Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
sugi_c

Seeds from Dried Unknown Pepper...

I had posted this plant since it was just a seedling and we couldn't ID it. Thought I had a jalape�o but very quickly it became clear it was no jalape�o.

It also remains the spicier pepper I've put in my mouth. I eat all peppers raw up to a habanero, so I didn't think much of this but this one nearly had me jumping up and down. (Keep in mind I don't eat ghost peppers or such peppers so I don't know how hot or mild it is compared to them.)

It produced a lot. So much, I eventually let the plant die after I got tired of picking off peppers. But I dried all of these and then kept them in the freezer for the last year plus.

If I take one of the seeds in here....in theory, should it still be viable and would they come up as this specific pepper?
Or is that unknown until I do it?

It's a very small plant -- grew the whole season in a 2 gallon pot. Leaves are small and very compact. I'm hoping it comes back so I can grow it in real full sun instead of the pseudo sun that SF had.

Comments (17)

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago

    Repost the pic, Grace. :)

    Kevin

  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Kevin,

    I spent no less than 30 minutes trying to find the thread to no avail. There's no reason that thread would be deleted -- it was just a bunch of us guessing at what kind of pepper this was....

    Anyhow, I did retrieve the photos.
    The link below has all the photos in an album.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Mystery pepper plant album

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    9 years ago

    Grace, I would grab quite a few of those seeds and sow them, the more you sow the better chance you will have at one of them sprouting. Since you dried them first before freezing you may be ok. Another concern did you air dry or use a dehydrator or oven? The way you dried them may or may not have made the seeds viable. If your pepper is stable then it should produce the same pepper if not you may get another mystery pepper if different traits appear. Keep us posted if you sprout them.

    Mark

  • DMForcier
    9 years ago

    To clarify, dryers that use heat - like many commercial dryers - can overheat the seeds and kill them. If they were air-dried they should be okay.

    Dennis

  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Mark & Dennis,

    I just air dried them...laid them down on a paper towel in front of a south facing window as I harvested, rinsed and troweled them. After about a month, they all appeared bone dry, so I put them in a ziplock and straight into the freezer because I had no idea what to do with them...and it wasn't enough to make into powder. But it was the max amount of spiciness I want for cooking without being yucky like grocery habanero, and now I miss it, which is what triggered me to look at them and wonder if I could bring it back.

    It always had that curled in leaf problem that, if y'all recall. Narrow, small leaves that curled up. We speculated that maybe the 5-1-1 I made was done wrong....nobody knew what it was or why it curled like that but it ain't no jalapeño. :-)

  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    And she's UP! :) I took a seed from one of the frozen ones and tossed it into a mini take out container.
    Took 8 days indoors on a kitchen window facing west....saw a little peep yesterday so I put her outside in the sun and this morning, she says hello!

  • ronnyb123
    9 years ago

    good job. congratulations.

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    9 years ago

    That's awesome! Maybe one day the variety will be figured out.

  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Well that seedling was snail food within two days.

    This time, I planted three seeds and all three came up. I've moved them all into their own pots and they're doing nicely, though, you will correct me if I'm wrong, but the leaves are curling IN again, no?

    Like the name? Real original, I know! :)


  • otcay
    8 years ago

    It's amazing to me how the seeds are still viable even after sometime in the deep freeze, given that capsicums originated in the tropics/subtropics.


  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Hi Otcay,


    Yikes...should I not have put them in the freezer? I usually put all dried goods in the freezer if I want to keep for a long time, but then again I guess I'm not replanting dried anchovies. LOL

  • theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
    8 years ago

    As long as the seeds are well dried putting them in the freezer isn't an issue. In fact, it actually extends their viability.

    Rodney

  • tom1992
    8 years ago

    To me, those peppers look like thai peppers, along with the plant shape and the taste you described them with. If you have asian markets near you, you can buy in really nice bulk a pound of those for around 4 dollars.


    Ive got 2 thai pepper plants growing and they looked similar to that, so if it isn't a thai, its probably related :P

  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Growing nicely, I think. :)

    Tom, I'm inclined to agree with you.

    I saw something called Thai Hots or something and the peppers, dried, looked identical to what I have. I think I'll keep it labeled MYSTERY anyway haha.


    If anyone wants any, let me know. I can mail you whole dried peppers that clearly are still revving to grow.

  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    They're growing in nicely.

    I have tiny peppers all over these plants, as expected. That's what the mother plant I got the seeds from were like.

    And then I have this:

    Could it have been pollinated by something else -- one of my other peppers? That is most certainly not what these peppers should look like, and if the seeds didn't grow true--no biggie but the rest of the plant is growing true like the mother plant. I have serranos and a Korean pepper close by, as well as Takanotsume.... I also have Datil and Tabasco nearby but they haven't even budded yet.

    And if this is cross pollination, does planting seeds from this one pepper give me one of the two types or this crossed type? Or do I not know until I try it?


  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Well, I guess I will taste it first and see if it's any good. I'm quite familiar with my unknown (but probably Thai) pepper's taste and just based on looks, it's probably crossed with Serrano or the Korean Hybrid--just a guess anyway since nothing else that I planted looks anything like this, if one can judge based on just looks. Either way it's lesser heat, which is a good thing.

    And if I do like it, it looks like I'll be planting a LOT of one variety next year haha. Funniest would be that I don't have a clue what the leaves of the actual pepper plant would look like since I only have one pepper on a small, Thai pepper-esque plant. Thanks so much for the chart!

Sponsored
Kitchen Kraft
Average rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars39 Reviews
Ohio's Kitchen Design Showroom |11x Best of Houzz 2014 - 2022