Growing from Seed

Question

I bought some very small (and sweet) red, yellow and orange sweet peppers. I loved them so much I thought I should try and grow them from the seeds I collected after eating them. I planted them and was very happy to see them all growing and then flowering. It turns out the plants are not sweet peppers but green beans, sort of thing. Not a sweet pepper in sight. Just green beans! Any ideas as to how this is possible?

Answer 1

Most grocery store produce is hybrids. If the pepper you ate came from a hybrid cultivar then the plants you grow from that seed will not be the same as the plant that produced the bell pepper you ate and will not be of the same quality. Viable pepper seeds come from open-pollinated varieties (non-hybrids) and grow true to the parent plant. Even if store-bought peppers are open-pollinated varieties, the fruit was likely harvested before it was fully ripe so the seeds won’t be mature enough to save and plant.