Look at what I found in the produce section, today: a big beautiful gold bell pepper. I thought I was in heaven until I looked at the price…
Ouch! This pepper is almost two bucks! One pepper was priced at $1.78, plus tax (did you hear me? I said ONE pepper). That sucks! I almost left it there in the store, but then I got an idea… I could go ahead and buy the pepper now (since it’s too early in the season for peppers), enjoy the pepper in a nice meal, but then I could save the seeds and start my own little gold pepper plants. That would make the $1.78 almost worth it!
That’s exactly what I did! Just in case you’d like to get more for your $1.78, you can do this too! It’s super simple – just follow the steps below:
How to grow bell peppers from seed
First, start by coring the pepper the same as you would if you were preparing a meal, but be very careful not to cut any seeds.
Next, remove the seeds from the core. Each and every seed in this bad boy is virtually an entirely new plant that could give you 20-50+ peppers in a season. Did you here me?! There are hundreds of seeds in this one bell pepper and each of those seeds could produce up to 50 new peppers – you would never need to buy peppers again. One year, we grew so many peppers, we froze them and ate free peppers for over two years!
After you’ve collected the seeds, you’ll need containers to plant them in. You can use anything you like but I prefer to use clear eight ounce party cups. Why clear, you ask? Honestly, it’s because I’m nosey and I want to see what’s going on. I like to see that the roots are making good progress day by day. I realize the roots shouldn’t be exposed to the sun, so I’m only using these for a short time until they are ready to be transplanted directly into the ground or into a larger planter. Truthfully, the container or cup can be any color you want.
Before you add dirt to the cup, create a hole for drainage. Poke one or two holes in the bottom of the cup. I took an old busted screwdriver, heated it up on the stove so that it was super easy to poke a hole with very little effort. It went much faster for me that way.
Next, add some moistened seed starter mix (peat moss and vermiculite) to your cups. I like to moisten the seed starter mix by placing it in a bowl and then slowly adding warm water. I let that sit for about five minutes before I start filling the cups.
Plant your seeds by placing only 1-2 seeds in each cup. (It’s easy to be tempted to dump a handful of seeds in the cup, but that will just cause trouble later on when you’ll have to try to separate the plants. If you don’t separate them, they’ll suck up all of the nutrients too quickly.) Gently push seeds down into soil (1/4 inch or so) and cover seed up lightly with more soil.
Water lightly (if you’re soil is already moist, you just need a few drops).
Don’t forget to label your plants. If you don’t, you will have a nightmare when growing season starts! You won’t know what is what and that is super frustrating. Just use some light colored painter’s tape to indicate which seed you’ve planted along with a date to help you keep track of growing time.
Place them in a warm window or other warm spot and watch them sprout. They should begin sprouting within a week or less if temperatures are warm enough inside.
Important fact to consider
I’m sure horticulturists everywhere would freak out if I didn’t tell you this: When growing from seed, especially from a hybrid plant, you may or may not get the same exact fruit from the plant. These seeds that came from this beautiful gold pepper could turn out to be red peppers or some other colored pepper and other characteristics might be different also. The plant might produce peppers that aren’t as big as the original pepper or it may be a different shape. There are many variables. The only way to get the exact plant you want is to buy packaged seeds or grow from heirloom varieties.
The good news is that it will still produce a pepper and whatever pepper it produces will probably be delicious – so don’t let this scare you away from planting.
Tips for storing seeds
You’ll have tons of seeds left over for next season or to share with a friend here on Easily Grown. To store the extra seeds from your fresh bell pepper, scrape all of the seeds from the core onto a piece of newspaper. Let them dry for about 12-24 hours. Then transfer them into a paper envelope for safe keeping. Remember to label your seeds: name and date your envelope before storing.
It’s so rewarding to see things grow from unexpected sources. Any questions? Have you ever tried to grow a bell pepper from the seeds you got out of an old bell pepper? Tell us about your experience in the comments section.
Hello! So, after I take the seeds out of the pepper I can go ahead and plant them??? I don’t need to dry them first for a few days? I have some seeds that I took out a green pepper last week they are all dry now, can I plant them now? Thank you in advance! I love peppers!!
