frozen pepper seeds

[littleminnie]

I always throw a lot of chilies into a freezer bag and load up the freezer. I am pretty much out of bhut seeds. Are the ones in the frozen pods ok?

[blackox]

If the fruits were not dried thoroughly before freezing, chances are the seeds are not viable anymore. The moisture within the seed would have crystallized and damaged the embryo. I could always be wrong on this though.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Give some of the frozen pepper seeds a try...

I get a few tomatoes and squash that germinate after freezing in the fruit (around 20% germination on squash) and a few volunteer in the garden after getting frozen on the vine. I haven't found any volunteer peppers though.

[Al]

The question of seed surviving extreme conditions just got me wondering if the Peppadew peppers I just put on a pizza might be viable. They are pickled / brined, I suspect the Peppadew people will have killed the seed somehow, they seem to go to great lengths to protect the brand. Trademarking the name, keeping the seed off the open market, guarding fields, etc.

I guess any small red pepper would do well enough as a substitute, & then I would just need the find a good sweet pickling recipe. I have grown a bonnie small pepper / chilli for a few years that is about Peppadew sized, originally acquired as a plant from a supermarket & labelled "not for human consumption"! Intended as an ornamental I suppose, less onerous regulations etc.

I also have seed I picked in Swaziland from a bush that has been growing for years in a relative's garden, smallish fruit, presumably a bird's eye or piri piri type. Also a bag of tiny chillis from a spice farm in Goa. These tropical types may be slow growing perennials & not very suited to my conditions, I have tried them a couple of years without great success, but will give them another go. I have some over wintered plants which might be just come good this year.

I hope for early good yields from Antohi Romanian, Early Jalapeño & Cayenne. And I will try Georgia Flame & Serrano. And pickled Peppadew.

[DarJones]

Minnie, the seed from frozen peppers, presuming they were not dried first, are highly unlikely to germinate. If you need some bhut jolokia seed, pm me your address and how many you need. I have a few thousand seed grown in 2012 that are still germinating very well. I am also due to grow for fresh seed this year so these seed need to be planted.

[darrenabbey]

Jan 7, 2015 15:16:34 GMT -5 Al said:

The question of seed surviving extreme conditions just got me wondering if the Peppadew peppers I just put on a pizza might be viable. They are pickled / brined, I suspect the Peppadew people will have killed the seed somehow, they seem to go to great lengths to protect the brand. Trademarking the name, keeping the seed off the open market, guarding fields, etc.

I seriously doubt any of the pepper seeds would survive the pickle/brine treatment. I knew that people have had great difficulty in tracking down seeds to this pepper, but I didn't realize they guarded their fields. I can't imagine it would be that hard to sneak out some seeds if you were serious about it (and happened to know where their fields were).

Jan 7, 2015 15:16:34 GMT -5 Al said:

I guess any small red pepper would do well enough as a substitute, & then I would just need the find a good sweet pickling recipe. I have grown a bonnie small pepper / chilli for a few years that is about Peppadew sized, originally acquired as a plant from a supermarket & labelled "not for human consumption"! Intended as an ornamental I suppose, less onerous regulations etc.

This leads me to wonder what traits would make for a good pickling pepper. Medium heat, with thick fleshy walls? There are a number of 'cherry-bomb' type peppers around that seem to fit my naive criteria.

[Al]

Cherry bombs sound good for pickling, small peppers do look nice in the jar. I also doubt pickled fruit could contain viable seed but I just thought there was a possibility they are one of those indestructible seeds that pop up after freezing, fermenting, being eaten & otherwise abused.

Tomatoes seed seem none the worse for a year or two on my compost heap & plants appear around sewage out flow pipes. I have a volunteer avocado from a composted pip. Guava grow in abundance around every traditional Southern African village, apparently passing through a human gut & being 'deposited' around the village gets the seed off to a good start.

I am not sure what makes for the best pickled pepper, the Peppadews are fairly thin walled & rather sweet. Meatier & hotter might be better. I think some Peppadew seed has been sneaked out from the guarded fields but there are so many varieties of pepper to try I am not really bothered if they don't want to share. I'm sure I can find a good one.

[darrenabbey]

Jan 7, 2015 18:54:39 GMT -5 Al said:

I am not sure what makes for the best pickled pepper, the Peppadews are fairly thin walled & rather sweet. Meatier & hotter might be better. I think some Peppadew seed has been sneaked out from the guarded fields but there are so many varieties of pepper to try I am not really bothered if they don't want to share. I'm sure I can find a good one.

This sounds like something I will need to experiment with when my growing season comes along.

As to a source for Peppadew seeds, some ebay vendoes claim to have them (http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/331382404433?lpid=82&chn=ps)... but who knows what you would really get. I've grown leery of seeds from ebay vendors.

[diane]

Tatiana describes Jasmyn Rissie as being similar to Peppadews.

[Al]

Yes, I am wary of many eBay seed sellers also.
Thanks Diane for pointing out the Jasmyn Rissie on Tatiana's site, both variety & site are new to me, I tend to trawl U.K. sites, though in this case maybe I will look to South African suppliers. My Swaziland aunt might forward an seed order to me, & I could ask for some lemon pips from her huge old tree to be included. It is old & knobbly fruited not a modern 'prettified' type so could conceivably breed true from seed.