper seeds. There are actually many benefits to saving your own seeds!
Free Seeds
The most obvious reason to save your own seeds is the money you will save. Instead of buying new seeds every year you can save your own at very little cost to you.
Better Germination
I have always found that the seeds that I have saved germinate better than store bought. If you ever have trouble with getting your peppers to germinate maybe your saved seeds will do better.
Better Plants
When you save seeds from your plants year after year they will acclimate to your climatic conditions. If you notice a plant that does exceptionally well in your garden save those seeds for better plants in the future.
Choose specific traits
If you really like hot peppers save seeds from the plants that taste the hottest. You could also save seeds from pepper plants that produce bigger peppers.
When you save your own seeds you can find your favorite plant characteristics and grow them over and over.
What Type Of Peppers Can I Save Seeds From
Before you save any pepper seeds you need to figure if you are growing hybrid or heirloom peppers. You should not save seeds form hybrid pepper plants.
If you attempt to save seeds from hybrid plants they will most likely not germinate. It is best to just save seeds form plants that are classified as heirloom or open-pollinated.
If your seed packet or plant label says hybrid or F1 then you cannot save these seeds.
Pepper Varieties to Grow
Here are a few heirloom/open-pollinated pepper varieties that I like to grow in my garden.
King of The North - Bell Pepper
This plant produces large, red bell peppers. I really like this variety because it does well in cooler short-summer climates like mine.
Cayenne Long Slim
This cayenne pepper variety has done amazingly well even in my cool climate. These plants grow tall and bushy with peppers all over. These peppers can be used fresh or dried to make cayenne powder.
Step-by-step guide to saving pepper seeds
Follow these steps for saving your own pepper seeds. Warning: Be careful when saving seeds from hot peppers. Wear gloves, make sure to wash your hands after handling them, and don't touch your eyes.
Step 1. Ripe Peppers
It is very important to pick peppers when they are at the peak of their ripeness. If you pick peppers before they are completely ripe the seeds will not be mature.
It is best to wait until the pepper has turned to its ripe color completely. For instance, I am saving cayenne pepper seeds so the peppers should be completely red.
Step 2. Harvesting Peppers
Once you see that the peppers are ripe you can begin harvesting them off the plant. Simply cut the stems off and bring the peppers inside.
Step 3. Harvest the seeds
The next step is getting the seeds out of the pepper. If you are saving seeds from large peppers (like bell peppers) you can simply cut the pepper open and scrape the seeds out.
If you are saving the seeds from a small pepper, like a cayenne, you can either cut the pepper open and retrieve the seeds or dry the pepper whole.
Here I have dried the whole pepper before getting the seeds out. Once you have dried the pepper you can crush it and separate the seeds from the pepper.
Step 4. Drying the Seeds
Pepper seeds (like all seeds) need to be dried before they can be stored. Since pepper seeds are already pretty dry they don't need to dry for long.
I dry my seeds on an old window screen and it only takes two to three weeks for the seeds to be completely dry.
Your seeds are ready for storage when they are very brittle and can be snapped (not bent) in half.
Step 5. Storing the seeds
Through the whole process you should keep track of the seeds if you are saving multiple varieties. Once your seeds are ready for storage here is what you should do.
You can store the seeds in these free printable seed packets. Simply pour the seeds into a seed packet and label it with the seed name and date.
Now the seeds can be stored in a cool and dry place for use in next year's garden. Here is the best way to store your seeds for longevity.
What about isolation distances
You may have heard that peppers need to be isolated so that the plants don't cross pollinate. While peppers can cross pollinate I have never had an issue with this.
Peppers have perfect flowers which means that most of the time the flower pollinates itself without the help of an insect. Because of this, the peppers usually don't cross with other plants.
If you do want to isolate your peppers they should be isolated over 300 hundred feet for each variety. Most gardeners do not have that space, and it is okay to not isolate your plants.
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