How to Save Your Garden Seeds9376042
Most serious gardeners save seeds. It's easy, it is practical, and it will save you some money. Right here are a couple of saving tips:
Packaged Packaged seeds should be saved in their original packages. Merely fold the leading or use a small bit of tape to secure the seeds in the packet. If the outer packet integrated 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 business took the time to wrap them in foil packets, you should, too.
The very best location to shop your packets is in a big jar or coffee can in the refrigerator. Maintain 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.
Home 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 won't produce the same hybrid plant from which they came... you'll usually get one of the parent varieties used 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 should 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. These from beans and most flowers don't need much special treatment prior to packaging them.
Package in paper envelopes, becoming cautious 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. Simply shake the dried flower heads in a big envelope or can and you'll gather hundreds, if not thousands, that can be used in your gardens or shared with friends.
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 can't figure out if a seed will germinate by searching at it. There are two ways for home gardeners to verify the germination. (Germination indicates that they will sprout and develop the germination percentage is merely the percentage that are viable.)
1. Merely location one or two seeds in every cell of a six pack starter cell pack, and see how numerous germinate. Or, 2. Place 10 to 20 seeds in between two or much more moist paper towels, and see how numerous germinate. The paper towel technique is used by practically all laboratories but, care should 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 require to start so that you can replace any cultivars that have extremely low or zero germination.
