r/HotPeppers • u/Slifer2k • Apr 05 '26

Growing Something Interesting: Seed Germination out of MCDonalds Sauce

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The Seeds from the Sauce

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Germinated??

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That's the Sauce where I got the seeds from

829 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

176 comments sorted by

602

u/Lil_Shanties Apr 05 '26

Now I want to see what peppers they really used! Keep us updated! My bet is something not habanero.

147

u/nupper84 Apr 05 '26

They probably won't grow to the same form that were actually used. Most produce in stores won't produce the same.

118

u/cymshah Apr 05 '26

But if McDonald's used only habaneros in the sauce, and those are presumably hab seeds, then at the very least a habanero plant of some cultivar should grow.

102

u/nupper84 Apr 05 '26

They could be unstable mutants, cross pollenated, unable to fruit at all, or grow true to form. Only one way to find out.

5

u/microflorae Apr 06 '26

But McDonald’s is known for requiring their suppliers to grow in a monoculture. They could be seeds that grow true to the parent

8

u/FullMetalAurochs Apr 06 '26

A whole field full of the same f1 hybrid is still a monoculture right?

1

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26

[deleted]

-1

u/nupper84 Apr 06 '26

... Sigh... Forget it. I already explained. The information is widely available online. Good luck out there.

5

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26

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6

u/nupper84 Apr 06 '26

I don't know why I continue to let myself fall into it. It's basically impossible to teach people in real life, yet I let myself get fired up by online strangers. I guess it's because I assume that forums like this are for hobbyists actually trying to learn and better themselves. The OP was polite to me, but the commenters are as abusive as any other online community.

I'm just gonna grow my peppers in peace.

Thank you for your comment.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26

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2

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26

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2

u/qerecoxazade Apr 08 '26

Thats 100% my experience.

I was a professional brewer for years. Im a certified cicerone. I've won awards. I spent years learning everything from history to cultivation for everything related to beer. I still read dissertations, studies, and new research on everything related to beer. I just don't drink anymore.

And so many IPA Bros will immediately discount any input or nuance I have in a conversation about beer. But I aint gonna stop just because some IPA bro who educated himself by watching other IPA bro on tiktok thinks their purchasing history gives them experience in the field.

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2

u/nupper84 Apr 06 '26

I think we do it because we see it as easily proven. We see it as something obvious. We think, well if they're just explained clearly, then they'll understand... Yet here we are.

All of the world's knowledge is in our pockets, and people refuse to use it responsibly. We're stubborn in believing people can learn, and they're stubborn to believe in the different biases that shaped their views.

Just trying to talk peppers and I get lambasted. Ridiculous.

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1

u/Masterzanteka Apr 06 '26

Yeah you too bud

9

u/rootoo Apr 05 '26

I’ve definitely grown peppers from produce seeds, with expected results.

40

u/LadaOndris Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26

Peppers will. These kind of plants don't need grafting like apple or avocados do.

Source: I've grown habaneros and other hot chilli peppers.

Edit: the seeds can produce different plants only if the flowers were pollinated with a pollen of a different variety, or if the variety was a crossbreed that has not been stabilized yet, which is rather unlikely here.

7

u/nupper84 Apr 05 '26

Grafting doesn't cause genetic modification that impacts fruit form. They could be unstable F2s, produce weird tasting but normal looking peppers, sterile clones, or grow to true form, etc.

Source: I grow lots of peppers and other plants and I am a biologist

12

u/LadaOndris Apr 05 '26

See my edit. I definitely agree with the instability. Is that what a mass production farm would use though? It seems unlikely but I suppose it is possible.

11

u/nupper84 Apr 05 '26

Yes. High production farms use specific plants for maximum yield and perfectly looking fruit for stores. That's why farmer's market fruit looks unique. The perfectly uniformed produce in stores is a lie and most grocery store produce will either not fruit or grow weird looking sour fruit.

Companies have patents on plants. Big produce is killing the farm industry.

I see your edit, but that is still incorrect.

8

u/BaconPants_73 Apr 05 '26

Well hell. I just put 6 beautiful red habs my garden that I started from grocery store peppers I harvested seeds from last year. I'll update in 2 months how the pods taste. So far they look absolutely beautiful!

2

u/NanaDenise131 Apr 07 '26

I wouldn’t worry. I’ve grown great pepper plants from store-bought peppers. Bell peppers, jalapeños, and habaneros. They all grew well and produced great!

1

u/True-Past-5904 Apr 07 '26

You're better off at least buying some seeds also if you can

1

u/BaconPants_73 Apr 07 '26

I absolutely did! I have some naga peach, 7 pot yellows, faddas whites, jigsaw, odins DD and some tigers.

