Can You Grow Fruit From Jalapeno Seeds?

Green jalapenos are most likely immature; the seeds won't grow.

There's a certain thrill from starting a plant from saved seed. Jalapeno peppers are full of seeds, and those seeds could quite possibly sprout and grow, but you may not get what you're expecting. On the other hand, you just might.

Seed Viability

Jalapenos are generally sold in their immature state; that is, they are green in the vegetable cooler. The seeds in green fruit have not had time to fully mature. However, if you pick a pepper that is starting to show even the tiniest bit of red in its flesh, the seed may be viable. Save the seeds, dry them and then plant a few in a flower pot. Water well and watch for germination. If they germinate, you can start the rest six or seven weeks before it is time to plant them in the garden.

Hybridization

Most commercially available jalapenos are F1 hybrids. The seed from which they are grown has been carefully pollinated to display a certain set of characteristics of the two parent plants. Seeds from F1 hybrids will not reproduce a fruit identical to the parent fruit. So, a grocery store jalapeno will not likely parent a fruit that looks and tastes just like itself. However, at a farmers' market, you can ask the grower if his jalapenos are hybrid or open-pollinated. If they are open-pollinated, you have a chance of getting jalapenos from the seeds, as long as the seed has not cross-pollinated.

Cross-Pollination

Virtually any pepper can cross-pollinate with any other. The seeds that result from a jalapeno crossing with a bell pepper will produce offspring that are neither a jalapeno nor a bell. For the seed to grow "true", it must be pollinated by another of its own kind. Seed companies ensure this by isolating the seed crop from any possible cross-pollinating crop. The isolation can come from a physical barrier or from a distance beyond the capability of pollinating insects to travel.

Potential

If your jalapeno is mature, is not an F1 hybrid and was pollinated by another jalapeno, you can grow more jalapenos from the seeds. If it is mature, but is a hybrid or was cross-pollinated, you can grow "fruit" from the seeds, but they won't likely be jalapenos.

References

• "Seed to Seed--Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners"; Suzanne Ashworth; 2002