# Grocery Store Bell Peppers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-bell-peppers/234546>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 16, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-bell-peppers/234546 "2004-03-16T00:27:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-bell-peppers/234546/1 "2004-03-16T00:27:34Z")

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Is it possible to take the seeds from the bell peppers you buy in the store and get them to germinate, or are these non-germinating hybrids?

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**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-bell-peppers/234546/2 "2004-03-16T00:39:20Z")

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I tried to grow bells from those seeds, but nothing happened. I suspect that the seeds were immature (from a green pepper), and would have been viable had I used seeds from a ripe (red) bell pepper. Never persued it though.  
I’ve grown a _lot_ of bell peppers, but always from packaged seeds.  
I bet Martha (yummy) Stewart could tell us.  
Peace,  
mangeorge

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-bell-peppers/234546/3 "2004-03-16T00:44:40Z")

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Yes, you can usually grow the seeds from a red or yellow pepper, but not always those from a green one, which is underripe.

The plants may not come true from seed - that is to say that they might be quite different from the parent plant and might produce quite different fruit of unpredictable quality - this is particularly the case where the supermarket variety is an f1 Hybrid. You do usually get something though and it can be an interesting experiment if you have the space, time and patience.

If space and patience is at a premium, though, you’re much better off spending a couple of coins on a packet of seeds from a gardening store.

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-bell-peppers/234546/4 "2004-03-16T02:04:43Z")

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I’ve grown Habaneros and Jalapenos straight from the grocery store, and a couple different squashes. They all came out looking as they should, and with a decent yield. Never tried growing anything from storebought Bell peppers though.

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**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-bell-peppers/234546/5 "2004-03-16T11:16:31Z")

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Yup, grown plants from red bell pepper seeds straight from the supermarket. I put no effort in at all - just put the seeds in pots 1/2 inch down in the compost and they all popped up a few days later. The fruit were smaller than the supermarket ones but I was growing them during Autumn :doh: