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Post by glen on Aug 29, 2020 22:43:37 GMT -6
As all of you know by now I have been experimenting with chili pepper seed saving. I have had successes and failures. I have been growing many variety's of chili peppers. I have settled on a few variety's mostly super-hot Bhut Jolokia or Ghost peppers. They go by many names. Seed saving is critical for success. Super-hot chili pepper seeds are very expensive now. They are pretty much unavailable here in Panama. So you need to know how to save seed. It's not talked about in much detail online. Now, there is a difference in what needs to be done to save super-hot pepper seed compared to normal chili or pimiento pepper seed saving. The problem I have run into is mildew that forms on the seed after you try to dry it. This mildew kills the seed. This is disastrous. Sweet peppers do not need the same attention to detail.
So, here is my method.
Wear surgical gloves. If you want wear rubber gloves over the surgical gloves. You will only make the mistake of not doing this once.
Wash your peppers. Put them in a big container filled with water. Agitate them in the water. Discard water and repeat until the peppers are clean to your satisfaction.
Divide up the chili peppers by variety. Work on one variety at a time. You need to stay organized so seed is not mixed.
Split the peppers. Cut out all the placenta's and place them in a bowl or tray.
Use a knife or some kind of probe in each hand. Use one tool to hold the placenta in place while you use a scraper or knife of some kind to scrape the seed off the placenta. Discard the placenta. This is a tedious job. Take your time.
Once this is done it is time to wash the seed. This is an important part of the job. You must wash the pepper juice off these seeds. Super hot pepper juice stains the seed and also attracts mildew and fungus.
In a large salad bowl fill it half way with water. Pour a little bleach in this water. Just a little. An oz or so.
Use a screen colander. Put the seed in the colander then agitate this seed in the bleach water for about 20 seconds or a little more. Change the water. Use clean water. Agitate the seed for a minute or so. Change the water. Agitate the seed again for a minute. This does 2 things. It washes all the pepper juice off the seed and also kills bacteria. Gives the seed a better chance of surviving after it germinates. Less damping off.
Shake off the water.
Transfer the seed to a tray and put in front of a fan over nite.
Then put the seed somewhere so it can completely dry for the next 10 to 14 days.
Don't forget to label the seed also.
Once the seed is dry store in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator. The seed should be a nice lighter color with very few seeds that are dark in color. The dark in color seeds need to be discarded if there are any.
If you want to freeze seed let it dry longer. It must be completely dry before you freeze seed. I don't freeze mine any longer since I have messed up some seed. But, freezing is doable if done correctly.
There are many ways to dry seed. My way is the result of my own personal trials and error. Believe me, I have messed up my share of seed. If you follow my method you are way ahead of the game.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 30, 2020 20:57:31 GMT -6
How did you know I was just about to need some pepper seed saving advice?
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Post by glen on Aug 31, 2020 18:03:17 GMT -6
Another tip. You know those foam trays that they sell meat in at the super-market? Save a few of those. They make great seed drying trays. The size I use for pepper seed saving is about 4 inches by 8 inches with fairly low sides. I keep about 10 of them for pepper seed saving. If you have a lot of variety's of seed to save they are perfect for this. I label the trays with a paper tag held down with a nickel or some kind of weight.
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Post by glen on Sept 15, 2020 22:21:43 GMT -6
Bon, I am very glad you are experimenting and learning. That's how we all learn. Now, about the seed. You have to throw away any dark in color seed when you split the pepper. Separate the seed from the placenta. If the seed is a sweet pepper you really don't need to wash the seed. In fact, not everyone does this. I don't really too often wash sweet pepper seed for example. Now, if you are growing a hotter pepper and they are juicy inside and the seeds are covered over in hot chili oil, it is a good idea to wash to seed. Some people don't do this. I have to do this because my climate is very humid and the pepper juice attracts mold and mildew. If you really never have noticed this mold you don't need to wash your seed. Once mold gets on the seed, it will kill the seed though. Its a real bad problem for me here in Panama. Also, some people dehydrate the seed in an oven. I don't like to do that because my oven is not trust worthy. It gets too hot. So, I wash the seed. Oh, use bleach sparingly. Only a little in your wash water. Agitate the seed in a strainer for just about 20 seconds. Repeat in clean water. Then I put the seed in a tray in front of a fan. The next morning the seed coat is nice and dry and the seeds are that nice clean light color that you want your seed to be. It should stay this color for the next 2 to 3 weeks while the seed is fully drying. Once the seed is dry, pack it in a sandwich bag, label it of course and put it in your seed saving bag in the fridge. Make sure the bag is not somewhere where it can freeze. If you want to freeze your seed, it might need to be extra dry so let it dry longer before putting it in the freezer.
