I've also done it (with Thai hot peppers) and found the seeds germinated quickly with near 100% germination. I did it a bit differently than the original poster -- I selected pods that were fully ripe to over-ripe, allowed them to air-dry until they were completely dried out, then cracked open the pods and planted the seeds. Probably difficult to air-dry a polblano though?

I've experimented with harvesting seeds. Slicing the pepper in 1/2 and let it air dry, cutting a pepper open and taking out the seeds and let them dry on a paper towel, and with the bell pepper from the store plucked the seeds and about 30 min later put into ziplock bag with wet paper towel. All the methods used all had good germination rates.

Yeah, don555, I shouldve thought about allowing them to sit and ripen more or to dry them out. I had also opened up a Poblano pepper that had fallen off one of my recently deceased Poblano plants that I had overwintered, and tried sprouting them. Almost every seed sprouted, but they were definitely over ripe, as they had grown on that plant last season.

So I dont know what to expect from these new poblano seeds I removed from the store bought poblano, because they were green, ripe peppers and I scraped the seeds out of the pepper, and put them right into the sprouter bag.

Fully ripe pablanos are tending toward brown or redish brown. Like bell peppers, green isn`t fully ripe. Bells will turn red, yellow, orange or even other colors. My pabs I`ve grown have been just a shade smaller than a good sized bell pepper but 2 lobed or slightly pointed. Even if they are hybrids, and they most likely are, you should still be able to grow some nice peppers from saved seed. Think of dehybridizing. It`s done quite often. Next generation will be a little more stable and so on. Save seed this year from the better looking ones you like.
Just my 2 cents.

Correct me if I am wrong, but Pablano's are red when ripe and the seeds would have to be collected then, though maybe if they are green getting ready to start turning some of the seeds may be viable?

You can occasionally (not rare) find viable seed in unripe pods. The number of them is low, though.

Some seeds may not contain enough germplasm and create weak seedlings. If the pod is very immature there may be no viable seeds inside.

To habjolokia: I've gotten conflicting info about this, but on the tag with my Poblano plants last year, it said they are called Poblanos when green, but they are called Anchos when they turn red. So they will turn red, and I germinated some seeds from an older red one a month ago.

But then I read that they are called Poblanos either green or red, and called Anchos when dried.....Who knows?

As I understand it, Red dried = Ancho, not dried and either red or green (but usually green) = Poblano.

2 years ago, we got a veggie tray that had some amazing mini sweet peppers on it. Everybody raved about them. I saved some seeds and grew out 4 plants. The seed was true and the peppers grew out just like the ones on the tray.
I now grow them every year. They're perfect for snacking. Thick walled- small, almost no seeds, super sweet, and the plants are loaded with pods.
If you find something you really like from the grocery store or market, it's worth giving a shot!

I too love the small mini sweet peppers that you get at the grocery store. Usually they are packaged in a clear plastic tray or container. I looked and looked but couldn't find a seed co description that described them. Sooooo I saved what few seeds I could get from them over the course of last winter. I have 9 seedlings growing up and I'll see how they do. I tried raising some "Hatch" from the store and some "caribe" but neither of those came up. I could never find a strain listed as a caribe either. Anyway, I labeled my mini sweets as "Wally World mini sweets". I get a chuckle every time I see them as I have a sister who works for Walmart and I think of her. So yes the saving of store pepper's seeds can grow, I'll see how true they develop to the original pepper later on.

Yup.

On a lark last year I pulled a seed out of an Orange Hab and stuck it in some starter. Gave the plant to my brother after it had hardened off and he brought back several dozen extra pods that he couldn't eat.

I just germinated some Thai birds eye chili seeds, which took 3 days. Didn't dry the seeds out, but started them fresh. I just popped them into soil to sprout today. Hopefully my family won't have to buy birds eye chili anymore in the near future!=D (Cause it's one of the chilies we eat on a regular basis)

To don555: I couldnt even get the poblanos to air dry in a dehydrator for 8 hours! They were still moist.

But also, I just looked at the new Poblanos seeds I got from the grocery store, and at least 1/2 are germinating in my sprout bag now. Its taken about 2 weeks or so, but it worked even though they were green peppers, and not air dried or allowed to sit for a while. I pulled the seeds on day 1 that they came from the store.

Now I will plant them into little market packs of 6 cells into peat moss.

Congratulations HighlanderNorth!=D

Has anyone tried growing the long pointed red sweet peppers from the store? I buy them from Costco and would like to grow them if possible.

I am growing Hot Portugals right now from seed I saved from the fall. First time growing peppers.

