How to Save Your Garden Seeds3855575
Most serious gardeners save seeds. It is easy, it is practical, and it will save you some cash. Here are a couple of saving suggestions:
Packaged Packaged seeds ought to be saved in their original packages. Merely fold the leading or use a small bit of tape to safe the seeds in the packet. If the outer packet integrated an inner foil packet, shop any leftovers in the foil packet.
Some seeds are considerably much more sensitive to moisture in the air... so, if the seed company took the time to wrap them in foil packets, you ought to, as well.
The best place to store your packets is in a large jar or coffee can in the refrigerator. Keep them cool and dry, and most will last many seasons. Remember that seeds are meals, and improper storage will invite all sorts of pests to your basement or pantry.
House Harvested You can harvest and save from open-pollinated cultivars but, you can't save the seeds from hybrids. (Nicely, you can save from hybrids, but they will not create the exact same hybrid plant from which they came... you'll usually get one 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 relatively dry and totally free from as much 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 a lot special therapy prior to packaging them.
Package in paper envelopes, being cautious to label the envelopes to determine the contents as well as the year of harvest.
Flowers that readily self-seed as annuals, such as plume celosia, are ideal candidates for saving. Simply 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, home packaged should be stored in a cool, dry place that is totally free from insects or rodents. A coffee can in the refrigerator is ideal.
Checking Germination You cannot figure out if a seed will germinate by searching at it. There are two ways for house gardeners to verify the germination. (Germination indicates that they'll sprout and grow the germination percentage is simply the percentage that are viable.)
1. Simply place one or two seeds in each cell of a six pack starter cell pack, and see how numerous germinate. Or, 2. Place ten to 20 seeds in between two or much more moist paper towels, and see how many germinate. The paper towel technique is used by virtually all laboratories but, care must be taken to maintain the towels moist and warm. You can use a big plastic bag or cellophane to help keep the towels moist.
Verify germination a number of weeks prior to the time that you will need to begin so that you can replace any cultivars that have very low or zero germination.
