How to Save Your Garden Seeds4568138
Most serious gardeners save seeds. It is simple, it is practical, and it will save you some cash. Right here are a few saving suggestions:
Packaged Packaged seeds should be saved in their original packages. Merely fold the top or use a small 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 considerably 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 best location to shop your packets is in a large jar or coffee can in the refrigerator. Keep them cool and dry, and most will final many seasons. Remember 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 won't produce the exact same hybrid plant from which they came... you will usually get 1 of the parent varieties utilized to make the hybrid.)
Those 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 fairly dry and 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. Those from beans and most flowers don't require a lot unique 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. Simply shake the dried flower heads in a large envelope or can and you'll gather hundreds, if not thousands, that can be used in your gardens or shared with friends.
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 perfect.
Checking Germination You cannot figure out if a seed will germinate by looking at it. There are two ways for home gardeners to verify the germination. (Germination means that they'll sprout and develop the germination percentage is simply the percentage that are viable.)
1. Simply place 1 or two seeds in each 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 numerous germinate. The paper towel method is used by practically all laboratories but, care should be taken to keep the towels moist and warm. You can use a big plastic bag or cellophane to help maintain the towels moist.
Check germination a number of weeks prior to the time that you will need to begin so that you can replace any cultivars that have extremely low or zero germination.
