Pop them on a plate or paper towel and then let them sit acouple three weeks.
If your in a rush to germ/plant then do so right after harvesting from the pods

Tnks,

i have always air dried. i was just wondering if anyone uses a dehydrator and what temp. would be safe. i would think 90 - 100 should be safe, but wanted to gather some opinions. i have a ton of seed drying and would like to get started on putting some of it away if it would be safe.

John, off topic as heck, but what kind of results did you get canning pepper mash last year?

I used a dehydrator this year for the first time in drying seeds. I kept them at 100 or lower. I figured that in nature, the seeds would likely experience temps that high so they would not be harmed by that kind of heat in a dehydrator. I have also seen several other posts where list members have used the dehydrator to dry seeds. It cuts the time from days/weeks to hours.
Bruce

Pepper seed are very easy to dry. As Bruce has mentioned somewhere else, just carve the placenta with seeds on it. Then a few days later separate them from placenta and give them few more days on paper towel. I don't see a need for dehydrator.

Seysonn

John: Never done it myself but I'd say 100 would be fine. I'd test germinate a 1st batch though. Wouldn't want to do all of them just to find out you don't have any viable seeds to work with come January.

Kevin

I also believe that 100F is pretty safe. It is very close to our body temperature. If you sun dry somewhere in Mexico, I bet it will be warmer than 100F.
Having said that, testing is the best bet to find out, as Kevin suggested. I bought a bag of KASHMIRI pods from an Indian store the other day. I am test germinating a few seeds, not knowing how the pods were dried in India. So I would say: EXPERIMENT !

John.... Done both plate and paper towel and the seeds from the bottom after being dehydrated. Just for luck I tried to see if the dehydrated seeds would germinate. 5 of the 8 did. I save those as a mixed bag and are my mystery plants of the season.

Lexx

Thanks everyone for your input. I have always air dried, but this year i'm running late. Just got a killing frost last weekend. wanted to hurry things along so i can gett started bagging some of them. Just out of curiosity, how long does everyone air dry before putting them in plastic bags? I over-do everything, i have always went 3-4 weeks before putting them away. I realize that probally over cautious.

Jason,

Mash did great. in fact, i sent some to Smokemaster and he even commented on how much he liked it

That's a crazy amount of seeds you have! How many plants/varieties?

btw; I have gone as little as a week air drying.I also dehydrate at 95 with halved pods, put them in a baggie, and the seeds just fall out.I would agree those aren't cooked at 100.

Gary

Yah, that is a crazy amount of varieties there. All I can think of is: What if someone bumps the table or something drops on them and they spill all over?

Gary, around 700 plants. as far as vatietys, i haven't figured that out yet. A few types didn't make it, some types i grew from multiple sources and kept seperate. Around 120 types this year

its a 4 X 8 sheet of plywood on sawhorses in a safe location Bruce, but yea that would be a mess. thats one of the reasons i bought plastic bowls instead of using styrofoam. styrofoam gets knocked over to easy

Hmmmm, Scorpion, I just realized that for some reason, my email proggy is sending all of your posts to spam when you post to threads that I am subscribed to.
Bruce

with obvious open pollination it wouldnt really matter how you dried the seeds.
1 week is dry enough for bagging if your above freezing ambient temps

John: All depends on variety on how long. Certain varieties, like bells and Anaheims, I pull all the flesh away but leave the stem and placenta with all the seeds attached. Then, I air dry in a shallow bowl for a week or 2. After that, I dislodge all the seeds into the bowl and let them air dry another week. it's probably overkill but I'm in no hurry and, unlike you, I only grow a dozen or so varieties each year. With superhots, i just split in half, let dry a week or so, dislodge seeds, and another week or so.

Regarding the pic--- somebody alert pepperjoe, john stole all of his seeds. :P

Kevin

Kevin, Not PepperJoe's stash... They are all labeled correctly.. lol. Although i am sure some will be crossed. All were O.P. but they were spread out between 3 properties. mine, my parents, and a friend of mine owns a farm. so i tried to spread them out a little. This past season, all O.P seed from trades and myself, i had 3 percent of my plants end up being crosses

"They are all labeled correctly."

Ouch! LMAO

That's not too bad-- just 3%. Is that number just based on pod SHAPE or do you consider other factors such as heat, flavor, etc?

This year, I went out of my way and had a roomie sew me up some isolation bags. Wasn't successful on ALL plants though -- some i would bag and not a single bud fruited. Kinda frustrating to wait 2-3 months for a bag full of aborted blossoms. :(

Kevin

Ahhh, ahhhhh, ahhhhhhh, CHOOOOO!

Wow, what a spread you got there. Makes my little sandwich bag look pathetic! Awesome job you did.

Kevin, thats based on everything and as much information as i can find on new ones. i may try bagging stuff next year. I always plan on doing it, i just never end up finding the time to do it. John