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Old July 10, 2014   #16
Dutch
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Originally Posted by rnewste View Post
Ray,

Several of the above posts talked about relatively poor germination rates. I was wondering if the OxiClean method might "clean" and preserve the seeds better - thus improving germination percentage the following year.

Raybo
Raybo, I have tried Oxiclean on several batches and weak Bleach on others. Each will greatly reduce germination. Using both on the same batch of seeds kills them, zero germination.
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Old July 13, 2014   #17
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Thanks to kayrobbins - I'm going to use your soaking in water method this year to aid in germination %. I usually just dry on a coffee filter for a month, but your way sounds better.
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Old September 13, 2014   #18
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Originally Posted by kayrobbins View Post
I put my seeds in water and let them soak for about an hour. The good seeds will fall to the bottom and the bad seeds will float on the top. Pour those off and put the good seeds in a strainer and rinse several times. Put the seeds on a coffee filter to dry. Let them sit at least 15 days before storing. I know some people think that is extra work but I am a contract seed grower and when the seed company did the germination test last year it was 100%. It is worth the extra effort.
I am going to use this method today. Thank you for your advice.
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Old September 16, 2014   #19
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Has anyone purposely tried to save seeds from full sized yet still green bell peppers? I know prevalent wisdom is that the pepper should be red ripe to insure viability of seeds, and normally that's what I do.

I've been growing out TGS's Big Early and have an F3 or F4 (have to re-check records) hybrid pepper that is twice the length of a normal bell. But I intend to eat this thing now, instead of letting it get red and leathery. It's just starting to get some red streaks, so I know it's done growing. Unfortunately, the other peppers on the plant are smaller and chances are won't get red ripe before frost.

I'm going to save the stem with core attached and let them air dry naturally. I'll start a large number of it's seeds next spring and see what percentage I get to sprout. If I get 0 -- guess I'll be a believer. Sometimes I just need to see for myself.
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Old September 16, 2014   #20
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Originally Posted by ddsack View Post
Has anyone purposely tried to save seeds from full sized yet still green bell peppers? I know prevalent wisdom is that the pepper should be red ripe to insure viability of seeds, and normally that's what I do.

I've been growing out TGS's Big Early and have an F3 or F4 (have to re-check records) hybrid pepper that is twice the length of a normal bell. But I intend to eat this thing now, instead of letting it get red and leathery. It's just starting to get some red streaks, so I know it's done growing. Unfortunately, the other peppers on the plant are smaller and chances are won't get red ripe before frost.

I'm going to save the stem with core attached and let them air dry naturally. I'll start a large number of it's seeds next spring and see what percentage I get to sprout. If I get 0 -- guess I'll be a believer. Sometimes I just need to see for myself.
Dee, see post #6 from Fusion_Power, because that is exactly how he does it, and I did it recently, got 96% germination. Seems to work well.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=225
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Old September 16, 2014   #21
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Has anyone purposely tried to save seeds from full sized yet still green bell peppers? I know prevalent wisdom is that the pepper should be red ripe to insure viability of seeds, and normally that's what I do.
I got some fresh green "Shi★★★★o" peppers from a local sushi joint, to save seeds from. The waitperson was surprised that I wanted an order of the peppers not to be cooked for me, but they went with it.

The seeds that are too immature will quickly dry into insignificant brown flakes. The seeds that are mature enough will dry without shrinking (much). The closer to blushing or ripe the pepper is, the more of the seeds will be sufficiently mature.

In the peppers I got, maybe a fourth of the seeds were sufficiently mature.

In the general case, a fruit won't start ripening until most of the seeds are mature. Since your pepper is showing red streaks, I'd expect the seeds to be in good shape.
---

well, oopsie on the vulgarity filter. here's a link to the peppers, with the full name unhidden.