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Post by glen on Sept 15, 2020 22:30:49 GMT -6
Ok, basic pepper growing in pots. I like to grow my peppers in pots. If your sun is extremely intense you need to place your peppers somewhere that they can get shade. Not total shade. Diffuse shade. This is going to vary. I live in Panama so the sun is real intense. You have to experiment with this to find the perfect place. If you are growing your peppers in rows in the garden they can take more sun. However, they still like a little diffuse sun if its real hot and bright in your back yard. Also, it depends on variety. All peppers have different requirements. You have to work with the peppers to see what they like. Failing is not bad. As long as you learn something about what not to do next time. We all fail. But, a good gardener just try's something different for next time. Also, another reason I like to grow peppers in pots is that I can move them. If I see that a pepper is suffering I can move it to some shade. Or, I can move it out of the wind. If you are going to plant in pots don't forget to add organic material to the soil. Soil must have drainage or you are going to have root rot. Just take notes when you are growing peppers for each variety if you need to. Like I said, each variety needs different care. Ask Ron and George for tips on what variety's to grow. I suggest tobasco. Ajicito. Thai hot. Smaller sweet peppers. Jalepeno. Things like that. You will have lots of success growing these variety's.
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Post by macmex on Sept 16, 2020 7:24:34 GMT -6
Bon, I suspect the problem is environmental, perhaps lack of air, but more likely a lot of humidity. Like Glen said, one has to experiment a bit, as both locales and varieties differ. In most North American gardens I believe peppers really like to receive afternoon sun.
I have never used bleach to process pepper seeds, nor have I washed the seed. I just separate the seed from the placenta and dry it. Direct sunshine is good, if you can avoid too much wind or animal interference. I certainly don't think that Glen's bleach treatment would hurt anything as he's dealing with extreme humidity, but over doing it (too strong or too long exposure) with the bleach might damage it. When we lived at 7500' elevation in Central Mexico, my seeds expired at an astonishing rate, due to the humidity (cold rain forest).
Like Glen said, gloves are a must.
One cannot overemphasize the importance of getting the seed fully dry. I like to spread mine on newspaper, wax paper or paper plates (ALWAYS LABELED) and let it set of weeks and weeks. I'd say three weeks as a minimum. Better yet, a month, and that, on a very warm sun porch. This is even more important with large seed, like beans. Don't be in a hurry to seal them up.
Here's an article with some information on long term storage of seed.
Long Term Storage of Seed
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Post by glen on Sept 16, 2020 14:15:50 GMT -6
This is an additional comment about shade and peppers. When growing peppers in pots the main issue is that the pot gets very hot in the sun. This is why you must give them partial shade during days when the sun is bright, hot and intense. When you plant in the ground, you can mulch the soil to hold down the heat. You are basically shading the soil around the plant with the mulch. You can use card board like George does, and hay, or anything you want to use. I personally grow most of my peppers in pots. Also, if you have ever watched video's of Indian pepper gardens you will notice that many farmers use grow bags. They don't use expensive plastic pots like I use. They use sacks. They use sacks that look like burlap bags. George, what kind of sacks do you guys have that could be filled with soil to grow peppers and tomato's? I know you have them. This would be cheap, effective and economical. You would need grow bags that could hold 3 to 5 gallons of soil at least. You could set the bags in an efficient pattern in the yard, fill them with enriched soil and plant your tomato's and peppers. Also, you can try growing plants using the shade of tree's etc in the yard. You might need partial shade during the hottest months of the summer.
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Post by rdback on Sept 17, 2020 20:16:15 GMT -6
...I like to use coffee filters. I dump my seeds upon 2 or 3 coffee filters to begin drying. After so many hours, I fold up one labeled filter around the seeds into a type of envelope and then I pin it to my wall...
This kinda concerns me Bon. The coffee filter is going to absorb moisture and remain damp. Keeping that dampness in contact with the seeds and the lack of air circulation might promote mold and even seed germination.
I would spread the seeds out on something non-porous, like the Styrofoam trays Glen mentioned. Personally, I use the plastic lids off hummus containers lol.
If it's still really humid, the fan is a good idea. However, this time of the year humidity is coming down. I haven't found the fan to be needed here in VA.
jmo
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Post by glen on Sept 18, 2020 12:22:08 GMT -6
Bon, if you are getting mold on your seeds and it is dry in your house which means low humidity, something is wrong. Don't use coffee filters to dry seed. Make sure and rinse the seed in water before drying. Use a plate or something neutral to dry the seed. Rick made some good points. Try following Ricks advice. Don't continue with the coffee filters if you are seeing moldy seed. Its Ok to experiment but don't repeat old mistakes and expect different results.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2020 13:22:01 GMT -6
It is possible the filters are contaminated some how before I even use them - either from their opened package rubbing up against something in the cabinet (most likely) or contaminated from manufacture somehow. Trying a different surface is worth a try. Sterilizing it before setting the seeds is something I might do as well because of this dusty old house.
Many of my peppers are juuuus about to turn red and there are quite a few. I should have the opportunity to do a small controlled sample pretty soon. As long as the seeds are not rotten inside the pods.
Found a few more pods that were showing rot today. I should not go on too much about this, because I don't have labels on my peppers.
It does give me pause to set things up in a deliberate and more well defined methodology for next year. I'll buy some fresh seeds to start and plant along old or harvested seeds from my stock and compare.
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Post by glen on Sept 18, 2020 14:37:00 GMT -6
Bon, if you are going to save seed with peppers you also need to consider that most of your Annuum peppers will cross in the garden. It is very important that you isolate the blooms. An easy way to do this is to use Elmers glue. When you see a young plant start blooming you use the cap on the elmers glue bottle and squirt glue into the cap. Then dip the bloom tip into the glue. This is a bloom that has not opened. Mark the bloom. Do this on at least 5 or 6 blooms and make sure and mark all of them. A good way to mark them is to use a straw. Cut the straw into little collars and cut slice in the collar so you can slip the collar onto the bloom stem. This way you know which blooms have been isolated. You will get seed that is true doing this. If you don't somehow isolate the plants you will have a frustrating experience with seed saving pepper.
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Post by glen on Sept 18, 2020 15:45:31 GMT -6
Bon, watch this video for easy method of seed saving. This is an isolation video. He uses little mesh bags.
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Post by glen on Sept 18, 2020 15:46:57 GMT -6
I have to make my own mesh bags. I have the material. I plan to use elmers glue to try sealing the edges of the bag. I bought the mesh screen material from the sewing shop. It was like 1 dollar per square yard.
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Post by glen on Sept 18, 2020 15:48:39 GMT -6
I cant find a video on using elmers glue to isolate the bloom. For large quantity's of seed you use a huge screen bag and cover the entire branch or the entire plant.
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Post by glen on Sept 18, 2020 15:53:15 GMT -6
If you do this correctly and you have desirable variety's you can sell your seed because you know it is pure seed. Selling seed that you do not know is pure is not a good idea. Even giving away seed that is crossed when you tell someone it is pure is not a good idea. People get pissed off at you. So, I am going to try and be more responsible in the future about isolating my blossoms. Something really bad is when you are growing something like Chili Rayado. This is a very special variety. You do not want anything to cross with this pepper. Imperative that we keep it pure. Especially if we are sharing seed with our friends. They may not stay friends much longer if we don't. Nothing could be worse than having those pesky jalepeno's having sex with our Chili Rayado's!!
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