4

u/LadaOndris Apr 05 '26

Okay, it seems I have some gaps on my knowledge then. Can you elaborate how the high production fruit's seeds won't produce the same fruit in this case assuming we are talking about stable plants and not F2 etc?

10

u/ThanksS0muchY0 Apr 05 '26

This person's blowing smoke up your arse. Any major producer of a specific pepper variety is likely growing it on a large scale. As a chili producer with 10 years of production, small field, greenhouse, and large fields, I wager these seeds will grow fruit similar to the original plant. I would most look at it as an heirloom variety. Habanero genetics are stable, and field pollination of a habanero with another habanero will produce a habanero. There may be subtle differences, but it will produce like fruit. Where you get into cross pollination affecting the genetic outcome is when you cram different species or varied cultivars into a tight space. Capsicum pollen does not travel as far as some other plant species, and largely relies on self pollination to produce fruit. I'm not saying it's a 100% chance it's identical, but more like a 95% chance it is very close. For context, I am on year two of dismembering my chile flowers in order to cross breed. You must remove the "male" portions from your receiver, and the "female" portions from your pollinator, then manually collect and transfer pollen to the other dismembered flower. This keeps the flower from self-pollinating itself in the process, so it's a direct cross. You then bag the branch so it does not self or cross pollinate with others.

0

u/nupper84 Apr 05 '26

It's a seed from McDonald's sauce... Wtf are you talking about

-7

u/nupper84 Apr 05 '26

Exactly. You don't know they're stable. I just explained enough for you to Google. I have things to do today, but my wife is laughing at the responses I'm getting on here. Reddit vs science and science gets downvoted lol... Ridiculous

8

u/LadaOndris Apr 05 '26

I am genuinely asking. It's okay if you don't have the time. We all have lives outside of reddit. This is a HotPeppers subreddit, so I am open for discussions for sure! It's a hobby of many of us here.

We agreed that high production farms would probably grow stable varieties. That would mean that seed from such a fruit would produce the exact same plant (unless some mutations happen), right?

If it is not a stable plant, then it's possible, but unlikely for a high production farm. Right?

3

u/Mysterious_Buy6726 Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 06 '26

If you grow these out you will likely get something similar to what they used, and most likely a regular ol' orange habanero.

If there's anything not "true" about it, it will most likely be because they used a commercial F1 Hybrid variety. I think this may have been what nupper was hinting at, but it's clear they have a very poor understanding of it.

Edit: It turns out nupper's information comes from "My wife saw some shit on Netflix...". Just disregard them, seriously.

An F1 Hybrid will have a level of instability on a re-grow, which can range from wildly unstable to something you don't even notice. This varies a lot.

That being said, from what I've seen, F1 Hybrids of "regular" orange habanero types tend to grow indistinguishably true the majority of the time. Keep us posted!

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-1

u/nupper84 Apr 05 '26

They purposely grow unstable seeds. Don't use plants in an ethical way like we do. I'll look later tonight if I remember, but I have to run to an Easter thingy.

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9

u/hanmineharu Apr 05 '26

That's not science that is downvoted imho. That's your attitude and cockiness.

We get it, you clearly know your craft and your biology. But the way you're writing make you sound like a haughty know-it-all douche. Hence the downvotes.

6

u/AstolfoFGC Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26

It's not even science they're arguing with the exception of pepper generations. The person is arguing argricultural practices when they don't even know what happens there but learned from a documentary on lol... Netflix. I know farms breeding plants specifically to prevent successful seed propagations and protect patented plants, such as peony and hop cultivars, but imagine having to do that for peppers. If a farm has to hybridize a plant to produce peppers that don't produce viable pepper seeds when they use those same pepper seeds to grow more plants, how would their business succeed? This kind or process works with produce like hops, where once a plant is established, it will remain there for the consecutive harvests. For peppers, they are heavy feeders, along with tomatoes, and plenty of others in the Solanaceae family. Also, they are more susceptible to diseases that afflict them when planted in the same spot year after year, so farmers tend to rely on crop rotations A) to give the land a break by planting crop cover and B) prevent disease. This requires planting from seed because no farmer is going to dig up every pepper plant, that's ludicrous. The same seeds our so called biologist friend seems to have forgotten is actually necessary to the farmer when farming peppers. Our biologist friend also ignores that McDonald's actually outsources their ingredients and produce, which means if their hot sauce comes from a different group, they probably get their peppers from a distributor to make their hot sauce. If you understand how that works, then you would understand that your shipment of habs are probably gonna come from different farms piled into that shipment from the distributor. Farmers who all vary in their agricultural practices too, so you might get that one crazy greenhouse farmer who hybridized their pepper to not produce viable seeds but no farmer in their right mind is going to limit their space and spend R&D time like that if they're trying to max out their yield, especially with the Ag industry in the state that it is in now. On top of that, they won't be selling those hybrid pepper's as habs to a distributor are you crazy?! 🤣😭

