Saving pepper plants for next year?

[BeeRex]

I was told by a friend of mine that These spicy pepper plants I’m growing (or at least just the jalapeños) can be trimmed and kept in a cool dry place and they will grow again the next year since they’re like perennials.

I’m just looking to see if this is actually true and if it is, how would I go about doing that? This way I can save money on buying more starters next year

I also plan on getting tomato plants next year and I’ve never grown those before, so some tips for them would be highly appreciated!

 

[Percheron chick]

Just save some seeds and start your own next year.

 

[BeeRex]

Just save some seeds and start your own next year.

So I can literally just take the seeds out of the peppers and regrow them? For some reason I thought it didn’t work like that

 

[NatJ]

So I can literally just take the seeds out of the peppers and regrow them? For some reason I thought it didn’t work like that

It mostly does work like that.

The seeds need to come from a ripe pepper, not an immature one. For some peppers, green is immature and red is ripe. Some peppers have other colors, like white or purple for the immature ones and yellow or orange for the ripe ones. For jalapenos, the usual green ones are not ripe, so you would need to let at least one pepper go on to become red (or whatever other color it wants to turn.)

The seed will usually grow the same kind of pepper, because pepper plants are usually self-pollinating. If you have more than one kind of pepper, there is a small chance of the peppers being cross-pollinated by bees or other insects. Cross-pollinated seeds will still grow edible peppers, but they could have a different different color or size or shape or degree of heat than what you were expecting. This is not particularly common, but definitely does happen sometimes. One year I grew a dozen peppers from saved seeds, and got 11 that were right and one that was unexpected (should have been mild, was actually hot.)

 

[TaylorGlade]

@Stxnerbee We brought all of our pepper plants into the house and put them on to grow lights. We were able to keep harvesting from them for 3 years. They didn't die until they outgrew their pots and we planted them in the ground.

 

[Sally PB]

I dug up a habanero pepper with the idea of overwintering it. It died. I've since heard they are very hard to overwinter, more so than other peppers.

I also plan on getting tomato plants next year and I’ve never grown those before, so some tips for them would be highly appreciated!

What kind of tomatoes are you looking for? Cherry tomatoes? Paste? Canning, slicing? The type to get depends on what you want to do with them. More than "eat them, of course!"

If you want to save the seeds from a tomato, look for types marked "heirloom" or "open pollinated." The seeds from those will grow more plants/tomatoes like what you started with. If the plant is a hybrid, the seeds you save will grow a tomato plant, but the fruit they grow may be very different from what you had the first year.

Tomatoes are a "tender" plant, meaning they can be killed by frost. You need to pay attention to when your last average frost date is, and not put your tomatoes -- or peppers, for that matter -- out in the garden when there is still a chance of frost.

Our usual last frost date is mid-May. I planted my tomatoes and peppers May 21st. We had a very late freeze on May 26th, and I lost a lot of plants.

 

[BeeRex]

It mostly does work like that.

The seeds need to come from a ripe pepper, not an immature one. For some peppers, green is immature and red is ripe. Some peppers have other colors, like white or purple for the immature ones and yellow or orange for the ripe ones. For jalapenos, the usual green ones are not ripe, so you would need to let at least one pepper go on to become red (or whatever other color it wants to turn.)

The seed will usually grow the same kind of pepper, because pepper plants are usually self-pollinating. If you have more than one kind of pepper, there is a small chance of the peppers being cross-pollinated by bees or other insects. Cross-pollinated seeds will still grow edible peppers, but they could have a different different color or size or shape or degree of heat than what you were expecting. This is not particularly common, but definitely does happen sometimes. One year I grew a dozen peppers from saved seeds, and got 11 that were right and one that was unexpected (should have been mild, was actually hot.)

Thank you so much! This was really informative and i really appreciate it.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! Next level gardening on you tube has a how to video to overwinter spicy peppers. I haven't tried it, but his videos are very thorough.

 

[BeeRex]

I dug up a habanero pepper with the idea of overwintering it. It died. I've since heard they are very hard to overwinter, more so than other peppers.

What kind of tomatoes are you looking for? Cherry tomatoes? Paste? Canning, slicing? The type to get depends on what you want to do with them. More than "eat them, of course!"

If you want to save the seeds from a tomato, look for types marked "heirloom" or "open pollinated." The seeds from those will grow more plants/tomatoes like what you started with. If the plant is a hybrid, the seeds you save will grow a tomato plant, but the fruit they grow may be very different from what you had the first year.

Tomatoes are a "tender" plant, meaning they can be killed by frost. You need to pay attention to when your last average frost date is, and not put your tomatoes -- or peppers, for that matter -- out in the garden when there is still a chance of frost.

Our usual last frost date is mid-May. I planted my tomatoes and peppers May 21st. We had a very late freeze on May 26th, and I lost a lot of plants.

I’m essentially looking for a basic garden tomato I want to grow some nice sized red ones that I can eat as is, or cut up for stuff like burgers, sandwiches, etc.

 

[TaylorGlade]

I dug up a habanero pepper with the idea of overwintering it. It died. I've since heard they are very hard to overwinter, more so than other peppers.

What kind of tomatoes are you looking for? Cherry tomatoes? Paste? Canning, slicing? The type to get depends on what you want to do with them. More than "eat them, of course!"

If you want to save the seeds from a tomato, look for types marked "heirloom" or "open pollinated." The seeds from those will grow more plants/tomatoes like what you started with. If the plant is a hybrid, the seeds you save will grow a tomato plant, but the fruit they grow may be very different from what you had the first year.

Tomatoes are a "tender" plant, meaning they can be killed by frost. You need to pay attention to when your last average frost date is, and not put your tomatoes -- or peppers, for that matter -- out in the garden when there is still a chance of frost.

Our usual last frost date is mid-May. I planted my tomatoes and peppers May 21st. We had a very late freeze on May 26th, and I lost a lot of plants.

Our habernero did ok but it was pot grown.