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Definitely but don’t underestimate the power of cross pollination. I still think back fondly to the summer I grew a baby bell variety next to my scotch bonnet. Hottest damn bells I ever tasted. I farm in pots on a deck so I do what I can to space them out.
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True enough!
My understanding is that this presents a problem in the next years saved seeds, and I think a reputable seed seller should be bagging flowers in time to prevent this as much as is possible.
Of course there is many a story that can be told when you are saving your own seed, or swapping with acquaintances. I am curious about what to expect from my saved Scotch Bonnet seeds this year, if I am fortunate enough to have any.
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Some of my purchased ‘tomato’ seeds grew into tomatillos. That was a pleasant surprise!
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That would be cool! I should grow tomatillos on purpose.
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This much is true, When I moved in to where I now live, there was a small (12’) tree in the front yard. Apple tree in the back yard. Amazing apples from the thing. Early on, a kid at school gives me her science project, three golden delicious apple tree saplings. Once those GD apple trees started to grow, I realized the unknown tree in front was indeed a pear tree. Had some pears. I must say it was a good day.
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My first attempt at growing shishito peppers, I was late in the game and most of the garden centers around me didn’t have any. I finally spotted a few leftover plants in an independent store, and thought I got really lucky. After about 1.5 months, and fruit was finally appearing I kept wondering why the tiny peppers were so light and yellowish. Turns out it was a banana pepper plant. 
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OMG. I love shishitos. What a bumber!
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This happened to me last year. I planted Italian pepper seeds and ended up with bells.
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Oh rats!
Uff. I can picture your shoulders sulking with disappointment. I often wait and buy plants when they’re just trying to get rid of them. So, my neighbors front load me and I back load them. Tomatillos…holy cow. 5 plants and I’ll have to give a ton away.
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These headlines are sending me!
I got peppergated this year: Bought a jalapeno start from a local high school plant sale, ended up with a nice shrubby pot of serranos. Not the worst thing, however I bought extra mason jars thinking I’d be pickling jalapenos this fall!
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The habaneros I’ve been getting lately are no more spicy than jalapenos used to be.
The jalapenos around here don’t seem to have any spice at all, the last several years.
Maybe I need to buy some seeds and start growing my own… !
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I think Shrinkrap pointed out the jalapeno dilemma. I’m in that spot. Just no way to tell if their mild of poppin’. My thai hots are looking great this year.
If you buys the seeds, they might be bells. JK, I’ve grown them from seeds for awhile now. never had consistently mild ones, though.
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So far the Fresno seedlings available around here are reliable for Fresno heat and color. Serranos are too, when I can find them, but I grow those, and various Poblano cultivars from seed. I think they are all of “Anum” species, and sprout fairly easily, making them easier to grow from seed.
Here is one opinion about the jalapeño situation.
There’s lots of words, but I focused on this bit;
" The standardization of the jalapeño was rapidly accelerated by the debut, about 20 years ago, of the TAM II jalapeño line, a reliably big, shiny, fleshy pepper that can grow up to six inches long—with little to no heat. TAM II peppers have become some of the most popular in the processing business. The 2002 paper in HortScience trumpeted TAM II’s benefits: virus resistance, absence of dark spots, longer fruit with thicker flesh, earlier maturation, and, compared to a variety of jalapeño called Grande, less than 10 percent of the spiciness. TAMs grown in one location measured in at 1620 Scoville units, while those at another came in at just 1080, which is milder than a poblano.
In conclusion, the paper’s authors wrote, “The large, low-pungency fruit of ‘TMJ II’ will make it equally suited for fresh-market and processing uses.”
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Ah, the quest for the bigger breasted chicken has hit horticulture again. First they wanted hotter, now they want bigger.
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Scotch Bonnets, Capsicum chinense, can’t cross with bells, C. annuum. Cross pollination cannot affect the current year’s fruit/pod quality. That is determined solely by the “mother plant”, regardless of pollination. What can get affected is the genetic contents of the seeds; i.e. if one plants the seeds, hybrids can appear.
If the bells were hot, it’s because the seeds that were planted were outcrossed (with Hot Wax, or other C. annuum), or one of the hot bell-types got mixed in the seed packing facility.
