How much separation do I need in order to save seeds without cross-pollination?
There is no easy answer. It depends on the species. See IB vs. OB. You can save seed from an IB species with little or no isolation required. ex. lettuce, legumes, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. Peppers are interesting: the current trend in hot peppers has brought many “wilder” types into use, and these tend to be more OB than IB. These therefore need more isolation, but a insect-tight bag over a flower should do. OB species need isolation. You can do this by only growing one variety of each species (remembering that there are lots of Brassica species, and that they will cross freely). You can hand-pollinate if the species is amenable (like squash or melons). How much isolation? Commercially, the recommendation is on the order of 1000 to 1500 ft minimum. In field produced flowers, isolation plots in California use canyons. These vegetable species require little if any isolation for seed saving: dry beans, snap beans, lima beans, soybeans, eggplant, lettuce, peas, peppers (bell), and
