How to Save Your Garden Seeds2972422
Most serious gardeners save seeds. It is simple, it's sensible, and it will save you some money. Here are a couple of saving suggestions:
Packaged Packaged seeds ought to be saved in their original packages. Simply fold the leading or use a small bit of tape to safe the seeds in the packet. If the outer packet included an inner foil packet, shop any leftovers in the foil packet.
Some seeds are significantly much more sensitive to moisture in the air... so, if the seed business took the time to wrap them in foil packets, you ought to, too.
The best location to store your packets is in a big jar or coffee can in the refrigerator. Maintain them cool and dry, and most will last many seasons. Keep in mind that seeds are meals, and improper storage will invite all kinds of pests to your basement or pantry.
House Harvested You can harvest and save from open-pollinated cultivars but, you cannot save the seeds from hybrids. (Well, you can save from hybrids, but they will not produce the same hybrid plant from which they came... you will usually get 1 of the parent varieties utilized to make the hybrid.)
These harvested from open-pollinated varieties of flowers and vegetables can be harvested when the fruits or flowers are mature, or even beyond maturity. They should be relatively dry and totally free from as a lot plant "litter" as possible. You can rinse tomato and pepper seeds in a colander and dry them for a day or two on paper towels or cookie sheets. These from beans and most flowers don't require much unique therapy prior to packaging them.
Package in paper envelopes, being cautious to label the envelopes to identify the contents as nicely as the year of harvest.
Flowers that readily self-seed as annuals, such as plume celosia, are ideal candidates for saving. Merely shake the dried flower heads in a big envelope or can and you'll gather hundreds, if not thousands, that can be used in your gardens or shared with buddies.
As with commercially packaged seeds, house packaged should be stored in a cool, dry place that is totally free from insects or rodents. A coffee can in the refrigerator is perfect.
Checking Germination You cannot figure out if a seed will germinate by looking at it. There are two ways for house gardeners to check the germination. (Germination indicates that they'll sprout and grow the germination percentage is simply the percentage that are viable.)
1. Merely place 1 or two seeds in each cell of a six pack starter cell pack, and see how many germinate. Or, two. Place ten to 20 seeds between two or more moist paper towels, and see how many germinate. The paper towel technique is used by practically all laboratories but, care should be taken to maintain the towels moist and warm. You can use a big plastic bag or cellophane to help maintain the towels moist.
Check germination several weeks prior to the time that you will need to start so that you can replace any cultivars that have extremely low or zero germination.
