how best to save hot pepper seeds (w/o removing from pods yet)?

[mitch landen]

I bought a nice quantity of all sorts of hot peppers at a farmer's market this weekend. I'm wondering: can I dry the peppers in a "food dryer" -- fairly low heat -- for several days w/o killing the seeds? I'd like to save seeds for planting next spring.

If I don't dry the pods, can I just place the peppers in a paper bag and store them in the frig's crisper?

Thx much for any ideas/suggestions, etc ....

Mitch

 

[so lucky]

My peppers I save are not hot ones, but the method is probably the same. I just cut the peppers open when I want to serve them, and remove the seeds. I place them in paper towels till they are dry, then put in a pill bottle. Just be sure the seeds are nice and dry before you store them, so they don't rot.
Storing the seeds in a small paper bag or envelope would probably work too. However, if you plan on storing in the fridge/freezer, you need to use something air tight, because they could draw moisture.

 

[digitS']

When I save seeds, I'm fairly obsessive about their being dry before storage.

It sounds like @so lucky is too. But, I probably go a bit further. This area has humidity levels below 20% nearly every summer afternoon. Weeks pass with no rain. Still, I set seeds out for weeks of air and sun exposure.

I suppose that we are "curing" the seed. The seeds have living plants inside. For that reason, I would be very careful about heat above normal summer temperatures.

Steve

 

[Zeedman]

I bought a nice quantity of all sorts of hot peppers at a farmer's market this weekend. I'm wondering: can I dry the peppers in a "food dryer" -- fairly low heat -- for several days w/o killing the seeds? I'd like to save seeds for planting next spring.

If I don't dry the pods, can I just place the peppers in a paper bag and store them in the frig's crisper?

Thx much for any ideas/suggestions, etc ....

Mitch

Regarding drying peppers in a food dehydrator, I would recommend against it. Even at low temperatures, most dehydrators will exceed 100 F. degrees, which can weaken or destroy most seeds. Before making such an attempt, you could place a thermometer in the dehydrator at the lowest setting, to verify its actual temperature. And if the temperature was low enough to safely dry seed, that would probably not be enough heat to dry the whole peppers before some of them spoiled.

Likewise, if you store peppers in the fridge, they - and their seeds - would almost certainly spoil before Spring. The longest I've been able to store peppers in the fridge is December, about 3 months after harvest. A few hot pepper varieties might last longer than that, but IMO its not worth the gamble.

The great thing about peppers is that you can remove seeds for saving as @so lucky mentioned, and still eat or dehydrate the pepper itself. This is fairly easy for most varieties, with a couple precautions.

Be sure to use good, high-mil rubber gloves when opening hot peppers, such you will find in a hardware store. The thin dollar-store varieties will not provide enough protection. If the peppers are still juicy, the chemical which causes peppers to taste hot (capsaicin) will penetrate the gloves, and your hands (and any part of your body you touch afterward) will feel the burn. I & several of my friends all learned that lesson the hard way, we all laugh about it & share horror stories.

Also, be aware that when wet, hot peppers can give off fumes. If you have respiratory issues, or just don't like coughing & sneezing, clean peppers in a place with good ventilation. Temperatures permitting, outdoors is best; but I also clean (or powder) hot peppers under the stove exhaust hood... provided the vent exhausts outside, that works well.

Once the seeds are removed, dry them on newsprint or other clean paper. Once dry, any clinging flesh which may be attached to the seed, will usually remain on the paper when the seeds are removed. For some thin-walled hot peppers (such as a Thai pepper I grew this year) I remove the stem & cut them in half lengthwise to dry, seeds and all. This is best done under a fan, or in an area with good air flow - such as a garage. The seeds can easily be removed once the peppers have dried.

Pepper seeds are dry enough for storage when they break in half under pressure, rather than bend. Like @digitS' , I leave the seeds out until the ambient humidity has lowered - which naturally occurs here in early Winter, when the forced-air heat is running. When the sweater starts sparking, the humidity is low enough, and the seeds can be stored in jars, freezer bags, or other air-tight containers.

This process is not really as hard as it sounds; peppers are actually one of the easiest seeds to save, once the basic precautions have been taken.

 

[digitS']

Hot peppers readily dry, hanging on strings. I use a slip knot when hanging peppers so it can be tightened a little as the stems dry and shrink.

Off topic: Mom wasn't a fan of pepper heat. Peppers came into our house in the form of Tabasco sauce .

I was in my mid-20's before I did anything with actual hot peppers. I'd grown some cayenne. Funny that subsequently, I had trouble with this variety because it benefits from better pepper-growing weather than I could offer it but I had some that first year.

I can still remember heating the oil in my cast iron skillet and thinking that I should toss in the pepper flakes before adding the chopped onion. I think I managed to get the double handful of onion in the pan but that first wave of pepper fumes rising from the hot oil ... !

I got the outside door open and there was about a foot of snow on the ground. I was so relieved to see the snow! I just fell full-length and face first into that lovely, white, cold, wet snow. Oh, what a relief!

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Regarding drying peppers in a food dehydrator, I would recommend against it. Even at low temperatures, most dehydrators will exceed 100 F. degrees, which can weaken or destroy most seeds. Before making such an attempt, you could place a thermometer in the dehydrator at the lowest setting, to verify its actual temperature. And if the temperature was low enough to safely dry seed, that would probably not be low enough heat to dry the whole peppers before some of then spoiled.

Likewise, if you store peppers in the fridge, they - and their seeds - would almost certainly spoil before Spring. The longest I've been able to store peppers in the fridge is December, about 3 months after harvest. A few hot pepper varieties might last longer than that, but IMO its not worth the gamble.

The great thing about peppers is that you can remove seeds for saving as @so lucky mentioned, and still eat or dehydrate the pepper itself. This is fairly easy for most varieties, with a couple precautions.