I kind of stumbled into growing peppers. I have been saving seeds from different things - growing a cherry tree out of seeds, apple tree, some pineapples from rooting the tops, etc. I help my dad make some traditional hot sauce from where we come from, and decided to try and save some of these seeds.

I threw a bunch (I think around 100 or so) seeds into a ziploc bag and threw them into the refrigerator. I didn't put a damp paper towel or anything. I actually totally forgot about them. When I went to plant some apple seeds, I saw the pepper seeds, and decided to plant them. I figured that the germination rates would be very low (didn't do any research at all). I threw about 100 seeds into two clear plastic cups, and just HOPING for 1 plant. I don't use a heating pad, but rather just put them on top of the refrigerator.

Well, I grew a chia-pet. Seems like it was nearly 100% germination rates! I carefully separated them into individual containers, gave the rest to my friend, and away I go!!

We are still getting frost (and occasional snow!) here, and some of my plants have 7 and 8 leaves on them. So far, so good. I will be hardening them prior to putting them outside. Will be having around 30 or so plants (I have a really big garden here) so hopefully I will get a good crop. I have heard that some people grow them in my city (Calgary) and they get good results, so I am hopeful :)

I just did the same with some Thai peppers, and will be going to the supermarket and trying jalapenos and habaneros as well. Will probably plant some outside if I manage to sprout some early enough, but for the most part they will go into containers.

Growing them from the grocery store (farmers market, actually) is how I got started in the peppers, and now I am pretty hooked! Next year (if I manage to do well) I will be ordering some different seeds for some 'exotics' that I am eager to try, but I will see how I do with the Thai peppers first (at least 1 container, to practice over-wintering, etc). Looking at indoor hydroponics for the window now, LED lights, etc. :)

Thanks for everyone's activity in this forum - I have never posted before, but I sure have been reading!

Also... sorry for the long post :) Hope I didn't give anyone a headache!!

I've got a couple of sweet pepper sprouts from a grocery store pepper going right now. Not sure what they are, the bag is just labeled as "mini Sweet peppers" (sic) from Pero Family Farms. Sweet peppers about as long as your finger, shaped like a poblano. Pods in the package are red, yellow, and orange.

Planted out some of the yellow pod seeds, they sprouted real quick. No clue if these things are hybrids or what, but they'll be my fun peppers for the year.

For the past three seasons all my hot ones initially came from store-bought produce: Asian Long Hot(finger), Jalapeno and and some sort of Italian "hot 'n sweet" cherry type (great for sauce). Yields and taste have been great, without any disease problems.

I've never had a problem with germination, but I "cheat" and soak the seeds in warm rooting hormone water for 12 hours. Works for me.

I harvested some seeds from a particularly delicious orange habanero last summer from an organic farmstand. So far the seeds have almost all sprouted and I look forward to enjoying some tasty pods in a couple of months.
In a related story, I am a special ed teacher, and my class is doing a recycled container planting project. We are growing beans, peas and flowers. My assistant brought in a bag of Goya soup mix beans and we picked out some good looking pintos. We planted them and I'm glad to say they are our biggest and most productive plants. It never hurts to experiment!

Here is a link that might be useful: Check out PEPPERMEISTER for chile recipes, tips and gardening info.

Yep, I just pulled seeds out of some mini bell type sweet peppers. I got some from each of the yellow, red, and orange ones. I will grow them next year but I do also have an Orange Bell that I started a while back with seed from a store bought pepper. I hope I have enough time to get some fruit off it. It actually is out growing my other mild and hot peppers so I am hopeful.
Bruce

That looks like a weed or some kind of tree. Sorry.

Thank you! Do the smaller hatchlings look like a habanero plant? I threw those seeds in about 3 weeks after. The younger plants look identical from when the larger plant was at that young stage.

I just threw in the entire seeds of the habanero plant. I purchased the soil at Lowes. :/

It looks like there are some smaller seedlings in there, but they do not have their true leaves yet. Yes, they should look similar.

The soil probably contained seeds from weeds. That big plant is NOT a pepper of any sort I am familiar with. And those smaller seedlings do look like peppers. But it will take some time to tell for sure.

Bluevano, it looks like a marigold to me.

What tomtuxman said^

How embarrassing I'm such a rookie. Well I didn't want to risk growing any weeds so I got rid of it. I am growing another pepper plant (I think)... another thing, I planted my pepper plants with ground soil MG in pots, I really don't see any difference, there growing pretty healthy. this plant is from chile de arbol. I apologize for the side ways pic.

Thank you all for the helpful info.

Marigolds are pretty.

