I will be growing sweet pepper Marconi Rosso this year alongside chilli pepper Hungarian Yellow Wax. I'd like to collect the seed to sow next year. Is there a risk that the 2 will hybridize?
As far as I am aware they are both annum, and therefore there is a chance they will corss pollinate with each other.
You can however take a small bag, or a tea bag, and place it around the unopened flower and then let the flower open inside the bag, and shake it lightly so it self pollinates within the bag.
Then once the pepper starts to develop you remove the bag and mark the fruit.
Then let it ripen completly and pick it and deseed. This shold then give you true seed
I hope this help, and I am sure other people will chip in with some tips.
Peter :)
Thanks Peter, that's useful. I will either follow your advice and hand-pollinate or grow the chillies in my garden (rather than on the allotment with the peppers).
Distance sounds a much more reasonable option Dandelion... I thought you might need to brush pollen ont the bagged flower from the same plants...
???
as far as I am aware the flowers will pollinate themselves with their own pollen.
so once the bag is around the flower all the pollen it needs is already on the flower.
distance is a good way to prevent it, but if a neighbour has some chilli or pepper
plants then yours may get crossed anyway.
feel free to correct me anyone who knows better ;)
No, you're spot on.
Many of the flowers will in fact be self polinated before they've even opened
thank you - my first bit of good advice given!
I however didnt realise that they may even get pollinated before they even open.
That makes cross pollinating even harder!
Does the ability to do this vary by species?
???