How to Save Your Garden Seeds7786167
Most serious gardeners save seeds. It is easy, it is sensible, and it will save you some money. Here are a couple of saving suggestions:
Packaged Packaged seeds ought to be saved in their original packages. Simply fold the top 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 significantly 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 location to shop your packets is in a big jar or coffee can in the refrigerator. Keep them cool and dry, and most will final numerous 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. (Well, you can save from hybrids, but they will not create the exact same hybrid plant from which they came... you will generally 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 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 therapy 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. 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 ideal.
Checking Germination You can't figure out if a seed will germinate by looking at it. There are two ways for home gardeners to check the germination. (Germination means that they'll sprout and develop the germination percentage is simply the percentage that are viable.)
1. Simply place one or two seeds in every cell of a six pack starter cell pack, and see how numerous germinate. Or, two. Location 10 to 20 seeds between two or much more moist paper towels, and see how numerous germinate. The paper towel method is used by virtually all laboratories but, care must be taken to keep the towels moist and warm. You can use a big plastic bag or cellophane to assist maintain the towels moist.
Check germination several weeks prior to the time that you'll need to start so that you can replace any cultivars that have very low or zero germination.
