I bought dried chilies at the Asian grocery

[spinbaby]

They were labeled as from P.R.O.C. and it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out where that was. Anyway, these chilies are pretty good, so I was wondering if I could take some of the seeds and grow my own. If they are just dried, my chances are probably good, but if they were heat treated along the way, probably not.

[calimary]

1. People's Republic Of China?

That’d be my guess.

[MontanaMama]

2. Ooh. What kind of chili peppers?

I'm just curious. If they're a hybrid then you might sprout something completely different from the chili peppers you bought....might be a fun experiment!

[hippywife]

3. I don't really know, spinbaby.

Do you think someone in the Gardening group might be able to tell you?

Hope you find an answer.

[MiHale]

4. What do you have to lose?...

We keep our pepper seeds from year to year. If they look good try some seeds can stay viable for years if kept dry and dark.
Seeds we try to save are poblano, yellow, red, green. Sometimes and I have no idea if this is correct but we try to pick out the whitest seeds pushing aside the brown if any.

[dpibel]

5. EZ germ test

Put a few seeds on a damp paper towel. Fold the towel over the seeds. Put in a zipper plastic bag. Put in a warm place.

If it's viable seed, you should see sprouts in 1-3 weeks.

But Montana Mama is correct: If it's a hybrid, you probably won't grow what you bought.

[getagrip_already]

6. just a thought, but....

If they are unlabeled except for country of origin, they are probably heirloom seeds.

Farmers aren't going to spend money on hybridized seed if they just keep some of last years crop and harvest the seeds for the following year. They also aren't going to go through the trouble to develop the strains on their own.

These aren't boutique markets they sell into. Just a hunch.

[spinbaby]

7. Good idea

Then, if they sprout, I can start some in pots on a windowsill.