When cultivating vegetables, high-quality seeds play an important role. If you like a particular variety, you can collect the seed yourself.
What peppers are worth collecting seeds
The seed harvesting procedure should begin with the selection of the mother crop. You need to choose at least two strong bushes of your favorite variety.
During selection, focus on the rapid development of culture, optimal formation of ovaries, the shape of peppers.
Selection of vegetables for collection
When selecting fruits, follow these rules:
- pepper is taken from the branches of the first, second or third stage;
- seeds are harvested from peppers that are in the biological maturation stage;
- you should choose vegetables that match the characteristics of the variety.
Seeds collected from peppers that have ripened on culture do not lose their germination longer than those that have ripened indoors.
How to extract and prepare seed material from sweet and bitter peppers
As soon as you choose the right fruit, start harvesting.
What to use for harvesting seeds
Before starting work, prepare scissors or a sharp knife, a plate, paper and a marker to mark the seeds.
When assembling hot peppers, you need to use gloves. If you still "burned" your hands, you must first wipe them with vegetable oil, and then rinse with soap and water. Eyes should be flushed with cold liquid.
Getting seeds
After the ripe peppers are cut, make a cut in a circle around the stalk, while cutting off the partitions in the fruit, you can also cut the vegetable in two.
Summer residents are advised to dry the seeds along with the stalks by placing the dishes with the material in a dry and warm room. Once the seeds are dry, they are removed from the stalk.
Proper storage of seeds
It is recommended to store the seed in paper bags. Paper is air permeable and seeds can breathe in them, while sealed plastic packaging does not.
The bags are stored in a cool place. Properly stored seeds can be used for planting for 3-4 years.
Seed preparation for planting
Pepper seeds must be sorted out before planting, choosing larger ones. Then place them in salt water (salt - 1 tbsp. l. / 1 liter of liquid). Then, disinfection is performed for half an hour in a solution (1%) of greenery, followed by rinsing and drying
You can use chlorhexidine bigluconate - the seed is left in an undiluted solution for half an hour, and then washed.
Then the seeds must be planted in the prepared soil.
Are seeds from hybrids suitable for planting?
Seeds are not harvested from hybrid varieties, since they will not be able to sprout. Crops grown from hybrid seeds cannot maintain parental qualities.
Several recommendations
Pepper is a self-fertile crop, but the varieties growing nearby can also be pollinated with the help of insects. In such cases, varied plants are isolated with non-woven materials or the inflorescences are wrapped with gauze.
In this regard, it is very easy to obtain quality seeds if the entire selection process is followed correctly.
Read also: When it is time to harvest potatoes and its correct digging time
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