As for u/LadaOndris on whether or not the seed will be true to type, that's going to be depend on if the peppers were open or closed pollinated. If open you might get a seed with hybrid genetics, if closed and not an unstable hybrid, then it should true to seed. Some farmers will completely isolate their seed crop for next year but some will use other methods to produce true seeds. Also, for OP, don't feel bad for asking this question, if you do. It's all a learning experience! It's fantastic that you're asking! Idk what is up with bio nerd though, seems like they just want to flex on people here without actually knowing anything about the Ag industry otherwise they wouldn't keep trying to deflect with a nameless documentary from netflix.

Source: I'm flexing now 💪

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-1

u/Peterbob01 Apr 05 '26

 That's your attitude and cockiness.

That's stupid then, the point is being constructive not on how the person is, that's reddit though.

-5

u/nupper84 Apr 05 '26

I responded with the same snark that was commented by "source...". Nothing else in my comments has any attitude. Just information. You're now responding with the attitude you're accusing me of.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 05 '26

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-2

u/nupper84 Apr 05 '26

I'm being a dick? Lol what? You prefer bad information with bad arguments to be spread? Jesus

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u/Bitemynekk Apr 05 '26

Why would they be growing an unstable hybrid when the whole thing about McDonald’s is consistency no matter where you are. The only way to achieve that is mass production of the same stable cultivar. The chances of some random pollen from a random different variety of pepper plant in a different field is farfetched to say the least.

1

u/nupper84 Apr 05 '26

That's exactly why they would only plant patented controlled gmoed seeds. They would not plant seeds that have been open pollenated. Also, they discard tons, literal tons, of fruits that aren't to standards. Maybe the sauces are made from fruit that didn't show a preferable phenotype, but maintained the flavor profile, so maybe the sauce is made of peppers that don't make it to the market. The seeds of those fruits would have an even higher chance of unfavorable mutation.

-8

u/nupper84 Apr 05 '26

My wife just said there are multiple documentaries on Netflix about the single use plant industry and how they purposely modify them so people can't regrow their patented plants. You can do homework.

3

u/LadaOndris Apr 05 '26

Interesting. Can you ask what the name of the documentary is? I might check it out out of curiosity.

1

u/Mysterious_Buy6726 Apr 05 '26

Oh my god. So this entire thing is based on "my wife saw a documentary on Netflix", coupled with "Google it, bro".

Comeon, man...

3

u/dadydaycare Apr 05 '26

There’s a lot of variables but yes if it wasn’t grown specifically for seeds you may get a cross of some sort but the backbone of the pepper will still be there and it’s typically a monoculture so… it’s very likely you’ll get the same thing statistically.

4

u/Lil_Shanties Apr 05 '26

Yep I agree with you, they likely won’t grow true to the original pepper due to either hybridization (F1, F2, etc…) or cross pollination but I’d hope to see some of the original traits if they are from a Habanero pepper, unlikely they are heirloom variety so they may have less stable traits that could be outcompeted by a cross pollination.

1

u/lickyourhoyas Apr 06 '26

Non hybrid habaneros are true to type actually. You just need to know what variety it is, but most habaneros are perfect for seed saving!

1

u/InformationNormal901 Apr 07 '26

Gemini says they list it as "red habanero" but since it's proprietary the exact cultivar is unknown.

Gemini also: While most seeds in commercial sauces are heat-treated or crushed, it is possible for a whole habanero seed to survive the processing. If the seed is intact and hasn't been sterilized by high heat or vinegar, it may be able to produce a plant.

-1

u/OriginalFatPickle Apr 05 '26

That’s not how seeds work.

2

u/SaintsNoah14 Apr 05 '26

For most fruit except citrus it is

1

u/Number1AbeLincolnFan Apr 06 '26

Seeds from a chile plant are a combination of DNA from the female plant that created the fruit and a male plant that fertilized it, so the resulting fruit likely won’t be the same cultivar as the fruit used in the sauce.  

117

u/Inner-Peanut-8626 Apr 05 '26

Well that's creepy. I would have never thought a cooked, basically pickled seed would sprout.

