How to Save Your Garden Seeds9184096
Most serious gardeners save seeds. It is 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 leading or use a small 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 more sensitive to moisture in the air... so, if the seed business took the time to wrap them in foil packets, you ought to, as well.
The best place to store your packets is in a big jar or coffee can in the refrigerator. Keep them cool and dry, and most will final many seasons. Remember that seeds are meals, 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 cannot save the seeds from hybrids. (Nicely, you can save from hybrids, but they won't create the 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. These from beans and most flowers don't need a lot special therapy before packaging them.
Package in paper envelopes, becoming cautious 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 ideal 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 buddies.
As with commercially packaged seeds, home packaged ought to be stored in a cool, dry place that is free from insects or rodents. A coffee can in the refrigerator is ideal.
Checking Germination You can't determine if a seed will germinate by looking at it. There are two ways for house gardeners to verify the germination. (Germination means that they'll sprout and develop the germination percentage is simply the percentage that are viable.)
1. Merely place 1 or two seeds in every cell of a six pack starter cell pack, and see how numerous germinate. Or, two. Location ten to 20 seeds in between two or more moist paper towels, and see how numerous germinate. The paper towel technique is used by virtually all laboratories but, care must be taken to keep the towels moist and warm. You can use a large plastic bag or cellophane to assist keep the towels moist.
Verify germination several weeks prior to the time that you will need to begin so that you can replace any cultivars that have extremely low or zero germination.
