From pollination to seed

I have a nice outside girl going that I'd love to get a little seed from...but for the moment I have no pollen.

I do have four new starts going that are just over a month old. If one turns up male then I'll be in business. To compound the issue I live in a short season area....so it could be a very close call.

But what I'm trying to understand is from the time I pollinate, how long does it take to produce good viable seed.

Thanks y'all
HMR

Actually, I just finished a seed run. From applying the pollen to the pistils, I wait a minimum of 4 weeks for perfectly viable seeds. At 4 weeks though, you'll still have a few late-starters that aren't quite viable, or aren't quite formed right. To me, 5 to 6 weeks is kinda overkill, but you'll get a little better yield. (seed yield)

After 3 weeks or so, pluck a large one off, let it dry. (couple of hours) Once dry, remove the calyx covering it, and look at the color. One seed a week to check color. Generally, yellow seeds are inviable, tan seeds are often viable, darker brown seeds are good to go, designer spots or stripes on a dark brown background are about as good as it gets.

If you haven't got the time to properly pull it off, but you still try...your plant yield will suffer regardless. Perhaps next season would be a better choice.

The Cervantes book suggests that it takes 6 weeks to produce a viable seed. This girl only gets 5 hr of direct sun a day....so I guess that we'll see.

HMR

Thanks Rusty....I've only been monitoring this thread through my subscribed list....it showed no replies.

I'll probably push the envelope some...I might just pull it off. While it wasn't exactly this plant, it was the same geno that got through a late May freeze at 27 degrees overnight...So what the hell, you never can tell what the weather might bring. I've had snow as early as mid-september and a freeze as late as mid-november. In this case I have the latitude to gamble on seed over weed.

You're always a good help. It doesn't go unappreciated.
HMR