Last edited by Darren Abbey; September 16, 2014 at 07:03 PM. Reason: adding url.
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Old September 17, 2014   #22
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Thanks, Marsha and Darren for the advice and the links! I'm glad to know my seeds have a good chance of success. When I looked at my pepper, it now has more red than green on it, so I think it should work well. Would love to reproduce this size again, but since I don't bag peppers (yet) - with my luck it's gonna be crossed with some small thing. Oh well, the fun is in the discovery.
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Old November 14, 2014   #23
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As an experiment, I recently tried this with some produce-stand cubanelles & green bells. The cubanelle was not completely red - I figured that it started ripening while it was sitting in the bin as opposed to on the vine.

On 11/06/14 I took seeds directly from the peppers (no drying), and sowed the seeds in potting mix, three seeds to a cell, with the cells in a covered container. The container was kept at about 80F. I sowed two cells of cubanelles, and two cells of green bells. As of 11/13/14, two seeds of the three have sprouted in each cell of the cubanelles. No activity on the bells.

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Old June 8, 2015   #24
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Originally Posted by kayrobbins View Post
I put my seeds in water and let them soak for about an hour. The good seeds will fall to the bottom and the bad seeds will float on the top. Pour those off and put the good seeds in a strainer and rinse several times. Put the seeds on a coffee filter to dry. Let them sit at least 15 days before storing. I know some people think that is extra work but I am a contract seed grower and when the seed company did the germination test last year it was 100%. It is worth the extra effort.
I'm basically just bumping this thread I wanted to remember what Kay wrote above. Saving Jimmy Nordello seeds.
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Old July 1, 2015   #25
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just a quick question on bell pepper seeds, I've got 4 color types right now growing well, red -yellow-orange -and green, if I save the seeds from these peppers say the yellow, will the peppers I grow from these next year be yellow also? same with all the colors too? -----thanks tom
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Old July 1, 2015   #26
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When in a farmers market, I am not above taking a shriveled pepper off the floor or the trash or even the counter on occasion - I do ask when it is on the counter. I let it dry well, and then remove the seeds, dry them on a plate for a couple of weeks, and they are good to go.

When I like the flavor, I also secretly remove seeds from my dinner plate, such as the Thai Prik in Bangkok, and dry and plant them. Obviously, if the seeds have been cooked, they are dead, but often I find that the seeds germinate perfectly well. I also take seeds from condiments on occasion, and they also germinate.

I also take fresh peppers from salad buffets, such as the Malawi Kambuzi, and do the same.
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Old July 1, 2015   #27
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just a quick question on bell pepper seeds, I've got 4 color types right now growing well, red -yellow-orange -and green, if I save the seeds from these peppers say the yellow, will the peppers I grow from these next year be yellow also? same with all the colors too? -----thanks tom
Are all these colors from the same variety? If yes, then only harvest seeds from the red fruits, seeds from the other colors will be immature. (And, depending on the variety, you may need to let the red fruit to get to the "leathery" stage to get the best seed... but if you don't know if the variety will get leathery or not, that may mean letting a red pepper sit on the plant so long that it rots, and that's how you learn if it's got a leathery stage or not.)
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Old July 1, 2015   #28
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the seeds I planted are-early sensation hybrid- yellow-----better belle II hybrid-green----red beauty hybrid-red----orange blaze hybrid- orange. so are all these eventually just going to turn red?
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Old April 12, 2017   #29
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Originally Posted by kayrobbins View Post
I put my seeds in water and let them soak for about an hour. The good seeds will fall to the bottom and the bad seeds will float on the top. Pour those off and put the good seeds in a strainer and rinse several times. Put the seeds on a coffee filter to dry. Let them sit at least 15 days before storing. I know some people think that is extra work but I am a contract seed grower and when the seed company did the germination test last year it was 100%. It is worth the extra effort.
Thank you Kay! Your method has worked very well for me. Sometimes I have had more that floated than sank, but germination tests on those floaters have proven to me that they are for the most part duds, and not viable. Thank again!
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Last edited by Dutch; April 12, 2017 at 10:11 PM. Reason: Grammar
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