How to Save your Seeds

Getting Started

If you are new to the whole gardening thing, especially when it comes to seed saving, it is easier if you start with the basics. Dont go worrying about all the hybrids and such that life has to offer now. There is a lot more to flowers than taking the seeds and expecting that same plant to grow from them. Today, there are many varieties of color and shapes of the same flower done by cross polination.

Which for the creativity of a gardener is amazing! We all LOVE to be creative now, don’t we?!

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But stick to the plants you know for now til you get more acquainted with everything. You’ll catch on quick, trust me! And I’ll help you get there!

First, Just a short background of the different types of plants. This is very important when it comes to seed saving.

Hybrids

Hybrids are more complex and the seeds they offer wont be of the same quality. They wont be true to their form and most often times will seed their original form or even not seed at all.

Think of it like a Pokemon, you have your original form, lets say Evee (Evee is my favorite) But Evee can form into other versions like Flareon or Leafeon if given certain stones but they are all from the same original Evee) or since you may not know pokemon, its more like the human reproduction. Where you have genes from both parents and they create this whole new thing that is its own, you know how that goes.

Now take this into plant/flower form. Hybrids are created by crossing pollination(genes) from two different varieties(parents) together. The seeds produced by a hybrid will not produce a plant/flower that looks the same. It will have the same traits as what they call the “parent” plant. Some gardeners will take two plants that they see have one good quality each and mesh them together to get a more vibrant result. These are first generation hybrids, and it can take several years before the results of a pure line can be achieved.

You can say its a major process.

But if you just like the flower and you want to experiment. Go ahead and save those seeds and see what you get next year. Its like a game of Russian Roulette. But much safer.

Open-pollinated

Open-pollination is a more natural approach. Created when insects, humans, birds or anything else natural pollinates the plant/flower. The seeds from open-pollination are referred to as”breed true” this means that the seeds genereated from the plant will result in almost identical outcomes of the parent plant.

Much simpler.

Collecting your seeds

SO! with the many types of plants the world has to offer. It is only customary that there are many ways you need to collect these seeds. Depending on the vegetable or fruit or flower depends on how you need to collect the seed.

With flowers I find it best to let them dry out naturally. Take the head of the flower and crush it up on a flat surface (I honestly use the palm of my hand). The seeds will spill out if it has any. Same with pod flowers, let them dry out completely then split them open.

How to find your seeds

These have more of a process to seed collecting. I’m sure there is technical ways and procedures and drying methods that you can follow. That everyone will say this is the proper and only way to do it. Make sure to do this, and this.

…..I dont follow the crowd.

My life is much too busy, and I do short cut a lot of things. But it tends to all work out for me and my garden. However, in no way am I saying my way is correct. It’s just what I do.

So, here is a few examples of my seed saving techniques.

• Tomatoes: Cut open the tomato of your desire. Scoop out the guts, and then separate the seed from the mush. I set them on a paper towel to dry out after rinsing off the mushy mess that I have now made. OR use a separate paper towel to do that. Whichever you like more. then set them to dry out over night or the next day or two.
• Green Beans: Honestly, I’ve read that you should let the bean mature fully, then pull the plant out and let the whole thing dry out for the day. BUUUUUUT, I don’t do that. I let the bean on the plant and let the plant dry out on its own where it is. then open the pods and take the seeds. SOoooo muchh space saved.
• Peppers: Much like the tomato. Cut that sucker open and scoop out the seeds. Let them sit on the paper towel for a while.
• Strawberries: Sooo simple. Just get yourself a toothpick and pick those blackheads out of the skin. Storing your seeds

Storing your Seeds

I’m sure there are proper ways to store your seeds. But I happen to do things just my own way. I’ve learned certain manners or ways from my mother, and they seem to work just fine. You will find your own way and there is nothing wrong with that as long as it works.

So generally you want to keep your seeds out of damp conditions. We use old popcorn tins and ziploc baggies. We mark on the bag what plant/flower it is, what color and what year. You generally dont want to keep the seeds for more than 2 years. Always try to keep an updated fresh stock. Keeping anything older tends to not produce a plant, given my experience.

There you have it. Next year’s garden in seed form.