How to Save Your Garden Seeds4838800
Most severe gardeners save seeds. It's simple, it's practical, and it will save you some money. Right here are a few saving tips:
Packaged Packaged seeds should be saved in their original packages. Merely fold the leading or use a little bit of tape to secure the seeds in the packet. If the outer packet included an inner foil packet, shop 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 should, too.
The very best place to shop your packets is in a large jar or coffee can in the refrigerator. Keep them cool and dry, and most will last many seasons. Keep in mind that seeds are food, and improper storage will invite all sorts 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. (Nicely, you can save from hybrids, but they will not produce 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 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. These from beans and most flowers don't require a lot unique therapy prior to packaging them.
Package in paper envelopes, becoming cautious to label the envelopes to identify 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. Merely shake the dried flower heads in a large envelope or can and you will gather hundreds, if not thousands, that can be utilized 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 ideal.
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 will sprout and develop the germination percentage is merely the percentage that are viable.)
1. Merely place 1 or two seeds in every cell of a six pack starter cell pack, and see how numerous germinate. Or, two. Place ten to 20 seeds in between two or much more moist paper towels, and see how numerous germinate. The paper towel technique is utilized by virtually all laboratories but, care should be taken to keep the towels moist and warm. You can use a large plastic bag or cellophane to assist keep the towels moist.
Verify germination a number of weeks prior to the time that you will require to start so that you can replace any cultivars that have extremely low or zero germination.
