Pepper – Pollination

Q: Will peppers cross pollinate? If I plant hot peppers, like jalapeno and habanero, near bell peppers and banana peppers will it make all of them hot?

A: Pepper flowers have both male and female parts and they usually pollinate themselves inside the bloom. There is little chance of cross-pollination in most circumstances. However, if bees go from flower to flower among your varied peppers, pollen from the sweet and hot peppers may be mixed. This could result in seed that will yield “sweet’ hot peppers or “hot” sweet peppers next year. If you don’t save and replant seed, you’ll have no problem.

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