Donna, I just finished fermenting and drying the seeds from a Pink Berkeley Tie Die tomato, and have them germinating now for a couple of fall tomato plants. Don't laugh, but I had some store-bought campari tomatoes, and I saved seed from them, too! I have read that many people get get good results on their F2 grow-outs, and I thought, "what the heck, give it a try". The others here on this forum are much more experienced than I at seed-saving, but my few attempts over the last few years have been very successful. I have peppers in my garden right now from a grocery store bell pepper that I saved seed from 3 years ago! lol

Mary

Thanks Turbo Cat, I hadn't thought of using produce from the grocery store

Hi Donna,

I routinely save seeds of all types. Most come out very well! I'm not an expert, but I try desperately to save seed. I try to save a large amount of seeds from my selections in case I don't do a very good job of drying them. Beans, corn, okra, tomato, all types of flower and herb seeds. I've started plants from store-bought seeds of bell, poblano and anaheim peppers. They sprouted and grew, but quality seeds from a distributor are less troublesome from what I found by growing bell peppers side by side. I tried the poblano and anaheim because it's not a very important pepper plant to my cooking. In the beginning seed saving was intimidating, but it's not that hard. The most important behaviors are to pick seeds from good quality fruit and to make sure the seeds are super duper dry before storing them.

Or, do it the lazy way. Throw overripe fruit on the compost pile this summer and then see what sprouts in the spring, then transplant the sprouts to where you want them. I know lots of people who do this, and I assume it works because their compost piles are more of a cold pile than a hot pile.

Or plant stuff that is one step above weeds, like purslane and ground cherries, neither of which I started this year and I have more than enough starts now. Helps that they are easy to identify.

I LOVE seed saving! When I first started seeds were so inexpensive that people questioned why I bothered. Now, not so much. But saving money isn't the main reason I do it.

1) A lot of things I grow are either not easily available in seed catologs, or ... they wouldn't be, if I hadn't saved their seed and passed them on to seed companies.

2) Varieties I grow become like old friends. We get to know one another in ways impossible if one didn't grow them over and over.

3) For whatever reason, varieties grown out repeatedly and reproduced from seed in a given area, do seem to perform better than those purchased from "outside."

4) I love heritage. Not only do I grow heirlooms from our grandparents, I have also picked up varieties over the years, which are now our family heirlooms. For instance, I found Red Wine Velvet Sweet potato in the Warsaw, Indiana Farmers' market, in 1984; saved and grew it, passed it on to other seed savers, and now, it is a mainstay in my garden 32 years later.

Finally, though there are more good reasons to save seeds:

5) It is important, for preservation purposes, not only to save seeds of good varieties, but also to promote them and share them. This lends stability to their existence. Here's an example:

In 2003 my children presented me with two pepper plants for Fathers' Day. They had purchased them from Frank's Nursery, in Howell, NJ. They were labeled "Thai Hot." I love Thai Hot peppers. Right up front I noticed that they had cost a lot more than I would probably have sprung on two plants, so I determined I would save seed for the future. I grew that pepper for years. It was very ornamental. One year, in fact, I made a mass planting in a bed, out by the road. As cars went by they thought they were seeing red flowers. But they were red peppers! I also realized that this was not any of the Thai Hot varieties I had known in the 80s. The plants were more upright and the peppers longer, more like miniature cayenne peppers.

Sometime before 2005 Frank's Nursery went out of business.

For years I shared this seed. Then, a couple of years ago I didn't grow this one for a year. After that I had a crop failure. I lost my seedlings. I don't know why, but this year, when I went to start seed, none germinated (way too young to have expired under normal conditions).

I keep record of people who receive my seeds. But in this case, I didn't need to look very hard. I had shared this with Carol, on this forum. And Carol had mentioned how they grow it every year. So... I contacted Carol and she sent me some seed. I have it growing again! This is one of the beautiful and important aspects of seed saving.

George

That's a beautiful plant! I really like those colors, and I can see how folks would mistake it for an ornamental.

Thanks George, I am a pepper head too and know the importance of keeping those seeds. You go into Lowe's or WalMart and buy a pepper labeled "Carribean Red" and no telling what you will get. I'm fixing to post a pic of my "haha" caribean red later. It is not one but it is quite toasty!! Last year I grew my lemon drop seeds and they turned out to be some kind of cayenne looking pepper on a hab plant. Not hot at all and quite a disappointment. So you see I have a lot to learn about seeds.

Back in 2002 I purchased some "Cayenne" pepper plants from Walmart. They turned out to be Italian frying peppers. In 2003 I purchased "Cayenne" pepper seed from Walmart and got... Italian frying peppers!

Incidentally, peppers cross a lot more than some people think. And in my experience, hot dry weather seems to make crossing worse.

I don't mind growing a c. chinese (habanero type) alongside a c. annum (Jalepeño, cayenne, Bell, etc.) as they don't seem to cross under normal circumstances. I have never had one do it. But I know that within the same species crossing is pretty easy.

Macmex, I understand about Walmart. I bought some "Old German" tomato seeds on a whim this late winter/early spring. I germinated and grew out about 4 of them, and I got both potato leaf and regular leaf plants...lol. I emailed the seed company, and they never answered me. It was one of their off-brand seeds. I threw them all away, save a potato leaf plant, and it has tomatoes on it...but I have no idea what it actually is ;)

I just finished fermenting, drying, and putting away seeds from what I thought was a Pink Berkley Tie Die, but...it's a long story...I think it is actually a Large Barred Boar. It was my first ripe fruit this year, 14 ounces, on a 15 inch plant that was stunted by bearing that large of a fruit. I went ahead and picked it at a late breaker stage, and saved the seeds. I fertilized that poor little plant, and it has grown at least a foot, and has new blooms. Hardy thing! I have two jars fermenting right now: Black Krim, and because I'm a glutton for punishment, I took some seeds from a grocery store Campari, and they are also fermenting. I've read that people have good luck with Campari on F2 grow outs. It is supposed to be an early season, long keeping tomato, and I thought it might make a good fall garden addition.

Like you said, "seeds are expensive". I try to find deals for my "seed collection", beyond saving. I don't know if any of you shop at Dollar General, but at the end of the season, they put their seeds on sale. I'm talking 90% off! Almost all of my 45 hot pepper plants this year came from seed that I bought at Dollar General 3 years ago...for 3 cents per pack. The only other peppers in the garden are bell peppers...that came from a store bought bell pepper, and one chili pepper plant that I bought at Atwoods to replace a plant I accidentally hit with the weedeater.

I do order seeds (I'm a seed hoarder), but I try to find reasonable prices. I recently ordered seeds from "Heirloom Seeds" in Pennsylvania, which were $1.50 per pack, and a very cheap rate for shipping. I do order some from Baker Creek, and pick up things from Stillwater Milling (very cheap).

Mary