How to Save Your Garden Seeds6476197
Most serious gardeners save seeds. It's simple, it is sensible, and it will save you some money. 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 secure 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 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 shop your packets is in a big 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 produce the exact same hybrid plant from which they came... you will usually get 1 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 free from as a lot 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 prior to packaging them.
Package in paper envelopes, becoming careful 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. Merely shake the dried flower heads in a large envelope or can and you will collect hundreds, if not thousands, that can be utilized in your gardens or shared with friends.
As with commercially packaged seeds, house packaged ought to be stored in a cool, dry location that is free from insects or rodents. A coffee can in the refrigerator is perfect.
Checking Germination You can't 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 grow the germination percentage is simply the percentage that are viable.)
1. Merely location one or two seeds in each cell of a six pack starter cell pack, and see how many germinate. Or, two. Location ten to 20 seeds between two or 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 maintain the towels moist and warm. You can use a large plastic bag or cellophane to help keep the towels moist.
Verify germination a number of weeks prior to the time that you'll require to start so that you can replace any cultivars that have very low or zero germination.
