How to Save Your Garden Seeds9353510
Most severe gardeners save seeds. It's easy, it's practical, and it will save you some money. Here are a couple of saving tips:
Packaged Packaged seeds should be saved in their original packages. Simply fold the leading or use a small 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 considerably much 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 store your packets is in a large 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 produce the exact same hybrid plant from which they came... you'll generally get one 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 fairly 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 special therapy before packaging them.
Package in paper envelopes, being 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 perfect 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 ought to be stored in a cool, dry place that is free from insects or rodents. A coffee can in the refrigerator is perfect.
Checking Germination You cannot figure out if a seed will germinate by looking at it. There are two ways for house gardeners to check the germination. (Germination means that they will sprout and grow the germination percentage is merely 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 many germinate. Or, 2. Place ten to 20 seeds in between two or more moist paper towels, and see how many germinate. The paper towel technique is utilized 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 maintain the towels moist.
Verify germination several weeks prior to the time that you will need to start so that you can replace any cultivars that have very low or zero germination.
