Saving Bell Pepper Seeds

Saving Bell Pepper Seeds

I was making coleslaw for our Friday Night Lenten Fish Fry.  As I was cutting up the bell peppers and throwing the seeds, ribs and tops in to the compost bin it occurred to me “Why not save the pepper seeds to plant in my garden?”  I saved the seeds from a red, yellow and an orange bell pepper.

I collected 279, 237 and 333 seeds from the bell peppers.  So I calculated that on average, a seed saver could collect about 283 seeds from just one bell pepper.

Trivia question, - What is the difference between a GREEN bell pepper ($0.78 each) and a RED bell pepper ($1.68 each)?  The red peppers are ripe and cost 2 to 3 time as much as the green pepper.  All green bell peppers will turn red, yellow or orange if left on the plant to ripen.

I laid the seeds out on a paper plate to dry for several days. About once a day I stirred and turned the seeds over to insure they were drying evenly. 

 After a few days (when I was sure the seeds were thoroughly dry) I labeled a paper envelope to store the seeds in.

The germination test. 

I placed 10 seeds on a damp paper towel, folding the paper towel over the top of the seeds and placed the moist paper towel and seeds in a sealed zip-loc bag. 

After about 10 days I found 6 germinating seeds.  So doing the math, 6 germinated seeds ÷ 10 tested seeds = 0.6 or a 60% germination rate. 

So from the purchase of one $1.68 red bell pepper I was able to harvest over 200 seeds.  With a 60% germination rate I have the potential of growing 120 pepper plants.  And I still got to make my coleslaw.

I will plant the seeds to see if I really do get red, yellow and orange bell peppers.

Now, bell peppers are self pollinating. I am betting on the fact that these peppers were grown in a large farming operation and will give me true yellow, red and orange peppers plants.