How to Save Your Garden Seeds3281945
Most serious gardeners save seeds. It is simple, it's practical, and it will save you some cash. Right here are a couple of saving suggestions:
Packaged Packaged seeds should be saved in their original packages. Merely fold the top or use a little bit of tape to safe the seeds in the packet. If the outer packet included an inner foil packet, store any leftovers in the foil packet.
Some seeds are significantly more sensitive to moisture in the air... so, if the seed company took the time to wrap them in foil packets, you ought to, too.
The very best location to store your packets is in a big jar or coffee can in the refrigerator. Keep them cool and dry, and most will last numerous seasons. Keep in mind that seeds are meals, and improper storage will invite all kinds of pests to your basement or pantry.
Home 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 create the exact same hybrid plant from which they came... you will generally 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 ought to be fairly 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. Those from beans and most flowers don't need a lot special therapy before packaging them.
Package in paper envelopes, becoming cautious to label the envelopes to determine 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 large envelope or can and you'll collect hundreds, if not thousands, that can be utilized in your gardens or shared with buddies.
As with commercially packaged seeds, home packaged should be stored in a cool, dry place that is free from insects or rodents. A coffee can in the refrigerator is ideal.
Checking Germination You can't determine if a seed will germinate by searching at it. There are two ways for home gardeners to check the germination. (Germination indicates that they'll sprout and grow the germination percentage is merely the percentage that are viable.)
1. Simply place one or two seeds in every cell of a six pack starter cell pack, and see how many germinate. Or, 2. Location ten to 20 seeds in between two or much more moist paper towels, and see how many germinate. The paper towel method is used by virtually all laboratories but, care must be taken to keep the towels moist and warm. You can use a big plastic bag or cellophane to help keep the towels moist.
Verify germination several weeks prior to the time that you will require to begin so that you can replace any cultivars that have extremely low or zero germination.
