Taking Bets - Will They Sprout?

[---Pete---]

Ok everyone, Lets see who is smartest about seeds sprouting.

I love to eat the fresh long green hot peppers that I buy from my local Acme grocery store but and I can't find seeds locally to plant them in my garden. So I cut one open today and the seeds look good & fresh. The seeds are still white and not all disclolored as they do get if left on the shelf or in the refrigerator too long.

I used Martha Stewart's method of seed sprouting by folding a paper towel into 4 layers, soaking it with water, and placing it inside a sandwich sized ziplock bag with about 30 of those pepper seeds. On 3/22/2006, I placed the sealed bag on top of my computer monitor which measures 85 degrees F.

Will they sprout? I'm taking bets.

Hahahaha, not really taking bets but venture to make a guess and I'll let you know what happens.

I think they won't sprout.

---pete---

[Thomas]

Chances are they will sprout.

[Mr Greenleaf]

Interesting, a green pepper is actually not ripe yet, correct? It is when they become red that the fruit is ripe. So does that mean the seed is not fully developed yet? I will say they will not sprout.

Of course if they do sprout that doesn't mean they will produce the same fruit, if this a hybrid plant.

Later Mr Greenleaf

[Sgt.Sausage]

I've done this before with lotsa stuff. Some work out, some don't.

Waaayyyy back before I knew what was what, I did this with a particularly good batch of Apples from the local grocer. Wasted a few years letting, basically, some mutant form of crabapple (that was nothing like the awesome fruit the seeds grew from) grow. Silly waste of time. Watch out for hybrids and such that, while the seeds will actually grow, you won't get whatcha started with.

[---Pete---]

------ Peppers I grown here in NJ such as Jalapenos don't always get to the red stage but they are still ripe. These peppers from the store seem ripe while still green. I think I tried a seed experiment in the past with store bought peppers in seed starter soil and they didn't sprout but this time I have about 30 fresh looking seeds so lets see what happens.

---pete---

[Lynn]

I think they will! plus... out of the 30 seeds you started I would guess that 23 will sprout. :~D

[Wandaz]

They probibly won't sprout as the pepper wasn't ripe.Are the peppers aniheim or cubanelle?You can find either seed at tomato growers.....plus LOTS more.

[---Pete---]

------ Neither, they are long green hot peppers, about 6 to 8 inches long and about 3/4 inch in diameter. Closest match would be as indicated below.

Italian Roaster Hybrid #9160

BTW: This is not so much about getting this pepper in my garden, it's more an experiment to see if I can get grocery store bought produce to sprout from their own seeds. I never had any luck at this yet, but in the past I only tried it with few seeds set in seed starter mix.

It's been 4 days now and nothing yet. Some are turning from white to brown but nothing more.

I got the whole idea to do this from a reply in my post about lettuce and after seeing Martha Stewart's method of using a wet paper towel inside a sealed sandwich sized ziplock bag.

In the past I had also tried a wet paper towel wrapped in plastic wrap but that method often failed when the towel dried out and it was too difficult to get it open and add more water. So this new way of doing it seems to have better potential.

I'll keep ya posted!

---pete---

[Ernie]

Even though the pepper was green, the seeds are probably mature enough to germinate. The only problem I see is if they weren't dried and hardened for at least a few days before they were planted or stuffed into the bag.

I've grown both peppers and tomatoes from seeds obtained from grocery store produce. Ernie

[---Pete---]

Well Folks, whoever said they will NOT sprout was correct! Not one seed sprouted.

As a sanity check, about 7 days ago, I made a second set of seeds taken from a green jalapeno pepper that I purchased from the local outdoor fleamarket produce stand. I have a few seeds sprouting in this set so my technique is not the problem.

For some unknown reason I can never get pepper seeds to sprout that I purchase at the local Acme supermarket.

Go figure.

---pete---