Chili Seeds?

Question:

I am looking for information about growing chili plants from existing fruit, seed storage and drying to get the seed.

Rajh from Australia

Answer:

Rajh,

Saving chili pepper seeds is easy. You don't mention where you're getting the existing fruit.

If you're getting is from existing plants, allow some peppers to stay on the plants until they pass maturity and start to shrivel up. Then simply remove the seeds (they don't usually require any cleaning), and lay them on a cookie sheet to dry in a warm, dark place. Once fully dry, store them in an airtight container until planting them next season.

Peppers saved from store bought peppers can be saved in the same way. If you are buying peppers from the produce department for seeds, you need to keep two things in mind. First of all, most peppers in the grocery store are hybrids so the seeds may not produce peppers that are true to the parent plant. Second, peppers from the produce department may have been treated with certain chemicals during production.

If you want to start some plants with the goal of saving seeds, stick to heirloom seeds and avoid the hybrids, which may not breed true to their parent type.

Ellen