How to Save Your Garden Seeds5285329
Most severe gardeners save seeds. It's easy, it's practical, and it will save you some money. Right here are a couple of saving suggestions:
Packaged Packaged seeds should be saved in their original packages. Merely fold the leading or use a little bit of tape to safe the seeds in the packet. If the outer packet integrated an inner foil packet, store any leftovers in the foil packet.
Some seeds are considerably 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 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 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 can't save the seeds from hybrids. (Well, you can save from hybrids, but they won't create the same hybrid plant from which they came... you will usually get 1 of the parent varieties used 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 ought to be fairly 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 do not require much unique treatment prior to packaging them.
Package in paper envelopes, being careful 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 perfect candidates for saving. Simply shake the dried flower heads in a big envelope or can and you'll collect hundreds, if not thousands, that can be used in your gardens or shared with buddies.
As with commercially packaged seeds, home packaged ought to be stored in a cool, dry location that is totally free from insects or rodents. A coffee can in the refrigerator is perfect.
Checking Germination You cannot determine if a seed will germinate by looking at it. There are two ways for home gardeners to verify the germination. (Germination indicates that they will sprout and grow the germination percentage is merely the percentage that are viable.)
1. Merely location 1 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 between two or much more moist paper towels, and see how many germinate. The paper towel technique is utilized by practically all laboratories but, care should be taken to keep the towels moist and warm. You can use a large plastic bag or cellophane to help maintain the towels moist.
Verify germination a number of weeks prior to the time that you will need to start so that you can replace any cultivars that have very low or zero germination.
