About This Variety
Alma Paprika is a Hungarian open-pollinated heirloom pepper bred specifically for making paprika powder. Small, round, and thick-walled, these peppers ripen through a beautiful progression — cream to orange to deep red — over 70–80 days. Mild heat with a rich, sweet flavor that makes outstanding homemade paprika. Also excellent fresh, stuffed, or pickled.
How to Save Seeds
- Let peppers ripen FULLY on the plant — past the eating stage, until they wrinkle slightly. Deep red and starting to dry on the plant is ideal.
- Cut open the ripe pepper and scrape the seeds onto a plate or paper towel. No fermentation is needed (unlike tomatoes).
- Spread seeds in a single layer on a plate or screen. Dry for 1–2 weeks in a warm spot out of direct sunlight.
- Once completely dry, store seeds in a labeled envelope. Include the variety name and the year harvested.
Tip: For paprika-making, let fruits dry completely on the plant. The dried fruits can be ground into paprika powder AND the seeds saved simultaneously — two harvests from the same pepper.
Cross-Pollination
All common garden peppers — jalapenos, bells, Anaheims, paprikas — belong to the same species: Capsicum annuum. They can and do cross-pollinate, primarily via bees and other insects. The fruit you harvest this year won't be affected (the mother plant's genetics determine the fruit), but the seeds inside may carry crossed genetics that show up next generation.
Warning — Drew's Garden: You have 5+ pepper varieties (all C. annuum) growing in the same garden. Expect 5–15% cross-pollination from bee activity. The good news: 85–95% of saved seed will still come true to variety.
Your options for maintaining purity:
| Method | Effort | Purity |
|---|
| Accept the gamble | None | 85–95% true |
| Isolate one priority variety at 150+ ft | Moderate | ~98%+ |
| Bag / hand-pollinate flowers | High | ~100% |
