The Pepper it is a very exciting vintage. There are many varieties of different colors and shapes. Many enthusiasts try to grow the hottest ones, measured by Scoville scale .
For those who are “fed up” with hot peppers, an additional challenge is save your own seeds year after year keeping their own varieties to plant the following season.
Storing chilli seeds is a simple operation to carry out , also because there are no crossings as in other plants, for example pumpkins and zucchini. here then a short guide on how to collect pepper seeds to reuse them in the garden or exchange them with other enthusiasts . In addition to the practicalities, we will also see the reasons why this activity is useful and important.
Contents [Ocultar]
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Pepper: pollination or set of autonomous fruits?
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The collection period
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Differences between hot peppers
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seed extraction
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Habanero pepper structure
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Removal of the placenta
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seed storage
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Why store seeds?
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Contents
Pepper: pollination or independent fruit set?
The chilli plant is called » auto range because it is part of the family of vegetables that grow independently. Its flowers adhere (that is, they become fruits) without needing to be fertilized by external pollination. The basic structure, the DNA of the plant, is transmitted from the plant to the fruit, the seeds of which will give rise to new plants.
In this direction, a hybrid it cannot be born from a pepper seed. Therefore, to produce our seeds, we choose the most beautiful, fresh and lush fruits, the seeds of which will guarantee a high quality of germination and fruiting.
The collection period
chilli pepper simply picked when ripe that is, when it has developed its maximum size and reached the most intense tone of its color.
Three simple tips to follow:
- It is not good practice to wait until the fruit begins to wilt. : During the seed recovery phase, the Chilean pepper internally releases a viscous liquid due to decomposition, which makes it difficult to extract the seeds and can alter their quality.
- Do not use fruit with brown areas or on the verge of rotting, for obvious seed quality reasons.
- Peppers that are still green should be discarded. because they are immature. As a result, the seeds inside will be sterile and will not germinate.
Chilli Differences
The extraction explained below refers to medium sized peppers , like the Habaneros. The difference with peppers with a smaller shape, such as the classic Calabrian peppers in clusters, lies in its interior: medium to large varieties have a whitish, spongy structure inside where the seeds attach, called the placenta . Cluster peppers, which are much smaller, do not contain any seeds and the seeds are collected simply by opening and gently shaking the pepper.
seed harvest
Seed extraction is a decidedly simple practice , as we will soon see, but it is good to remember that we are dealing with fruits that contain capsaicin. This molecule is responsible for the typical “itchy” sensation produced by the pepper fruit. Therefore, it is good to properly protect your hands, using appropriate tools for this, gloves are recommended .
Extract the seeds from the pepper, possibly avoiding cutting the fruit in half, to avoid cutting even the (few) seeds inside. Make a cut instead from the petiole to the top of the fruit on both sides, thus closing a circle around the entire outside of the fruit.
At this point we will make sure we have only etched the outer flesh of the fruit, creating two halves, leaving placenta and seeds intact .
Habanero pepper structure
The pepper, once opened, is composed of the following parts:
- Pericarp : chilli outer skin;
- mesocarp : pulpy part rich in capsaicin;
- endocarp : internal part of the pepper, generally hollow;
- Placenta : spongy structure with seeds;
- Seeds .
Removal of the placenta
Remove the placenta and the seeds, possibly without separating them, using the tip of the knife.
The result should be similar to the photo.
Supposing you have different varieties of chili, from which you want to extract the seeds, make sure there are no seeds left on the knife blade and gloves . It sounds trivial, but if there’s one thing you should avoid, it’s inadvertently creating confusing “mixes” when planting.
Place the placenta and seeds on a sheet of paper towel folded in half . Make sure the seeds fit in the center.
Write the pepper variety with a marker and carefully fold the blotting paper, keeping the seeds and the placenta in the center.
seed storage
Although it may seem contraindicated, storing seeds with the placenta for a few days, has a double advantage, since:
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Seeds that are still attached to the placenta acquire a higher germination percentage;
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During the drying phase, the placenta releases an “oil” into the seeds which naturally fortifies them against bacteria, parasites and moulds.
after recording the sachet in a cool, dry place for a week the paper will have absorbed all the liquids present in the seeds and the placenta.
The seeds should now be dry and look “golden” . This indicates that they are ready for long term storage. Remove the remnants of the placenta, always with gloves (the seeds do not actually contain capsaicin, but they have been in contact with the placenta, which contains a lot).
Remove the seeds from the paper towels and store them in a paper bag, then in an airtight container.
Thus preserved, the seeds are maintained germination rate virtually unchanged for three years after storage .
Storage in the freezer it is recommended to increase the percentage of germination over time, the duration can increase up to ten years.
Why store seeds?
Saving the seeds of our vegetables is the most natural way to grow local produce year after year in our gardens. Even more so, old and local varieties they constitute a very important heritage for biodiversity: ecotypes selected over the years, from garden to garden, by the shrewd hands of farmers, chosen for their hardiness, their water needs, their flavor.
These cultivars, which tend to be unsuitable for large-scale distribution, are slowly disappearing to the detriment of otherwise bland cultivars built in the lab to mature evenly and keep long after harvest so they can travel to the big box without waste, which is therefore incompatible with sustainable agriculture.
And when you “live” from organic farming, it’s easy to get irritated by research like the one carried out and broadcast by Swiss television RSE on November 2, 2018. A journalist photographed the evolution over time of two varieties of American black zucchini, one imported from Spain, the other from organic farming. Imported zucchini, left at home, turned out to be perfectly intact after four months. Organic zucchini, on the other hand, was virtually non-existent.
This should make us think. What are we going to eat? And what do we become? The return to organic farming is mandatory, if we do not want to see ourselves overwhelmed by progress, losing the true and authentic fruits that the eco-sustainable transformation of the land gives.
Saving the seeds of our plants year after year and then cultivating them in subsequent years using natural methods is the right way to go.