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Posted: Oct/13/2009 12:25 PM PST
Help! Despite the fact that I've been gardening for more years than I care to think about, I've never saved seed before. I'd like to try this year. Does anyone have any tips for doing so? I want to save cosmos, candytuft, zinnia (although the zinnias were killed by frost, so I may not be able to harvest any seed) and a few others. Any and all info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Myrna |
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Posted: Oct/13/2009 1:35 PM PST
Seed saving is fairly simple but can vary from plant to plant. Your best bet is to stay vigilant and keep on the lookout for seeds that are ready to harvest. Watch the flowers closely as they begin to fade and soon seed will become apparent in one of many ways (part of the faded flower, inside a pod that forms after the flower fades, etc). Cosmos and zinia are part of the first group. Cosmos seeds are long (1/2" - 3/4") flat brown spikey-looking things that appear in a star-like pattern where every flower has faded. Zinnia seed is similar, but will appear tightly packed in a coneflower shape after the petals have dropped. Even though your zinnia froze, you could still collect the flower heads and see if the seed was able to mature enough to use for next year. The one rule of thumb for storage is dryness. You do not want to store wet seed as it will rot. Here's what I do: I save small light-colored bowls and collect my seed directly into them. I leave the bowls uncovered, set aside, and continue to fill as more seed appears. Note ~ a separate bowl for each kind of seed, of course! So at this point in the fall, I have about fifty small bowls set on a table in a spare room. Be sure to place a label in each bowl. You think you will remember what kind they are later but ......... Once you have finished collecting seeds for the year, you can move them into envelopes, label and store in a cool dry place ~ basement or garage works well. Paper envelopes are really best, you don't want any chance of any moisture and plastic will not allow it to escape. I have saved seed this way for years and have had seed to use and to share. Hope this answered some of your questions  P.S. Oh, and I store the labelled paper envelopes in a steel ammo box that does not allow for moisture or pests. |
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Posted: Oct/13/2009 2:42 PM PST
yea collection techniques covered i generally work with herbs jus keep an eye on the flowers an after there gone watch fer the seeds to develop with catnip theres an orange dry lijke casing over some ripe seeds outhers its green basil its usially green but gotta watch--seeds are simalar size with both and black when ready-- i keep my seeds in printed glued an taped seed pacs--look online TONS of them--they generally have space fer all my info--name type where its from what its from place it originated in the case of baught seeds the brand yea im a lil nuts makes fer more info tho--those are stored in a lil buck-2buck-- plastic container designed i think fer cds the top flaps over itself an i have turned old sending enveloped into dividers with some tape seems to work well rightnow i usted to store the seeds in the big enveloped in a big plastic storage container that tookup toomuch space an this way ity should be at max 2 bucks when i need a new one an only 1 thing fills the seed pac entirely thats the purple peppers that i got LOTS of one year good luck an remember more is better then less with seeds |
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Posted: Oct/19/2009 6:54 PM PST
Thanks, both of you. So far I've collected four different annual seeds. I need to gather some more. You've been a big help. |
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