Planting seeds from supermarket veg??

Downsizing_2

Hi,

This may be a stupid question, apologies if so. Has anyone tried planting seeds from supermarket peppers and did anything come up? I ask because last year I bought a pack of 15 pepper seeds for £2.50 - quite expensive I thought! - and nothing came up. I planted 3 at a time in slightly different conditions to make sure I wouldn't kill them all at once and nothing ever germinated. I saved 3 seeds to plant this year and still nothing. We have peppers fairly regularly in stirfries etc, and there are loads of seeds which we put into the compost heap. I know that seeds will not necessarily breed true if they are F1 hybrids, but we are just looking for something edible!

I've dried out a few and put in an envelope. Could anyone tell me how best to try to germinate them? This would save a fortune if they actually grew!

Many thanks as always,

Ellie

annie123

how to germinate http://www.thechilliking.com/growing/growing-chilli-peppers-guide/

Its too late to start now, but if you follow the instructions above you will have some next year.
Do reemember it can take many weeks for them to show, my habanero have taken 6 weeks before they show signs of life, others are up and away in 2 weeks.

There's a very good seed swappers thread here somewhere, so you don't have to pay out for them.

newsgroup_monkey

I have had fantastic crops from Tesco Finest Pointed Peppers. I bought them for about 10p when they were selling them off and liked them so much, I gave the seeds a go.

splodger_seedswapper

the thing to remember about supermarket veg (most crops) is that they are usually treated with some sort of growth inhibitor, to stop them sprouting / spoiling etc - that is not to say that you can't collect seed from some - just highlighting that not all crops will germinate from shop bought specimens

evil_grrrl666

I've had a lot of luck germinating bell pepper seeds (they may have come from Aldi, I don't remember now). The plants are growing just fine, it's just a matter of waiting for them to crop before I'll know if they come true or I get some sort of odd surprise veg from them. But actually that in itself seems exciting.
I've also grown two plants from lemon seeds and two from mandarin seeds, I'm curious to find out what they will turn out like. Apparently citrus seeds are completely unreliable, so you won't know what you've got until you get fruit (it could be useless and bland also). The funny thing is, the two plants that grew from seeds coming from the same lemon look different already and they've only got a few leaves so far.

On the other hand, the green chillis I tried to grow didn't work out at all and I've stuck with seeds from a packet.
What I've done to try and germinate the seeds was put them in a little plastic box (lid on) on wet cotton wool / paper towel in the airing cupboard. Then after sprouting I carefully potted them up.
But you could also just put the seed in a pot of moist soil with clingfilm over the top so the moisture doesn't escape, and then on a warm windowsill.

Primrose

Tomatoes are the easiest seeds to save. Soak them in cold water for an hour or so to remove the mucus, swill around in a sieve and dry them on kitchen tissue paper. It doesn't matter in the slightest if they stick to the tissue when dry. When it comes to sowing, just sow the tissue & seeds in compost and the seeds will still germinate.

A month ago I saw some lovely orange mini plum tomatoes on a market stall and thought "I must grow some of them". I simply washed the seeds and sowed them in compost straight away and they germinated in about 6 days !!

Supermarket chilli & pepper seeds can be easily saved. Dry them on tissue paper until they're hard. Store in a cool dry place until you need to sow them. If they're an F1 variety they may not be exactly true to type but unless you're a purist, you should get a good crop.

I'm afraid you're rather too late for sowing peppers this year. They need a long growing season. I sow mine indoors mid January and keep them indoors until early June when it's warm enough to keep them in large pots outside on a sunny patio. Put a note in your diary for mid January 2012 to sow your seeds. They're slow to germinate. Try putting a pot of seeds in your airing cupboard in a sealed plastic bag to help them along but check them daily. Good luck. There's no reason why you can't take advantage of these free seeds provided your get your sowing timetable right.

I'd save the seed from supermarket peppers/chillis/tomatoes this year and use them next spring. Try and save fresh seed from your crops every autumn. Some seeds don't keep terribly well and you'll have a better chance of them germinating if they're not too stale.

emiff6

I never buy sweet pepper seeds. The week I want to sow them I pick the reddest, ripest looking pepper I can see at the supermarket.

I cut it open and shake the seeds straight onto a pot of moist seed compost and lightly cover with vermiculite. Then I cover the pot with cling film and put on a warm windowsill, and generally the seeds germinate in 3 to 4 days. The pepper gets eaten.

There's really no point drying and saving the seeds (unless from your own peppers) when peppers are available all year round, and like most seeds, the fresher they are sown, the better and quicker they germinate.

Primrose

emiff6 wrote: »

I never buy sweet pepper seeds. The week I want to sow them I pick the reddest, ripest looking pepper I can see at the supermarket.

I cut it open and shake the seeds straight onto a pot of moist seed compost and lightly cover with vermiculite. Then I cover the pot with cling film and put on a warm windowsill, and generally the seeds germinate in 3 to 4 days. The pepper gets eaten.

There's really no point drying and saving the seeds (unless from your own peppers) when peppers are available all year round, and like most seeds, the fresher they are sown, the better and quicker they germinate.

I've never tried sowing fresh pepper or chilli seeds but if it works as effectively as sowing fresh tomato seeds do, I might give it a try. My dried saved pepper & chilli seeds often seem to take a frustratingly long time to germinate so using fresh ones might possibly speed up the process, if I can find the specific varieties I want in the supermarket.

Downsizing_2

Many thanks everybody. I suppose it's too late for this year but I did just buy 3 pepper plants from Tesco for £1.75 so I need more than 3 fruits to break even! I might try the tomato seeds and have also saved some from a melon we had tonight, and there is a butternut squash in the veg basket looking sadly at me too.... Pumpkin seeds were £4 for 10 in B&Q so I suppose it's worth a try. Already have the pots and compost etc!

Davesnave

With flowers, it is certainly worth experimenting with self-harvested seeds, and tomatoes or peppers will usually come true enough, but something like squash takes up a lot of room and is far too promiscuous for reliable results.

It is one thing to germinate some seeds, and something else altogether to grow whatever it is into a crop that will match that of a properly selected variety. You may save on the price of the seeds, but if you fail, what price will you put on your time and the loss of a crop? For this reason, it's sensible to know plenty about each type of plant you choose to experiment with.