Sweet peppers are HOT! Why?

9 years ago

I had a scary experience today. I picked some red peppers from my plant which I thought was a Corni di Toro. But the peppers looked like big Lipsticks, which I had also planted, so I thought I must have been confused about which plant was which.

I cut the pepper open, and started pulling the ribs off with my fingers. All of a sudden, I started coughing uncontrollably, and ended up gasping for air. I couldn't get any air into my lungs. I thought maybe I was having a heart attack or allergic reaction, but I'm not allergic to peppers! It was terrifying and I was thinking I needed 911. But thankfully, I started slowly getting more air in.

After calming down, I went back to the pepper, cut it up, threw it into the frying pan, and got a little chokey again. I then connected the pepper to the coughing!

I tasted a tiny bite and felt the burn. The oil must have been on the knife, too, because although I rinsed it, when I cut a slice of mozzarella, it was hot.

So apparently, the Lipstick pepper was not a Lipstick! But I am sure I have eaten other SWEET peppers from that plant. I remember thinking they weren't all that sweet, but they were not hot.

So with that long preface, what's happened? This plant is from seed SAVED from last year's peppers. The only hot pepper I grew last year was jalapeno (yes, nearby). But today's pepper was much much hotter than a jalapeno.

Questions:

1. Would a Lipstick or Corni di Toro cross with another pepper from a neighbor perhaps? I'm wondering if someone in the neighborhood grew habaneros and this may be the product.

2. If the seed is hybrid, is it possible that different peppers from a single plant could have various different flavors?

3. Is all the saved seed bad or can it vary seed by seed?

4. How do you save seed if you live in a suburb near neighbors and/or grow several pepper varieties? I thought being "heirloom" meant it wouldn't cross with other plants - guess I was wrong...

TIA.

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Comments (7)

farmerdill
9 years ago
Neither Lipstick or Bull's Horn are hybrids so we can rule that out. They will cross with other C. annuums like jalepenos. Chitlepins are the hottest in this species. Have no idea what happened But interspecies crosses are rare and usually require intervention.
Jonathan29
9 years ago
Kinda like why happened to my peperoncini's which were supposed to be hot but are as mild as a sweet pepper. odd things are a foot with those peppers.

Here is a link that might be useful: TheItalian Garden
thirsty_dirt_77
9 years ago
I've read before that if a sweet pepper is merely pollinated by a hot pepper, the sweet pepper could be hot!
ditnc
Original Author
9 years ago
I found this:
"Seed Saving: Peppers will cross-pollinate, so separate by at least 500' or plant in insect-proof cages covered with window screen. Select peppers that are ripe, fully colored, and show no signs of disease to save for seed." *

Apparently my sweet pepper(s) were cross pollinated with hot ones. I still don't understand how the first peppers from this plant weren't hot, but today's was.

Also, cross-pollination is flower-by-flower (thus via each individual pepper), right? So if I saved seeds from several peppers from last year's plant, some of the seed could be true, correct?

*http://www.seedsavers.org/Education/Seed-Saving-Instructions/#pepper
planatus
9 years ago
Yes, your sweet peppers picked up hot genes from your jalapenos last year. Since you don't like hot peppers, I would ditch the seeds.

I have had peppers in which only the ribs and membrane were hot, and the cheeks were not. Maybe that's what you have there.
theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
9 years ago
"I thought being "heirloom" meant it wouldn't cross with other plants."

Heirlooms are open pollinated. They will come true from seed as long as you prevent them from cross pollinating.

Pepper flowers are self pollinating and do not need insects. The flowers just have to be wiggled/jiggled/vibrated/moved around in some way (such as getting blown around in the wind) for them to set fruit. Insects do pollinate the flowers but they are not needed and are not wanted when you plan on saving seed. That's why isolation cages are recommended to prevent insects from cross pollinating. Bagging individual blooms will also work.

It's possible that some of your saved seeds will come true. But are you willing to go through the process of starting the seeds, tending the seedlings, transplanting, waiting for the plants to set fruit, and all this just to bite into a pepper that sets your mouth on fire? If it were me I'd start with fresh seed.

As for why the first ones you picked weren't hot, I oftentimes have hot peppers that are sweet or mild early in the season (such as my serranos this year). Especially if I pick them while still small. I attribute it to the cooler weather and the plants being young. But they soon correct themselves.

Rodney
ditnc
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the replies. And Rodney, I appreciate the tutorial on pollination, it's exactly what I needed to know. What an interesting experience, but yes, you're right...a lot of time and effort put into a pepper plant which I can't use so out with those seeds. I wish these were tasty peppers; they're not, but they sure are pretty. Lesson learned!