Advice needed for my first pepper cross

[docpeppa26]

I want to get into pepper breeding and thinking of mixing a couple of my favorite C. annuum and C. chinense varieties. I was doing some research on compatibility and saw in a breeding table that C. annuum and C. chinense crosses are considered partially fertile or viable, so this has me a bit confused. Does this mean I'll only get a few viable seeds from a successful cross, or does it mean that some specific pairings will work well while others will just be a total bust? Also I'm planning on using some older, landrace varieties for this project, hoping that they might be more genetically compatible. Thoughts? I want to make sure I'm giving my plants the best possible chance to produce good, healthy seeds. Any advice would be awesome. Thanks in advance!

 

[thefieryfields]

To successfully cross C. annuum with C. chinense, you should use C. annuum as the mother plant. This helps to steer clear of possible problems like dwarfism or a virus-like syndrome. It's important to note that this cross is only partially fertile, so you might end up with a smaller number of viable seeds, but it's definitely achievable

 

[dracoChili]

Going with older plant types can be a pro move. They're often better at mixing traits between different species, which is great news if you're aiming for flavor, heat, or disease resistance