Prep Gardening Saving Seeds

Myths and Rumors of Saving Seed They Won’t Grow(Hybrids) They won’t produce/weak It is difficult to isolate varieties and strains to avoid unwanted pollination. They are prone to disease It is illegal Unwanted cross pollination and faulty selection results in gradual deterioration or running out of the seed

Why Raise Seeds Save Money Not have to order seeds each year Have the varieties you want. Stock up on seeds for future seasons Have seeds in case of shortages or unavailability Have control of the genetic profile of your seeds. i.e. Keeping Varieties True Have seeds to trade with others who share your interest Have seeds to help out your friends when seeds are unavailable. Prevent varieties from going extinct Pass on the heritage to your children Duplicate last years harvest

How Seeds are Formed – The Flower

The Flower Reproductive structure for plants Pollination – transfers sperm to egg in plant Self Pollinator (Cleistogamous) – does not need outside “help”- Vectors Wind (anemophily) – Grasses, ragweed, Maple, Conifers Water (hydrophily) – Tropical Water Plants (rare) Birds (ornihophily) – Paw Paw Bats (chiropterophily) – Pap Paw Insects (entomophily) – Thousands Perfect Flower – Has Both Male & Female Parts Can be self pollinating or cross Pollinating Imperfect Flower – Is either Male or Female Cross pollination only

Insuring True Pollination Separate your Varieties by Distance Plant at different times (Succession planting) Bagging – Place a screened bag over the flower (mosquito netting works great – not plastic) before flower opens Taping/Tying – Can damage Flower. Caging – Covering whole areas with a cage & net Hand Pollinate – Flower-Flower Hand Pollinate – Q-tip/Paint Brush

How Seeds are Formed – Resultant Seeds Seeds Only – Rhubarb, allium, thistle Seeds within Fruit – Tomatoes, Apples, Squash Seeds within Shells – Peaches, Nuts Seeds on exterior of fruit – Strawberries Has an effect on how you gather and save

Annuals, Biennials, & Perennials Annuals – Annuals, such as basil, beans, marigolds, tomatoes and oregano, flower and produce seed within one growing season. As a result, they are ideal plants from which to harvest seed. Biennials – Biennial plants won’t produce seeds the first year, so protect them over the winter and grab their seeds at the end of the next growing season. While saving seed from biennials, such as beets, caraway, evening primrose, onion and Swiss chard, requires a little more patience, their seed will produce plants that are true to type, providing they are not allowed to cross-pollinate with similar cultivars. Perennials – Perennials come back year after year and include plants such as artichokes, chives, daisy, mint and rhubarb. While they are propagated from seed, perennial plants are usually reproduced from cuttings or division

Not All Seeds Are Productive Hybrids – Artificially Cross Pollinated Cultivar. Seeds produced from Hybrid plants will not produce plants true to type and they are rarely good. Seed packets will be marked with “Hybrid” or “F1” Open Pollenated – Non-Hybrid Cultivars that reproduce either by self pollination or cross pollination. The seed saved from open-pollinated plants will breed true provided it does not cross-pollinate with another plant of the same species. All Heirloom Seeds are open Pollinated Organic just means they are organically grown Self Pollinating plants have flowers that contain both male & Female Parts. Therefore, each flower can fertilize itself or be fertilized from a nearby flower of the same type. Seed saved from self pollinating plants almost always produce an identical plant. An insect carrying pollen from another cultivar however can mess things up.

Selecting Seed Parents Don’t choose just best looking fruit Choose the Healthiest Plants Choose Fruit from plant that has best yield/Quality/characteristic Choose From Multiple Plants Plant 200 plants, harvesting from at least 100 Plants to prevent inbreeding depression in corn

Collecting Seeds – Podded Seeds Beans, peas, crucifers, etc Allow the pods to turn brown, harvest pods, dry them for 1-2 weeks in warm, dry area and shell Store seeds in paper bag in a cool (below 50°F) dry place. Seeds of crucifers can carry diseases that will infect your garden. After harvest soak cabbage in 122°F water for 25 minutes, broccoli, brussels sprouts and cauliflower for 18 minutes. Pay attention to time and temperature. After soaking, dry and store the seeds in paper envelopes in a cool dry place.

Collecting Seeds – Flowerhead Lettuce, endive, dill, allium Cut off the seed stalks just before all the seeds are dried; the seeds may fall off the stalk and be lost if you allow them to fully dry on the plant. Dry the harvested Seed Stalk, shake or rub the seeds off and store. Do this inside of a paper bag to keep from loosing them.

Collecting Seeds – Fleshy Fruit Tomato, cucumber, etc Pick overly ripe fruit and squeeze the pulp and seeds into a jar Add 2x the water and let the mixture ferment several days at room temperature, stirring occasionally (do this outside) Sound seeds will sink, nonviable seeds will float Pour off the pulp and nonviable seeds and water. Spread the viable seeds on a paper towel to dry. Store Scrape out the seeds of peppers, melons, pumpkins and squash and spread them onto a paper towel to dry. Store

Collecting Seeds – Storage Every 1% reduction in seed moisture doubles storage life of seed Keep them dry Every 18°F reduction in storage temperature doubles the storage life of the seed Keep them cool Seeds Stored below 0°F will be viable for over 40 years MARK YOUR SEEDS! Date Variety Keep records of your successes and failures

Testing Seeds Take 10 seeds and soak in warm water for 2 hours Drain water Rinse with warm water 2x/day Count number of sprouts after 2 weeks Multiply number of sprouts by 10 to get percent germination

How Long Do Seeds Keep? Asparagus – 4 years Basil – 5 years Beans, String – 3 years Beet – 4 years Celery – 5 years Crucifors – 5 years Carrots – 4 years Cucumber – 5 years Eggplant – 5 years Kale – 5 years Lettuce – 5 years Leek – 3 years Onion – 2 years Pea – 3 years Pepper – 4 years Pumpkin – 6 years Radish – 3 years Spinach – 5 years Squash – 5 years Sweet Corn – 4 Years Tomato – 4 years Turnip – 5 years Watermelon – 5 years *Storage at room temperature

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