Follow these tips to harvest and save seeds from flowers, fruits, and vegetables. With proper timing and storage, you can have free seeds ready for next season.
To make your seeds last as long as possible, see also our top tips for storing seeds.
Seed saving for beginners
If you grow flowering annuals or perennials, such as flowers, fruits, or vegetables, you probably have plenty of options for seed saving in your own backyard. Or patio. Or a balcony.
When I was a novice gardener, I found the information on seed saving overwhelming. There were so many warnings about cross-pollinating seeds and unpredictable hybrids that I didn’t know where to start.
Work slowly, one plant at a time.
The best advice is to learn as you go. In the words of Anne Lamott, think plant by plant.
While it’s true that different plants require different seed collection methods, and saved seeds won’t necessarily grow faithfully to the parent plant, saving seeds and sowing from seed is a great way to garden. It opens up a whole new and challenging element of.
Plus, you’ll save money and gain some independence.
Over time, as gardeners have done for generations, you’ll develop best practices and eventually be able to create a custom seed collection suited to your garden and growing conditions that you can replenish annually. .
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Why save seeds?
Save money Independence Traditional Seeds proven to grow in a variety of conditions
At first you may start saving seeds simply to save money. Seed packets typically cost just a few dollars each, but growing a variety of plants can add up to a significant amount.
You can also think of seed saving as part of a self-reliant lifestyle. In turbulent times, it’s no small thing to know you have several years’ worth of vegetable seeds on hand.
Seed saving is rooted in tradition and together we are guardians of our seed supply. Gardeners have saved seeds for generations, if necessary, to feed their families and ensure the protection of their favorite plants for future generations. What a sad world it would be if all we had was a few types of mass-produced vegetables and flowers.
Rewards are also personal. By collecting seeds from our own gardens, we can obtain seeds that are adapted to specific growing conditions, which cannot be guaranteed with purchased seeds.
If you like them, you can also participate in a seed swap or donate to a community seed bank.
save the best
For many of us, our first foray into seed saving is tossing dried seed pods into paper bags at harvest time and hanging them in the basement until spring sowing time. And if the conditions happen to be right, this could work. You can get plants for free with very little effort.
But if you want to be more intentional with your seed saving efforts, paying attention to your plants throughout the season will pay off.
The best plants produce the best seeds.
Simply put, the best plants provide the best seeds. Find a trait you like and be sure to save seeds from plants with that trait. It could be the most beautiful flower, the strongest stem, the most delicious fruit, or the most fragrant herb.
know what you are growing
Most of us start by simply saving seeds. And that’s a good place to start.
From there, learn what you can about the plant and understand what happens.
Will the plants be annuals, perennials, or biennials? Straight seeds, varieties, or hybrids? Will the seeds be open pollinated (OP) or unpredictable hybrids? Will the seeds be peas or beans? Is it easy to grow like , or difficult to grow like onions or clematis?
This explains the basic differences between hybrid, heirloom, and open-pollinated seeds.
It’s also worth learning the basics about the scientific names of plants. Not only can you understand a plant’s family, but the way the name is written (format) alone can tell you many important things about a plant, such as whether it is an heirloom or a hybrid. There are some interesting examples here.
They specifically want to know about the purity of the seeds and ask whether these saved seeds will grow as well as their parents. If not, is it worth experimenting to see the results?
Once you’ve identified your plants, you can find out if seed saving is recommended and learn tips for success. A good reference book will be subject to scrutiny for years to come (see “References” below).
In some cases, plants and their seeds are patented, but we want to focus on those that are open-pollinated and can be saved and shared.
Tag your favorites
Once you have a few candidates, mark them with ribbons or tags and watch how they grow. I also like to take photos and write down notes to refer to when harvesting seeds.
Desirable characteristics include:
A healthy, vigorous plant shows no signs of decline, disease, or pests. The best flowers in terms of size, color, aroma and yield. The most delicious fruits. The strongest stem. Tolerance to local conditions such as drought, heat, and wind.