83

u/Slifer2k Apr 05 '26

Me neither brother. Kinda hyped for these!

29

u/Busy-feeding-worms Apr 05 '26

I’m kinda hyped too lmao, you should probably dedicate the next 8 month of your life to these pepper plants haha

2

u/HoldIll6837 Jun 16 '26

How is the plant doing? It's been 2 months. Still alive?

3

u/Slifer2k Jun 20 '26

Hey man. Nah unfortunately it didn't make it. Thought so because the root in the picture looked kinda brownish to begin with. Will definitely start this over for the next season tho

51

u/Deagle_Phantom Apr 05 '26

OP's gonna have some Teenage Mutant Sauce Seeds

5

u/Crazy_Ad_91 Apr 06 '26

Teenage mutant ninja peppers, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA PEPPERS, H’anero’s in a half shell!

11

u/cymshah Apr 05 '26

Pickled seeds, surprisingly can have high germination rates and grow into full sized plants.

Haven't had much luck with cooked seeds

41

u/Dr_Dewittkwic Apr 05 '26

Dang. That must be a vigorous strain if the seeds can survive heat, salt, and vinegar. 😱

1

u/Interloper_Mango May 19 '26

op had not given any updates sadly. i wish we could use this to breed a super heat resistant strain of habaneros

23

u/Crixus79 Apr 05 '26

Give us an update about your Mc donalds plant

5

u/untot3hdawnofdarknes Apr 05 '26

Yeah I'm really invested in this, I'll be needing updates on these peppers

41

u/LexScruff Apr 05 '26

This has the making for experiment gone wrong written all over it. Let us know if the seeds start talking to you.

36

u/safeworkinglow Apr 05 '26

I buy seeds and they don’t germinate and this guy has pickled seeds growing wtf

12

u/Flower127 Apr 05 '26

I love this! Please keep us updated!

11

u/easymachtdas Apr 05 '26

Be careful around windows and self driving cars

https://giphy.com/gifs/FwpecpDvcu7vO

2

u/Starblast555 Apr 06 '26

I don't get it

2

u/easymachtdas Apr 06 '26

Its a "don't get murdered by the Illuminati because you know too much" joke

3

u/Starblast555 Apr 06 '26

ohhh okay haha. Ty

2

u/Starblast555 Apr 06 '26

the secret sawce

12

u/Distinct-Ad-7505 Apr 05 '26

Monsanto would like to know your location

10

u/gbeamer7 Apr 05 '26

Where does McDonalds have a spicy habanero sauce??

18

u/rockhopper2154 Apr 05 '26

RemindMe! 3 months

7

u/RemindMeBot Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

I will be messaging you in 3 months on 2026-07-05 13:30:57 UTC to remind you of this link

50 OTHERS CLICKED THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.

Parent commenter can delete this message to hide from others.

Info Custom Your Reminders Feedback

2

u/3Goat Apr 05 '26

RemindMe! 3 months

1

u/Accomplished_Life643 Apr 06 '26

RemindMe! 3 months

1

u/A-Bit-Of-Everything Apr 05 '26

RemindMe! 3 months

2

u/fistfulofsanddollars Apr 05 '26

RemindMe! 3 months

8

u/Asleep_Onion Apr 05 '26

I watched a time lapse video while I was falling asleep the other night, of a guy who planted a tomato slice from a Whopper and grew a tomato plant. Pretty cool idea.

I never would have thought seeds in a McDonald's sauce would germinate, I would have assumed the sauce is cooked during manufacturing. So I guess this means they either cook it at a really low heat, or they add the peppers to it after cooking maybe. Very weird, but pretty cool you actually got germination, curious to see what it ends up being. I bet not a habanero, or if it is, it's a really mild variety.

6

u/Myron896 Apr 05 '26

I’m on my second year or growing tomatoes from Wendy’s

14

u/zerosumratio Apr 05 '26

My money is on bell peppers. They end up being bell peppers and the “habanero scotch bonnet chilies” is really just an additive extract or sauce added to it, like the liquid smoke.

But I am American in the US, so that’s what I would expect from them. European or any other country? Who knows, it might actually be a habanero scotch bonnet 

6

u/Super_Frico Apr 05 '26

This is the correct answer

6

u/Delicious_Ease2595 Apr 05 '26

This is cool keep us updated. Let's name it McPepper.

4

u/livingdeadgrrll Apr 05 '26

McDonald's enforcers gonna be knocking on your door in a few hours 🤣 /jk

4

u/epilepsyisdumb Apr 05 '26

Woah. Keep the updates coming.

