Saving For the Future

Gathering Seeds – Favourite Techniques...

brown paper bag

gather flowerheads, place inside a brown paper bag, shake vigorously to remove seeds (works especially well with larkspur, dill, chives, four o'clocks, radishes, etc)

muslin square/bag

tie onto a stalk of flowers/vegetables that you wish to gather seeds from – do this before seeds are ripe, to ensure that a breeze (or birds) don`t get to them before you do

nylon stocking

place growing vegetable/fruit in a (clean) nylon stocking – let the vegetable/fruit continue to grow until ready for harvesting

envelopes

pick seedheads off plants by hand, place in small bowl, shake gently to remove seeds or remove seeds by hand from plant and place dry seeds in envelope – label and mark (plant type, year gathered) – works well for most plants, including marigolds and lavatera

fingers

cut fruit (i.e. cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, melons, some chiles) open, scrape out seed pulp, rinse until seeds are clean, air-dry – or, for tomatoes, let the pulp stand in a glass for several days – the thick pulp will subside to a thin liquid, and the heavy, good seeds will sink – strain them off, wash them, then air-dry them (lay then on newspaper for about a week).

When to do

Late in the day, after a few days of dry weather (to ensure that all plant parts are dry). For dry seed cleaning, winnow or sift what you`ve gathered in order to dislodge seeds, remove chaff, dirt and debris that may harbour diseases that can destroy viability.

What to look for

A light tap on the dry flower stalk – if any seeds rattle or are dislodged, they are ready for harvest. Also, watch for birds eating the seed heads (they like them better mature).

Colour indicator

Look for brown or black seeds.

Where'd they go?

Some seedpods pop open when they dry, and the seeds are expelled forcibly (gas plant and butterfly weed do this) – collect them when the pods begin to turn brown but before they've opened – place them in a closed paper bag, or place immature seed heads in nylon stockings.

Annuals

cleome, snapdragons, portulaca, petunias, love-in-a-mist...

Herbs

chives, calendula (aka pot marigold), dill, borage, feverfew... the vast majority are brown or black when ready to harvest.

Vegetables

Asparagus (easy to save seeds)

3 years

Leeks

3 years

Beans (keep varieties separate)

3

Lettuce (wait for puff-like top)

5

Beets (keep away from chard)

4

Onions

1

Broccoli

5

Parsley

1

Brussels sprouts

5

Parsnips

1

Cabbage (see spinach)

5

Peas

3

Carrots (pick when 2^nd set of seed heads have ripened)

3

Peppers

2

Cauliflower (tricky to handle – see spinach)

5

Pumpkins

4

Celeriac

5

Radishes (wait for mature pods, gather uncracked)

5

Celery

5

Rutabagas

4

Chervil

3

Sorrel

3

Chicory

5

Spinach (check flowering cluster – 90% brown, take)

5

Corn

2

Squash (over-ripe is best)

4

Corn-salad (mâche)

5

Swiss chard

4

Cucumbers (let fruit yellow)

5 to 10(!)

Tomatoes (over-ripe is best)

4

Eggplant

5

Turnips

4

Endive

5

Watercress

5

Fennel

4

Watermelons

4

Factors to control

moisture, temperature (between 40 and 50°F), oxygen, insects, fungus and bacteria infestation, rodents, and light

Containers to Use

cans with metal lids; screw-top glass jars or individual envelopes sealed in a large glass jar (baby-food and peanut butter jars usually have rubber gaskets and seal very well); plastic or metal film containers; vitamin bottles

DO: Use a dessicant (best is colour-indicating one like silica gel) to control moisture

DON'T: Use plastic or wax-coated paper bags since seeds lose water as they dry, and readily go mouldy. (Plastic bags, however, can be used for storing dry seeds.)

Avoid These

wooden boxes or metal cans with plastic lids (rodents love to chew on these)

Where To Keep Them

cool, clean, dry, covered, insect-proof area – refrigerators (better cold seeds than hot ones, or ones in areas where the temperature fluctuates) – or how about the freezer?

the floating test

Place some seeds in a small glass of water – wait a few hours – those that float, won`t germinate; those that sink, should still be viable (plant these now)

the wet paper towel test

Count out 20 seeds. Spread seeds on several layers of premoistened paper towels or paper napkins – roll them up carefully in the paper so they stay separate, tuck the rolled paper into a plastic bag, and keep the incubating seeds in a warm place (70 to 80°F or 21 to 27°C) – check the seeds in two or three days and every day thereafter for a week or so, for evidence of germination. If a root or cotyledon protrudes through the seed coat, the seed has germinated. When some seeds have sprouted, and a one-week wait indicates that no more are about to emerge, you can calculate your rate of germination. Allow three weeks at the outside for most varieties to germinate.

Seeds getting wet

If the seed packet gets wet or damp and re-dries, the seeds will probably not be good (they begin the germination process by absorbing water, they dry out and die).

Seed packets left in sun

Seeds will probably get "cooked" and won't germinate.

Using Old Seeds

Germination rates usually decline with old seed. Plant the seed more thickly than usual to compensate for the lower germination rate (try the two tests above, first, to see if it's worthwhile to even try).

hybrids

Usually designated as F1 (which stands for the first-generation offspring of two inbred parents) or F2, or the name may include the letters cv (meaning: cultivated variety) – popular because are grown for a particular "improved" trait – but the seeds produce seedlings unlike the parent plants and in most cases are sterile.

open-pollinated

Aka standard or heirloom – they produce seeds that grow into plants that are very like the parents. Best to work with annuals, since biennials (i.e. parsley) often die over the winter months and won't achieve the maturity needed for seed production.