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How to store seeds
Although there are subtle differences between different plant types, it helps to categorize seeds into two basic seed storage categories: dry seeds and wet seeds.
dried seeds
“Dry” seeds are formed outside the plant, often inside a pod or capsule. They are easiest to collect if you collect them before they are dispersed.
Examples include bee balm (Monarda), dill (Anethum graveolens), zinnia, sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus), and milkweed (Asclepias).
Opportunities also increase when vegetables such as radishes and lettuce begin to sprout during the summer heat waves. Desperate to survive, plants quickly jump into the flowering and seeding stages. This article describes bolting and provides tips for preventing bolting.
To save dried seeds, cut off the seed heads, carefully catch the loose seeds in a bag or bowl, and dry them indoors.
Other dried seeds include kidney beans and peas. To obtain seeds, pods are left on the vine beyond the normal food harvesting period. Seeds are mature when they turn brown, crumbly, and make a rattling sound when shaken.
seed catcher
As extra insurance, you can always place an organza bag or other breathable pouch over the dry seed pods to catch any seeds that might try to escape while you wait for peak maturity. Here are some examples.
wet seed
The “wet” seeds are inside the fleshy fruit. These are plants like tomatoes and melons whose seeds are covered with a protective gel that prevents them from germinating inside the fruit. To remove this gel, ferment the seeds with tomatoes as shown here, dry and store.
Seed harvest time
We associate autumn with seed saving because many plants produce seeds at this time of year, but there are many other plants that flower earlier and begin producing seeds after midsummer.
Seeds must mature to survive.
Seeds must be mature to survive. That is, you need to collect seeds at the right time, not too early and not too late.
That’s why it’s so helpful to know what you’re growing, when you can expect mature seeds, and where on the plant they can be found. It varies depending on the type of plant.
Many dried seeds are grown in pods or capsules, making it easy to find when to harvest them. You’ll know the tide is coming or it’s almost too late because the stems and pods are turning brown and birds are eating the seeds.
You may also notice that not all seeds of the same plant are ready at the same time. Depending on the plant, some stems may have mature seeds while others may still be flowering. But you can still harvest what is ready.
Biennials do not flower or go to seed until the second year. So plants such as carrots, beets, Swiss chard, oilseed rape and celery will need to survive the winter, perhaps under a roof or in a polytunnel, to get seeds next year.
Some wet seeds reach maturity at the same time as the fruit ripens for consumption. This also applies to plants such as tomatoes and melons. So you can harvest the fruits and save the seeds as well. You can do everything at the same time.
Some have to give up fruit to produce seeds. Examples include eggplant, zucchini, and cucumber. At the time of year when we usually harvest for food, the fruit is not yet fully ripe. The fruit must continue to grow on the plant to obtain mature seeds. If the skin is hard or wrinkled, the fruit is inedible, but the seeds will ripen.
Once you understand these tips, timing will seem like a no-brainer until unpredictable weather hits. Warm, dry conditions are ideal during seed production, but nature often has other plans. You should do everything you can to complete the drying process indoors if necessary.
Let only the seeds air dry. Do not apply heat or light.
Be sure to label your seeds throughout the process. You’ll thank yourself in the spring.
summary
Identify plants to understand which plants produce viable and useful seeds and how to harvest them. Seed saving allows you to create a custom seed collection suited to your unique growing conditions. The best quality fruits and flowers yield the best seeds, so save seeds that have the characteristics you want. Seeds must be mature in order to be viable. Learn the right time to harvest seeds for each type of plant. Dry seeds are obtained from plants that form seeds outside the plant. These are often the easiest to collect. The moist seeds are contained in the fruit. Some mature when the fruit is ripe enough to be eaten. Others must ripen longer and give up edible fruit for mature seeds. Organza bags or similar items can be used to prevent seeds from falling into the garden before they are collected. Dry the seeds completely before storing them. Label your seeds so you know what’s inside.
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More seeding tips
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Don’t forget to experiment with seed saving, learn as you go, and grow one plant at a time.
~Melissa Empress of Dirt ♛
