When is a seed fertile?

[veggiechicken]

Daft question coming up!
If a green sweet pepper is an under-ripe pepper that will turn red in due course, are the seeds from a green pepper fertile or not?
In other words, was there any point in me saving every singl seed from a green pepper, if they're not going to grow

[Aberdeenplotter]

dunno missus but one way to find out

[Thelma Sanders]

it's unripe seed - they don't often grow in my experience, but as AP says...................
try a few on some damp kitchen paper

[rustylady]

Just what AP said. Try a couple and see if they germinate. Anyway, how many sweet pepper plants do you need (there's a lot of seeds in a single fruit).

[veggiechicken]

I don't need any, Rusty - but I suffer from Obsessive Seed Saving Disorder
Just curious really!!

[Snadger]

35p a packet in Aldi methinks.....

[Bigmallly]

35p a packet in Aldi methinks.....

Peppers or seeds?...................

[mothhawk]

I'm sure I read somewhere that if you swirl them round in a glass of water, the good seeds will sink and the immature seeds will float (bit like good eggs and bad eggs, which is why it stuck in my mind)

[veggiechicken]

In the interests of science I've chucked a big pinch of seeds into a tub of water - 19 are floating, 4 have sunk and 2 are undecided
Edit I forgot the swirl Now there are 6 floaters, 2 undecided but may not be the same two, and the rest have sunk!

[Bigmallly]

In the interests of science:
Float test: this runs on the theory that more dense viable seed sinks and the duds float. The floaters are skimmed off and discarded while the sinkers are collected and quickly dried (not using heat). This technique works well with freshly harvested or extracted seed, such as Ginkgo and tomatoes, but when the seed coat dries, there is enough boyancy to cause the seed to float. Some species use floating as a dispersal mechanism to create new colonies. Seed with a high oil content float or barely float.

[mothhawk]

In the interests of science I've chucked a big pinch of seeds into a tub of water - 19 are floating, 4 have sunk and 2 are undecided
Edit I forgot the swirl Now there are 6 floaters, 2 undecided but may not be the same two, and the rest have sunk!

In the interests of science....................plant the lot and count what grows!

[veggiechicken]

To hear is to obey
7 floaters have been removed and the remainder drained. Both lots of seed are wrapped in paper, drying off, then I will sow 7 floaters and 7 sinkers and see which germinates. Ooooh I do love to experiment

[Bigmallly]

Ooooh I do love to experiment

We'd never have guessed...................

[veggiechicken]

'Tis better to have tried and failed than never to know the answer - or some such profound saying

[Bigmallly]

I couldn't agree more..............