How to Save Your Garden Seeds8521212
Most serious gardeners save seeds. It's easy, it is practical, and it will save you some cash. Right here are a few saving suggestions:
Packaged Packaged seeds ought to 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 business took the time to wrap them in foil packets, you ought to, too.
The best location to store your packets is in a large jar or coffee can in the refrigerator. Maintain 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.
House Harvested You can harvest and save from open-pollinated cultivars but, you cannot 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'll usually get one 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 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. Those from beans and most flowers do not need much unique treatment before packaging them.
Package in paper envelopes, being cautious to label the envelopes to identify the contents as nicely as the year of harvest.
Flowers that readily self-seed as annuals, such as plume celosia, are ideal 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 should 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 cannot figure out if a seed will germinate by looking at it. There are two methods for home gardeners to check the germination. (Germination means that they will sprout and grow the germination percentage is merely the percentage that are viable.)
1. Simply place 1 or two seeds in each cell of a six pack starter cell pack, and see how many germinate. Or, two. Location 10 to 20 seeds between two or much more moist paper towels, and see how many germinate. The paper towel technique is used by practically 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 keep the towels moist.
Check germination several weeks prior to the time that you will require to start so that you can replace any cultivars that have very low or zero germination.
