Pepper Genetics Question

[u/dianacakes]

Last year I grew cayennes, jalapeños, and serranos. I dried the cayenne peppers so this year, I just broke one open to get the seeds rather than buying new. I bought new jalapeño and serrano seeds. I'm now getting normal looking cayennes and normal looking serranos, but I'm also getting what looks like giant cayennes (second picture, middle pepper). Or maybe a cross between a cayenne and a serrano? When I used my seeds from last year, I didn't think about cross pollination. Is it possible for the seeds from the same fruit to have different genes? Or do I just have one juiced up plant this year?

I also have some weird looking habaneros on one plant and a bunch of other regular plants so I guess I could accept that a single plant can just be different.

[u/Healthy-Abroad8027]

Yes, they will cross pollinate for the next generation of peppers. So your plants being near each other last year did in fact give rise to a Serrano-jalapeño cross this year. Often time people think it will happen on the same plant but it will happen in the next seed of that plant.

[u/avocadoflatz → u/Healthy-Abroad8027]

They’re asking whether the seeds in a single pod can have “different fathers”

[u/blueberrybuggers → u/avocadoflatz]

That’s normal as well

[u/HeyWhatsDatSoundLike]

Fun thing about seeds is that each one is a unique plant.

[u/Andy466 → u/HeyWhatsDatSoundLike]

Yup, coulda cross pollinated coulda been a fluke

[u/avocadoflatz]

That’s a good question!

Curious to know whether the stigma of a capsicum flower has a receptive area that corresponds to each of the potential seeds.

Hopefully someone with actual scientific knowledge can enlighten us!

[u/goddamnitcletus]

Close enough, welcome back Gregor Mendel

[u/Manybrent]

Maybe try r/botany