Re: [CH] Saving Seeds, etc.
Mike Benson (mbens@execpc.com)
Thu, 20 Sep 2001 09:43:38 -0500
> Time for a dumb question-- I thought that peppers cross-pollinated.
> So the seeds that you get from your jalapeno plants might grow
> plants that're jalapeno x some other pepper.
>
> Is that correct? If so, how can someone growing a couple
> beds worth of peppers save true-breeding seed?
> Hand pollination?
You are correct. Most peppers cross very easily. I suspect that the seeds in
many of these seed trades that you see going on are far from "true" seeds.
Even if you are growing only one type of pepper, you can still get cross
pollination from your neighbor or his neighbor. Hand pollination alone will
not prevent crosses. You have to isolate the flower(s). If you are hand
pollinating, you need to make sure to isolate the flower before it opens to
prevent pollination before the hand pollination. Then you have to keep it
isolated so that no other pollination occurs after the hand pollination.
Isolation is usually done by placing netting around the plant (or a branch), or
placing a screened cage around the entire plant. A greenhouse also works if
there are no bugs. Even with netting or cages, there is still a slight risk of
cross pollination by wind.
In my pepper patch, I barely have time to keep the weeds out, much less
maintain a bunch of netting or build cages, etc. So I never seem to get around
to the seed saving part of gardening. Not have true seed is especially
frustrating when you only grow one or two plants of each pepper cultivar, which
is usually the case for me, and the reason I don't save any of my own seed.
Maybe next year.
Mike Benson