I would like to start growing some bhut jolokia peppers, any suggestions on where I could safely purchase the seeds online, or any stores?

I would be happy to send you some, but the stock I have is not verified. I am sure someone else will be able to hook you up if you are willing to send them a SASE. Otherwise, my suggestion is to stay clear of Ebay and Amazon.com for pepper seeds. I dont really order off line, but I do know those sources are horrible sources.

If you have trouble finding some, I would be happy to send some of what I have. Just PM me. Hopefully someone will chime in soon for you though.

Thank you so much, that is awesome of you. I'm new here sorry but what does PM & SASE mean? 0.o

PM=Private Message

SASE= Self Addressed Stamped Envelope

I meant that, I can send you the self addressed stamped envelope...

sure, check your email. I just don't like to post email addresses in public forums. Don't be surprised if you start getting random spam now at that address. You might want to edit it out of your post.

Thanks esox07, I'm on it!

I just take seeds, let them dry out, plant 2 or 3 per hole in my veggie patch. They usually all sprout so I take out what I don't need and walla. Abundance...... 4 bushes is all I need for 6 months worth.... I'm now looking for purple bell peppers

I don't get this paper towel and long processes. Maybe it's for places of different climate or what.

Yah, there doesn't really seem to be any trick or magic to saving and growing seeds from a grocery store pepper. I have done it several times with great results.

I planted a bunch of seeds from sweet mini peppers I bought from the grocery store, and got a wide variety in the production! I got some that were the same as the ones I bought, some more like bell peppers, and one plant that produced pods about the size of a dime. It was a lot of fun, all the pods were tasty, and I will do it again in the future.

I dried and planted seeds from those sweet mini-bell peppers you buy by the bag at the store....they grew fine one year, but the seeds from those peppers would not grown the next year, for myself or either of my friends I gave some to. I can only speculate that perhaps there needs to be some kind of cross-polination for the fruit to be fertile???

I also have seedlings from the store bought, bagged mini-bells growing now, as an experiment. So far they're doing good... Of 6 started, I have 2 that actually germinated. It will be fun to see if they actually produce this year. My kids can't get enough of snacking on those little bell peppers, so I hope I do end up with viable pods!

I did the same one year. I had no problems getting them to germinate and grow. However, for the hassle and cost, you are better off buying them from the store unless you just want to do it for the fun of it. They didn't produce a whopping amount of peppers for me.

Most Vegetables and Fruits have a coating that prevents sprouting this needs to be washed off the seeds I use a colander and run cool water over the fresh seeds then spread them out on a paper towel, when mostly dry put them in a small jar or paper bag with powdered milk then within the week i plant these in the garden like normal along with the powdered milk, the milk helps keep the seeds alive for lack of a better term, it also seems to help in preventing the anti-sprouting stuff if any remains from working.

Just happened to come across this post. I'd say 95% of my peppers were grown from store bought fruits. They have been productive and haven't given me much problems except for when I brought them outside from indoor growing. One of my sweet bell peppers is fully loaded, it has 6 or 7 giant fruit on it and 1 of them is starting to turn colour now.

Here is a picture of my scotch bonnet also grown from store bought fruit.... Unfortunately I didn't put it in a good location because it's surrounded by green beans and a couple corn plants and fava beans.... The good news is the fava beans are almost ready so they'll be gone within a week, two max.

I grew mini sweet peppers one year from store bought, had no problem, just let the seeds air dry, and planted them next spring. However, when I saved seeds from the peppers I grew the same way to grow the NEXT year, they grew nothing. The only thing I could think of was there needed to be peppers from several different plants (which I did not get when I took seeds from one pepper to plant that first year) for cross-pollenation. It wasn't just me...I gave some of the seeds to several friends, and they did not grow for them, either.

I may try again next year, using seeds from several peppers, and see if I can use them over and over again.

Thanks to all the helpful advice here, I'm trying this myself. I purchased some incredible Ghost Chilies from Trader Joes - keen to see if I can't get a result that is within a reasonable tolerance. This pack is extra delicious, and my present rotation includes habanero, so I'm ready to add these next rotation. Planted 6 this afternoon, 2 seeds per - will report back on what happens. I didn't dry, but going to pop some more in once they have proper dried.

Not intentionally. However, I let a volunteer bell pepper grow three or four years ago and was very impressed with it. It must have been from a store bought fruit as I didn't grow any bell peppers the year before. It did far better than the bell peppers I actually planted!

My experience is that a pepper seed that is not ripe quickly turns blackish around the edges and is very soft so that it is easily pierced. Over time they shrink and curl.