I do a lot of pepper breeding and experimenting. There is a lot of confusion in the marketplace these days, both by misnaming and mild lookalikes of hot varieties. If one gets seeds from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, they’re pretty good at selling the real thing. Choose Jalapeño “Early” or “M” for hot ones. Usually, the early type is a bit hotter and is often just sold as “Jalapeño”. It’s a smaller type, which develops crack-like patterns as the pods ripen . In stores, it’s a gamble what you get.
Small bees can create random hybrids, but only within certain limitations. Of the three main cultivated varieties, here’s the general consensus:
•Capsicum annuum crosses with C. annuum, not C. chinense or C. baccatum
•C. chinense can cross with C. baccatum, e.g.: CxB; this creates what’s called a “genetic bridge”. What’s useful for pepper breeding is to first make this hybrid, because now one can introduce CxB traits into C. annuum. In other words:
•C. annuum can cross with CxB, e.g.: AxCxB
This is keeping it simple, because there are a bunch of other Capsicum species, with different hybrid potentials.
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Nice! I’m working on a brief blog article for Master Gardener about “Peppergate”. Can I use the information about “There is a lot of confusion in the marketplace these days, both by misnaming and mild lookalikes of hot varieties”?
I’ve read it’s probably one of four major seed companies that had the mix up; any thoughts about that?
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Sure; you can use whatever you’d like to include.
As for the massive pepper mixup in the article you linked: It’s not surprising the Chinese source for Seeds by Design got everything mixed up. A lot of newer suppliers there are sloppy or downright lie about what they’re selling. Check ebay and you’ll find all sorts of impossible fruits and vegetables, neon-blue roses, crazy photoshopped images, etc., being sold from Chinese vendors who haven’t been shut down. Most of these rogue exporters don’t care, once they’ve made the money. It’s hard to say if the pepper mixup was incompetency or indifference.
On the other hand, the Chinese traditional seed producers, breeding and marketing traditional Chinese vegetables, are much more careful because their businesses, mostly within China, depend on it. Facing heaven Chinese chilies better be correct, as the Chinese farmers would raise hell if their massive plantings were incorrect. These varieties have often been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years; they are familiar vegetables. Chinese seed producers have kept an incredible number of varieties, including radishes, cabbages of all sorts, flowering brassicas, mustards, etc. reliably true to type, despite outcrossing possibilities. The masters there are just that.
The older type Asian chilies have been primarily red drying types, Capsicum annuum and C. frutescens. Shishito and Himo Togarashi, and a few others feature in fresh uses. But, the myriad of C. annuum varieties in the Americas dwarfs anything outside of North, Central and south America. It’s a landslide of varieties which are relatively new to Chinese seed producers. You can’t tell by looking whether or not the seeds are correct. There’s a language barrier with often Spanish names to keep track of, or American, Hungarian selections.
China has become an agricultural powerhouse when it comes to pepper production. Even Mexican markets often have chilies imported from China, where massive plantations are putting small Mexican producers out of business. Some peppers that are classics, like chilhuacle negro, for mole, are disappearing.
Truth be told, pepper seed mixups from large scale producers have been uncommon. It mostly has been smaller scale producers, including in the USA, who have had issues. One to a few wrong seeds in a packet usually indicates someone didn’t clean the seed packing or cleaning machines/equipment in between batches. A whole lot being wrong is usually someone not paying attention, careful attention.
As the number of Capsicums growing around the world increases, it’s vital that seed producers everywhere:
Properly label their crop seeds.
Verify the phenotypes of fruits, pods are correct. Rogue improper plants and destroy possible outcrossed neighboring plants.
Isolate their seed crops from contamination, outcrossing by using mechanical, physical barriers, long-distance isolation from other crops or other techniques to insure reliable production and properly identified pure seeds.
Prevent genetic drift by planting large numbers of true-to-type plants.
Newbies in this arena are likely to screw up if they are working large-scale!
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Wow @bogman ! Great information!
You mentioned dried peppers, and I imagine you have experience with that. I grew some Espelette this year, and have been drying them outside for awhile.
I’m going to start a new thread.
