Different Variety Flower Compatability

[Antipodean Bucket Farmer]

Hi, Everybody,

It is springtime here, so I just bought some small potted capsicum (bell pepper) plants. I got two labeled simply "Orange" and two labeled "California Yellow" (no technical names.)

I also got four tomatoes, but selected all the same variety: "Moneymaker."

This got me wondering, with these different varieties (breeds, I guess), are the flowers compatible at all?

If a bee hops from a flower on the "Orange" capsicum plant, into a flower on the "Yellow" capsicum plant, would the pollen on its feet trigger the genetic signal to make a capsicum?

Can other plants, like, say a Beefsteak tomato and a Moneymaker tomato do that?

If so, how might that effect the fruit/veggie?

Thanks in advance...

[Steve]

Cross pollination should make no difference in the fruit at all. The pollination process is for producing seeds. If you plan to save the seeds to plant next year, cross pollination can be a problem. If the part of the vegetable that you eat is the seeds (corn, for example) cross pollination can cause a problem.

Steve