Harvesting Pepper Seeds:

Information About Saving

Seeds From Peppers
Amy Grant 04/18/22

Seed saving is a fun, sustainable activity that is both fun and

educational to share with children. Some veggie seeds
“save” better than others. A good choice for your first
attempt is saving seeds from peppers.

Pepper Seed Viability

When saving seeds, the rule of thumb is don’t save seeds
from hybrids. Hybrids are made up of deliberately crossing
two different strains to create a super plant with the most
desirable traits of the two parent plants. If you try to save the
seed and reuse, you will likely end up with a product that has
latent traits of the original parent plant but dissimilar to the
hybrid from which you harvested the seeds.

When saving seed, choose open pollinated varieties, either

cross or self-pollinated, rather than hybrids. Open pollinated
varieties are often heirlooms. Cross pollinating produce are
difficult to replicate from seed. These include:

Beet
 Broccoli
Corn
Cabbage
Carrot
Cucumber
Melon
Onion
Radish
Spinach
Turnip
Pumpkin

These plants have two varied sets of genes. They require a

much greater planting distance from each other, so they do
not cross pollinate, as in a popcorn variety of corn crossing
with a sweet corn and resulting in less than desirable ear of
corn. Hence, saving seeds from peppers and other self-
pollinating veggies such as beans, eggplant, lettuce, peas,
and tomatoes are more likely to result in offspring that is true
to the parent.

How to Harvest Pepper Seeds

Pepper seed saving is an easy task. When harvesting pepper
seeds, be sure to choose fruit from the most vigorous plant
with the most delicious taste. Allow the chosen fruit to
remain on the plant until it becomes completely ripe and
begins to wrinkle. You must ensure that the pods you have
chosen become fully mature for the maximum pepper seed
viability; this may take several months.

Then remove the seeds from the peppers. Inspect them and
remove any that are damaged or discolored, then spread
them out on paper towels or newspaper to dry. Place the
drying seeds in a warm area out of direct sunlight. Turn the
seeds every couple of days to make sure the bottom layer is
drying as well. After a week or so, check to see if the seeds
are dry enough. Dry seeds will be quite brittle and will not
dent when you bite them.

Proper Pepper Seed Saving

The key to maintaining pepper seed viability is in how it is
stored; you must keep a constant temperature and eliminate
any excess moisture. Correctly stored peppers seeds can
last for many years, although the germination rate begins to
wane as time goes by.

Store seeds in a cool, dark, dry area in temps between 35

and 50 degrees F. (1-10 C). Store them in airtight plastic
bags within a Tupperware container, for example, in the
fridge. You can also store your seeds in tightly sealed glass
containers, just keep the seed dry and cool.

A small amount of silica gel desiccant added to the container

will aid in moisture absorption. Silica gel is sold in bulk at
craft stores for drying flowers. Powdered milk can also be
used as a desiccant. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons (15-30 ml.) of
dry milk wrapped in a piece of cheesecloth or facial tissue
and tucked inside the container of seeds. Powdered milk is a
viable desiccant for about six months.

Lastly, be sure to clearly label your seeds. Most pepper

seeds look remarkably similar and it is easy to forget by the
time planting time arrives. Label not only the name and
variety, but also the date you collected them.