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I was given some miniature hot peppers.

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Do I plant the entire pepper or do I cut it open and plant the seeds? These are so small.

Niall C.
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GardenerJenMn
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2 Answers2

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What I have done is open up the peppers and then clean and dry the seeds out. I subsequently store the seeds and plant them at the appropriate time in the season. In my case I plant them indoors in early January on a heat mat and subsequently transfer them outside. This will give you a head start to the season. I plant them in a seeding mix. Generally, you want to plant them one seed length deep in the soil.

JStorage
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Cut them open and plant the seeds.

The peppers appear dry to me, in which case you just need to break them open and the seeds will simply fall out. If the peppers are not dry, clean them of any pepper flesh and plant them should be all that you need to do. It should not be necessary to stratify them first since they are not a temperate species, per se. Temperate species require something like 6 weeks below 40F before they will germinate. The procedure is to place them on a small rectangle of plastic that is folded over and that is placed in damp towelling in a plastic bag in your refrigerator for about 6 weeks before planting

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    Can you expand your answer to include whether the seeds need to be cleaned, or dried first? Into what medium, and depth, and expected time for germination at whatever temperature? – Graham Chiu Mar 14 '16 at 06:00
  • The peppers appeared dry to me, in which case you just need to break them open and the seeds will simply fall out. If the peppers are not dry, clean them of any pepper flesh and plant them should be all that you need to do. It should not be necessary to stratify them first since they are not a temperate species, per se. Temperate species require something like 6 weeks below 40F before they will germinate. The procedure is to place them on a small rectangle of plastic that is folded over and that is placed in damp towelling in a plastic bag in your refrigerator for about 6 weeks before planting –  Mar 14 '16 at 07:11
  • Sure, but I need some idea of what it is you want to know rather than trying to guess what it is. –  Mar 16 '16 at 00:43
  • @Sue, Obviously I misunderstood what you 'said'. I did as you suggested. It does strike me as a bit 'dangerous' to be able to edit answers after people have voted up/down on it. I have a habit of reading comments to answers as supplements to the answer, but that is my habit. When in Rome ... –  Mar 26 '16 at 19:49
  • It is okay by me. –  Mar 26 '16 at 21:17