Collecting Seed

It is with great expectations that you put pollen, which you got from friend who had this stunning plant, onto the stigma of the flower of one of your best plants. In your mind you can just imagine what the flowers of that cross are going to look like, but it will be years before you would see the results. In the meantime you can wait patiently for the seeds to develop. (See pollination)

Within a couple of months you can see the berries getting bigger and bigger. Sometimes they become too heavy for the peduncle. The peduncle would start bending over because of this increasing weight and could even brake off. Prevention is better than cure. As soon as the peduncles start to bend over it is time to stake it. Most growers stake the flowers, and then leave the stacks on for the seed.

At the end of May you would find that if you give the green berries a squeeze it will make a fine crackling sound, meaning that the berries inside are moving against each other. This is a sign that they are starting to mature and is ready for harvesting. The berries of those plants that flowered at the end of June and August the previous year should have changed colour by now (May).

For the novice it is recommended to leave the seeds on the plants until the middle of August. By now they have turned either red or yellow.

Prepare your workplace where you are going to clean the seeds by putting down a couple of layers of news paper. Have at hand also a wastepaper basket with a plastic bag inside in which you can throw the peels and yucky stuff.
When you pick the berries make certain to keep those of the same crossing together in a small container. Make certain that you place the label with all the detailed information of the cross with the seed in the container (first the pod parent♀, then the pollen parent♂). This label should accompany the seeds where ever they go.
To open the ripe berries are quite easy. Take hold of a berry between the thumb and first two forefingers, and give it a hard squeeze.
The berry will bust open, exposing the three ovaries with the seeds inside.
Carefully open each of these ovaries and take out the seeds inside. Place the seed in the same container in which you have harvested them.
The next step is to remove all the yucky stuff that is still clinging to the seeds and you hands. Prepare luke warm water with a few drops of liquid dishwasher added to it in a small basin. Place the seeds in the basin. Scoop up quantities of the seeds and gently rub them between your hands. Do this a couple of times until you are certain they are all clean. Take the seeds out of the basin and rinse them under running water. If you are not going to sow them immediately, place them on newspaper and leave them to dry in a cool dry place. Not in the sun. When the seeds have dried they can be dusted with anti fungi.