How to Save Your Garden Seeds6429588
Most serious gardeners save seeds. It is easy, it's sensible, and it will save you some money. Here are a couple of saving tips:
Packaged Packaged seeds ought to be saved in their original packages. Simply fold the leading 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 much more sensitive to moisture in the air... so, if the seed business took the time to wrap them in foil packets, you should, 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 numerous seasons. Keep in mind that seeds are food, 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 can't save the seeds from hybrids. (Well, you can save from hybrids, but they will not produce the same hybrid plant from which they came... you'll generally get one 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 don't require a lot special therapy prior to packaging them.
Package in paper envelopes, being 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 perfect candidates for saving. Merely 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, house packaged ought to 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 looking 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. Merely place one or two seeds in each cell of a six pack starter cell pack, and see how numerous germinate. Or, 2. Location 10 to 20 seeds in between two or more moist paper towels, and see how numerous germinate. The paper towel technique is used by practically all laboratories but, care should be taken to maintain the towels moist and warm. You can use a large plastic bag or cellophane to assist keep the towels moist.
Check germination a number of weeks prior to the time that you will need to start so that you can replace any cultivars that have extremely low or zero germination.