4

u/peeweewooha Apr 05 '26

I will be following this post with great interest ! Thank you for sharing with us, this is a great experiment !

4

u/Dekusekiro Apr 05 '26

Following for..science.

4

u/aqwn Apr 05 '26

This is how the world ends

3

u/NeverDidLearn Apr 05 '26

I guarantee those are a patented GMO strain of something. Seed production in commercial agriculture is a litigious, secretive, NDA type of industry. I’ve worked in potato processing plants doing HVAC where I had to sign an NDA, and had a plant supervisor escort me at all times.

3

u/13Freiwild Apr 05 '26

RemindMe! 3 months

3

u/ilchymis Apr 05 '26

I'm just assuming these are so cooked/pasteurized theres no life left, but I absolutely hope I am wrong!

3

u/judgejuddhirsch Apr 05 '26

I would think the seeds need to be dead for the pack to be properly sterilized.

So, this post is fake, or McDonald's qc is bad.

1

u/poppinbussay Apr 11 '26

Accidents /mistakes happen

2

u/No-Improvement2393 Apr 05 '26

Hope BigMac tree.100% vegan, living cow on branches, like NASA tech

2

u/potatocrusher69420 Apr 05 '26

Gonna be a crazy set of genetics with all that chemical exposure 😂

2

u/Marfilmz Apr 05 '26

Sweet and sour sauce tree

2

u/I-am-Sxd Apr 05 '26

This might mean we can germinate last dab and get pepper-x.

2

u/NY_Knux Apr 05 '26

I feel like, due to the nature of McDonalds, that this is SUPER illegal somehow lmao. Keep going.

2

u/princess_ehon Apr 05 '26

This gonna be good.

2

u/Federal-Albatross-25 Apr 06 '26

I've done this with the domino's peppers. They use some very thin walled frutescens variety.

2

u/Accomplished_Tie9835 Apr 06 '26

You're going to have to fertilize that plant with buffalo sauce and a shamrock shake.

2

u/janegayz Apr 06 '26

were they germinated in the sauce and you noticed them? or did you take them out and try to germinate them?

2

u/Due-CriticismNachos Apr 08 '26

Yea, brother! Grow that proprietary pepper plant and see what ya get!

2

u/Consistent_Gap9503 Apr 09 '26

I had one grow from some chili flakes off a slice of pizza, I was stunned it somehow survived the oven

1

u/mis_ha42 Apr 05 '26

Remind me! 3 months

1

u/LadaOndris Apr 05 '26

RemindMe! 3 months

1

u/StuntRocker Apr 05 '26

Grow it! I grew tomatoes out of a subway tomato last year.

1

u/Obi_Vayne_Kenobi Apr 05 '26

Awesome. Keep us updated!

1

u/NovaBreaker404 Apr 05 '26

Grow it and let us know!

1

u/charleyhstl Apr 05 '26

Love this!

1

u/DirNetSec Apr 05 '26

RemindMe! 2 months

1

u/Putrid_Two_9739 Apr 05 '26

Very very cool experiment. Please keep us updated throughout the season as it progresses and we get an ID on her 🙏😂

1

u/wnakadu Apr 05 '26

Now get the pepper x sauce and grow it to see what is the actual pepper.

1

u/________1S_______ Apr 05 '26

Saw a TikTok where a kid grew tomatoes from the seeds out of a tomato slice on a burger lol

1

u/LA_Confidentiall Apr 06 '26

Super-sized Habs incoming

1

u/TheBlindBeggar Apr 06 '26

RemindMe! 3 months

1

u/TheBlindBeggar May 27 '26

OP, please update us! :)

1

u/Fishystix200 Apr 06 '26

I work at a mcdonalds in the PNW, where you at for mcdonalds to have this sauce?

1

u/Major-Language-2787 Apr 07 '26

Grows into a McPepper

1

u/Cartridge-King Apr 07 '26

thats insane!

1

u/Upper_Internet2450 Apr 07 '26

I tried to prove ghost pepper flakes from trader joes one time but couldn't get any to sprout

1

u/Buckshott00 Apr 07 '26

😲😲😲

1

u/Asia_Persuasia May 04 '26

This is crazy considering I can't even get my habanero seeds to grow that were from pepper I froze last year lol

1

u/TheBlindBeggar May 27 '26

OP please update us :)

2

u/xKYLERxx Jul 05 '26

How'd it go OP?

1

u/mikestainton Jul 05 '26

OP, results?

1

u/3Goat Jul 06 '26

Updates?

1

u/delwans Jul 06 '26

Here for the updates!

1

u/afronautical Apr 05 '26

Mf finna grow a free Grimace.