Be sure to use good, high-mil rubber gloves when opening hot peppers, such you will find in a hardware store. The thin dollar-store varieties will not provide enough protection. If the peppers are still juicy, the chemical which causes peppers to taste hot (capsaicin) will penetrate the gloves, and your hands (and any part of your body you touch afterward) will feel the burn. I & several of my friends all learned that lesson the hard way, we all laugh about it & share horror stories.

Also, be aware that when wet, hot peppers can give off fumes. If you have respiratory issues, or just don't like coughing & sneezing, clean peppers in a place with good ventilation. Temperatures permitting, outdoors is best; but I also clean (or powder) hot peppers under the stove exhaust hood... provided the vent exhausts outside, that works well.

Once the seeds are removed, dry them on newsprint or other clean paper. Once dry, any clinging flesh which may be attached to the seed, will usually remain on the paper when the seeds are removed. For some thin-walled hot peppers (such as a Thai pepper I grew this year) I remove the stem & cut them in half lengthwise to dry, seeds and all. This is best done under a fan, or in an area with good air flow - such as a garage. The seeds can easily be removed once the peppers have dried.

Pepper seeds are dry enough for storage when they break in half under pressure, rather than bend. Like @digitS' , I leave the seeds out until the ambient humidity has lowered - which naturally occurs here in early Winter, when the forced-air heat is running. When the sweater starts sparking, the humidity is low enough, and the seeds can be stored in jars, freezer bags, or other air-tight containers.

This process is not really as hard as it sounds; peppers are actually one of the easiest seeds to save, once the basic precautions have been taken.

Excellent post. I'll try to reinforce some things. To save seeds just open the ripe pepper and spread the seeds on newspaper or a paper towel. When they are really dry I save them in a small glass jar. If a bit of pepper guts or paper sticks to the seeds I don't worry about it. It will not affect germination.

I've dehydrated paprika and cayenne peppers before in my dehydrator to grind up for powder. Those fumes are rough. To dehydrate them I split them in half in a detached building, wearing gloves, and put them in the dehydrator on a high setting (145 degrees), also in that detached building. Splitting them speeds up dehydrating time a lot and you can save seeds before you dehydrate them.

I've also hung habeneros and anaheims like Digits mentioned. I used a cotton string. put a slip knot around the stem, and hung them in a well-ventilated dry place. It took quite a while for them to dry but they eventually did. I did not use any seeds from them, they'd probably be good for a year or two done that way as long as they were ripe to start with.

 

[ninnymary]

I want to make sure I understand correctly. Can I let a red pepper dry out and then cut it open and remove the seeds? I would only do a couple of peppers so I don't want to hang them. I just want to have them on a plate till they dry out.

Also, do peppers cross? This spring I want to cram several different types into a corner of my bed and save their seed.

Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

I want to make sure I understand correctly. Can I let a red pepper dry out and then cut it open and remove the seeds? I would only do a couple of peppers so I don't want to hang them. I just want to have them on a plate till they dry out.

As long a they don't mold. If you cut the open they will dry out a lot faster. If you take the seeds out and spread them on a paper towel or newspaper they will dry out even faster. You could skip the paper towel or newspaper and put the seeds straight on the plate. The goal is to get the seeds dry.


Also, do peppers cross? This spring I want to cram several different types into a corner of my bed and save their seed.

Peppers, like tomatoes, have perfect flowers. That means they contain both male and female parts. They do not need to cross-pollinate to make seeds. So they don't have to cross. All they need is a good shake at the right time, maybe wind or a bug crawling around the flower and shaking it. However pollinators can carry pollen from one plant to another so they can cross. Due to the shape and configuration of the male and female parts they usually do not cross. The way I understand it tomato flowers have the best configuration to reduce the chance of a cross. Sweet peppers come next. Hot peppers are the most likely to cross, but that is relative. Even hot peppers generally don't. You'd be reasonably safe to save seeds but no guarantees.

The more you can isolate them the less likely they are to cross, but some pollinators might fly a mile. You and I don't have that kind of room so you can never be sure. I'd feel comfortable saving pepper seeds from what you want to do, but if I happened to develop a new pepper variety it would not be the end of the world. I would not give those seeds to anyone else unless they understood the risk but I'd grow them and see what happened.

I've never done it but you can pollinate them yourself. You might need a magnifying glass and tweezers, I don't know. But bag the bloom, maybe in a tiny cute little bag made from Tule, and when it is in full bloom pollinate it yourself. Then put the bag back over it to exclude any pollinators. When the flower is done remove the bag so the pepper can grow but remember to mark it some way so you know which it is.

I'd bet either @Zeedman or @digitS' could give you the procedure. Or they will know who can.

 

[digitS']

digitS' has never done pollination. Maybe in a previous life when he bumbled around, flower to flower.

I have had peppers cross and saved seed several times. What I have decided to do, with several garden sites, is to keep one variety at home while having the others, elsewhere. Now that it is so obvious that the best place for all my peppers is in the summer greenhouse, I don't know how I will handle this saving of seed. Maybe bagging some flowers on some plants.

Fedco Seed agrees (LINK) with @Ridgerunner on the ease of crossing for tomatoes and peppers, generally. However! Notice the isolation distance recommended for the peppers ... 500' . That's about a block distance, or more.

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

Agreed about removing seeds and drying them out separately. Btw, I dehydrated my really good 2017 crop and stored them in canning jars, keeping them dark, and I haven't gone through Most of them. You will want to pulverize the really dried out ones for cooking and you can put on gloves and slicing the more rubbery ones into tiny slivers for cooking.
Also, I dehydrated both sweet and hot peppers last year and they seem to take F O R E V E R to dry out, so be patient.