Content
Pepper is a fairly heat-loving vegetable. But still, many gardeners manage to grow it even in the most inappropriate conditions. They find varieties that grow well in greenhouse conditions or even in open ground. In order to continue growing their favorite varieties of this tasty and aromatic vegetable, gardeners collect the seeds themselves. Properly collected seed retains all the positive properties and features. Let's look at how to collect pepper seeds at home.
Plant selection
Good pepper grows only from those seeds that were collected from a beautiful and strong bush. Here's what to consider when choosing the right plant:
- Keep in mind that cross-pollination may occur, so plant different varieties away from each other. Also, under no circumstances grow hot and sweet peppers next to each other. The distance between the beds must be at least 1 meter;
- select 2 bushes of each variety for collection, since there is always a chance that one of them may become diseased;
- take into account how the vegetables are located on the bush, how strongly varietal characteristics are manifested in them;
- start choosing bushes in the middle of the growing season so that you have time to observe the development and ripening process of the fruits.
Fruit selection
After selecting your plants, you need to start selecting the specific fruits that will produce the best seeds. In doing so, we take into account:
- We select peppers that are on the bush from the first to the third level. These should be the first ripened fruits; they are usually larger and stronger. You can also take those that formed later, but then germination and yield will decrease significantly;
- choose the largest and ripest vegetable. It must have the perfect color, shape and size;
- You cannot take unripe fruits for these purposes;
- You can pick an almost ripe vegetable and leave it to ripen indoors. Such fruits have better properties, and as a result, the seeds will sprout and grow faster.
How to collect pepper seeds
Much also depends on the process of preparing seed material. Only large ripe vegetables without defects are picked. Next, they need to be left for a while to ripen. This can last a week, or maybe a month, depending on the size of the vegetable and climatic conditions.
When the surface of the fruit wrinkles and becomes soft, this is a sign that the seeds can be removed. To do this, an incision is made around the stalk, after which you can remove the seeds from the pepper. Residues are easily shaken out of the fruit. Pour the seed from each vegetable onto a separate saucer and be sure to sign it immediately.
The saucers with seeds are again placed in a dry, warm place until completely dry. In this form, the seed should stand for another 2 weeks.Each vegetable can contain from 100 to 150 seeds. And from each kilogram of pepper you can collect up to 8 grams of dry seeds.
If you are processing a large number of vegetables, also use a respirator. Immediately after doing this, wash your hands with soap.
Seed storage
In order for the seeds to be well preserved, you need to create the necessary conditions for this:
- To prevent the seeds from losing their viability, they are placed in a cool place with low humidity. Solar radiation should not enter there. You can also store them at room temperature, but the room must be dry.
- Seeds are placed in paper envelopes or boxes. They also include the name of the variety and the year they were collected.
- Under the right conditions, seeds can be stored for at least 2 or 3 years. But annual peppers germinate and grow best.
Conclusion
You can easily collect seed material yourself. As you can see, to do this you just need to collect ripe fruits, and then dry them and extract the seeds. This way, you won't have to spend money on purchased material every year. And you will know exactly what variety you will grow, its characteristic features and taste.