Hi Neri,
I’m glad you’re excited about planting your peppers! I do recommend that you let them dry for a day or two, but it sounds like you’ve already done that, so go ahead and plant them. Please send us pictures when they begin to sprout and grow. I would love to see them.
Hello Scott,
I have enjoyed reading your posts …you make me smile … your humor comes through in your writing – for instance, I laughed when your reason for using a clear cup is because “you’re nosey, you like to see what’s going on”… You obviously enjoy what you’re doing! Though I’ve never met you, I can hear your voice in my mind because your writing is so conversational.
Thanks for the tips…I had no idea you could plant the seeds from a pepper to grow your own. If the seeds are planted now will it produce peppers this summer? Or is it something to do now and reap the rewards next summer?
You know how there are herb planters that contain all the herb seasonings for spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, etc.? Well, could you take a few different vegetables that are commonly used together for a particular dish and plant them in a container? You know, like a “pizza planter” ( bell peppers, mushrooms, hot peppers, etc.) Pizza seems to be on my mind – since I can’t eat it I’m craving it!
Hello Peppy!!! Thank you for the awesome compliment. I’m not a very good writer at all, that’s my wife that’s the novelist in the family. I just write how I speak and pray that it turns out right in text lol…
Now about that ole pepper question. If you plant a seed now, you will have peppers this summer for sure. Remember one thing, pepper seeds take about a week or two longer than tomatoes to germinate, so if you plant pepper seeds and tomato seeds at the same time don’t panic when you don’t see your peppers pop up with your matoes, they’re just a little lazier that’s all. The pepper plants usually don’t get as tall and big as tomato plants yet they produce just as much fruit. The norm is about 2ft-4ft tall tops. A good thing about peppers—– they don’t need any support at all because they have more of a natural thick tree type woody stock that holds them up unlike tomatoes. I grow as many peppers as my yard can fit because I always need them and lots of them around the holiday season. Very easy to freeze, pickle or can. Oh yeah and I hear that they are pretty good for ya too :^)).
This year I have started tons of jalapeño plants because I want to try and make my very own jalapeño bombers. I just love the little rascals, I just don’t like paying $6.00 bucks for 8 bombers, that sucks :^( so I figured….how hard could it be right? It’s just a few pepper and some fricken cheese right? So I will keep you updated on weather I have solved my jalapeño bomber addiction by getting high on my own supply that I grew and made myself or do I have to keep buying from the man in dark alleys :^) lol…
I sure hoped this helped in some way or another. If you need any help I will do my best, not just help but make it as easy as possible for you as we’ll.
By the way peppy, you can grow a a mixed planter box just not too many in one pot because they all get pretty big. Now as far as the mushrooms, that’s another story entirely! I always wanted to grow them but I always stayed away from them because growing eatable mushrooms can be very very tricky. If done wrong they can make you very sick or even take your name out of the phone book all together! Lol… I’m sorry about that I was watching an old black and white mob boss/ gangster movie in one of my patients rooms and that phrase just stuck with me, I thought it was a funny way for them to tell the guy that he was about to meet his demise.
So the answer is yes on the planter mix and a BIG NOOOO on the mushrooms. We will figure them out together at a later date. Lol… I have a good friend from the Asia that grows them and maybe this year she will teach me so I can share the knowledge with ya. And remember……. Not too many pizza plants in one pot lol….
Thanks, Scott, for answering my questions….and the laughs ( I’m thinking there is a “stand up comedian” living inside you!) I’ve got to remember that movie line about having your name removed from the phone book .
I want to get some pepper seeds started soon…if we have success I will send a picture.
I hope you and Keisha are having a great weekend!
Peppy
LOL! Peppy, we’ve been telling Scott that he needs to do stand-up comedy for years! He is always hilarious – a day does not pass without boisterous laughter in our home. I’m glad you were able to get a few laughs out of him. I can’t wait to see how your peppers turn out – I think you’re going to be freezing peppers and eating them for years to come. 🙂