The New Seed-Starters Handbook by Nancy Bubel & Jean Nick

Author:Nancy Bubel & Jean Nick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rodale Inc.
Published: 2017-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Biennials usually form tall seed stalks in their second year.

COLLECTING AND PREPARING SEEDS

Once you have decided which kinds of seed you want to save and have selected the specific plants you plan to collect from (if applicable), you will need to gather the seeds at the correct time and prepare them properly for storage.

DECIDING WHEN TO COLLECT SEEDS

As you remember, seeds depend on stored nourishment to carry them through their dormancy so they can germinate and grow into healthy green plants when planted. Seeds that are harvested too early, even though they may look the same as other seeds, may be deficient in either endosperm or embryonic development, or immature in some other way. Such seeds are likely to deteriorate in storage. If they do survive, they may germinate unevenly or produce inferior seedlings. I proved this to my own satisfaction last year by saving seeds from both red (ripe) and green (unripe, though good to eat) cherry peppers. The seeds saved from the green pods had a very low germination rate, although as far as I could tell the few plants that did grow were normal. Germination of seeds saved from the red pods was more rapid and much more complete. Studies have shown that seeds of tomatoes, snap beans, lettuce, spinach, and radishes will germinate satisfactorily even if the seeds are harvested while slightly undermature. Pepper, carrot, celery, and pea seeds, however, germinated poorly when picked before they were fully ripe.

If possible, seed collecting should be done on a dry, sunny day when the seeds are free of rain or dew (this is less critical for seeds inside fleshy fruits). Frost doesn’t hurt most seeds, as long as they are mature and dry. The danger in allowing seeds to remain out in freezing weather is that the condensation of moisture that often follows a frost can be damaging to the seeds if another frost follows soon. Here are some tips on collecting a few special categories of seed.

•Plants that shatter. Harvesttime is most critical for those plants that release their seeds as soon as they are ripe (shattering). To make things trickier yet, the seedpods or stalks of certain plants that shatter readily also ripen one unit at a time over a period of weeks—a valuable survival mechanism for the plant, but inconvenient for the seed collector. If you’re counting on saving seeds from lettuce, onions, or any member of the cabbage family—all of which behave in this way—you can tie small paper or fine mesh fabric bags over the heads of developing seeds to catch them in case you’re not able to make daily seed-collecting rounds.

•Plants with edible seeds. Many plants bearing edible seeds, especially beans, corn, and grasslike grains such as wheat, have been selected for nonshattering behavior and will retain their fully matured seeds for a while. These seeds may be left on the plant for several weeks after they are mature to cure or until you have a chance to collect them. Seed heads

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