Chilli & peppers

[Philthy]

I'd try putting some in the freezer for a couple of weeks, then sowing as normal in a propagator.

Also, it may be worth putting the seeds in a bowl of water and seeing which ones float and which ones (if any) sink (sinking meaning the seed is good). There may be other ways of testing seed viability; this is the only one I'm familiar with. I don't claim this is a 100% accurate test. But you could potentially save yourself a lot of time, effort, and wondering.

[Alison]

I'd try putting some in the freezer for a couple of weeks, then sowing as normal in a propagator.

Am curious, why would you do this?

[Kristen]

I have read of that ... but I can't figure out why it would help either.

I do stratify some seeds, but they are in the fridge, not freezer, and are in something moist (so that germination can start in the cool of the fridge, simulating Winter)

Clearly something different at play with Pepper seeds, as they don't need stratification (and probably are not designed to encounter cold weather!)

Only thing that worries me is that the cells of the seed will, I think, be damaged by freezing - i.e. to survive that the seed will have to be very dry, so no "water" to freeze, expand and rupture the cells. Not sure that regularly stored seed is going to be that dry? but I have no knowledge of how dry home-saved seed is. But don't let me encourage you to dry it further - heat [i.e. apply to dry the seed] is more likely to destroy the seed than cold!