Question Seed saving

[mason_jarr]

Hi. Im interested in knowing your tips and tricks for saving seeds. I've tried in the past only to forget where I put them or forgot to label them. Also I've seen some stored in freezer and some in a cool dry area. What are your suggestions and general practices? Thanks

 

[daveb]

which types of seeds ? a few varieties have a few tricks to saving the seeds.

tomaotoes and cucumbers have a gell like membrane coat that needs to decay to grow or in the case of saving seeds collect seeds and in cup cover with a bit of water and open to air to ferment the membrane coating,

pepper as in sweet or hot peppers most are harvested too early to produce viable seeds, if yu go to harvest and save pepper seeds if you squeeze the pepper and it pops and splits with a snap they are not ripe. pepper you want for seed harvest will feel like a heavy pieces of old leather does not snap or crack when bent or try to crash, also except for a very few all peppers when ripe wil take on a type or shade of red. the can be slice open seeds scooped out and allowed to dry a few days.

when i save seeds tomotoes pepper squash etc ferment those with the gell coat, after harvest of seeds i add the to a bit of water the wash any debri off , then rub them gentle in palm of hand the loosen any hard residue and rinse in clean freash water. i dry on a piece of 20 weight paper ( uncoated paper , some papers have a clay or drying agent coat applied ) or plain pieces of uncoated butchers paper or a coffee filter. you dont want to dry them complete they still want to be slight moisture to the seeds to be viable.

When drying a well ventilated area with a gentle air flow now direct sun or heat source nearby.

Once dry i fold a light waxed paper in to a little packet to hold seeds and save out a couple to test seeds germination . i then slip the waxed paper with seeds into a simple small paper sleeve label it with seed type and date and a unique number i can jot down in a book and lightly tape end closed and seal in a vacumn sealed foil plastic foil bag if for stoage of 2 or more years

seeds i will use year to year i place in an airtight container in cool dry place i use a small apartment or dorm type fridger / freezer set down to about 14F (-10c ) , its not neccesary but i also store the paper packets in plastic vial i purge with nitorgen to remove as much oxygen as possible and seal with a test on lid. i know the Svalbard Global Seed Vault runs down to 0 F ( -18c )

i know a bit long winded and info over load, main key clean and dry the seeds the still want to feel dry to touch but still slightly piable. store out of light in cool dry spot and test the couple seeds you saved out to make sure they sprout

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Welcome to the forum @mason_jarr !

I live in a very hot and humid climate, so I don't usually store my seeds for longer than a year or two, but by then I've usually gone through them and got new ones.
As I don't really have any cool, dry areas, I usually try to keep them in a paper bag/envellope and write what seeds they are as/before I put them in. I reuse those paper bags, so I never have to think to write on them again, unless I have a new kind of seed to keep, but they get a fresh bag.
With the climate I'm in, we don't get any frost whatsoever. Coldest I have seen it is 5C, but only in the early morning before dawn. So I don't usually worry about plants that need a frost period to thrive. Plants that do need this, often have their seeds do better when kept refridgerated.

When I first get seeds from my plants, the way I treat them differs. If the seeds are wet, I leave them out on a paper towel in a dark, well ventilated area before storing them away. If they are already dry (often my beans for example), I simply put them in a paper bag and hang them up with the rest of them. I've hung them with magnets on the side of the fridge (not normally recommended as fridges give off heat, but in my house that's one of the most dark and dry areas). This way I also never lose them, nor where they are.

 

[daveb]

Welcome to the forum @mason_jarr !

I live in a very hot and humid climate, so I don't usually store my seeds for longer than a year or two, but by then I've usually gone through them and got new ones.
As I don't really have any cool, dry areas, I usually try to keep them in a paper bag/envellope and write what seeds they are as/before I put them in. I reuse those paper bags, so I never have to think to write on them again, unless I have a new kind of seed to keep, but they get a fresh bag.
With the climate I'm in, we don't get any frost whatsoever. Coldest I have seen it is 5C, but only in the early morning before dawn. So I don't usually worry about plants that need a frost period to thrive. Plants that do need this, often have their seeds do better when kept refridgerated.

When I first get seeds from my plants, the way I treat them differs. If the seeds are wet, I leave them out on a paper towel in a dark, well ventilated area before storing them away. If they are already dry (often my beans for example), I simply put them in a paper bag and hang them up with the rest of them. I've hung them with magnets on the side of the fridge (not normally recommended as fridges give off heat, but in my house that's one of the most dark and dry areas). This way I also never lose them, nor where they are.

try a sheet of paper to dry on if you find they stick to the paper towel the fin pulp hairs and thread make a good surface for the seed to stick to. even if you wrap them good and put the in one of the bins at bottom of fridge. some can store very nicely in freexer also but would need extra wrap.

 

[Scottish_Maiden]

"The Seed Saver's Bible" is a worthy investment if you intend to seriously save seed.

If you only wish to dabble, then winter squash and pumpkin seeds are easy to save and have a good sprouting rate. Just pick a ripe, delicious squash or pumpkin, scoop out the seeds, rinse off the orange-yukky bits, and place them on a paper towel to dry. Put in a brown paper bag, label, and store in a cool dry place away from heat.

Cucumbers, zucchini and summer squash, and peppers all need to be "overripe" before you can save the seeds. Grab squashes/cucumbers which have gone feral which have "woody" seeds, those are ripe enough to save. Cucumbers will turn yellow and be mushy and bitter in the middle.

Tomatoes have to be over-ripe and slightly "rotten" before the seeds become viable. Put them in a glass. The viable seeds will sink. The non-viable seeds will float. Scoop out the non-viable ones, This article talks about "fermenting" the seeds, but I never do that. I let the tomatoes which I've selected to save seed rot right on the vine, or take the entire tomato and stick it in a bowl and forget about it for a few days, so I guess it "ferments" right inside the tomato. https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-save-tomato-seeds-1403292

Other plants should be allowed to "go to seed", such as lettuce, mustard greens, kale, and other plants. Some plants don't go to seed until the second season, at least here in the US northeast where we have cold winters. I select plants for cold-hardiness, so I'll usually select a few plants that displayed hardiness and not rip them up, let them overwinter, go to seed in the spring, and then harvest the seeds. Just snip off the seed heads once they've begun to dry and put them in a cool, dry place to finish drying and allow the seeds to drop out of the seed heads. Snip entire leek or onion flowers and put them on a newspaper or in a brown paper bag until the seeds drop out.

 

[Henry 420]

thanks for sharing. I always make sure they have dried out enough then I just store in a glass jar.

 

[daveb]

"The Seed Saver's Bible" is a worthy investment if you intend to seriously save seed.

If you only wish to dabble, then winter squash and pumpkin seeds are easy to save and have a good sprouting rate. Just pick a ripe, delicious squash or pumpkin, scoop out the seeds, rinse off the orange-yukky bits, and place them on a paper towel to dry. Put in a brown paper bag, label, and store in a cool dry place away from heat.

Cucumbers, zucchini and summer squash, and peppers all need to be "overripe" before you can save the seeds. Grab squashes/cucumbers which have gone feral which have "woody" seeds, those are ripe enough to save. Cucumbers will turn yellow and be mushy and bitter in the middle.

Tomatoes have to be over-ripe and slightly "rotten" before the seeds become viable. Put them in a glass. The viable seeds will sink. The non-viable seeds will float. Scoop out the non-viable ones, This article talks about "fermenting" the seeds, but I never do that. I let the tomatoes which I've selected to save seed rot right on the vine, or take the entire tomato and stick it in a bowl and forget about it for a few days, so I guess it "ferments" right inside the tomato. https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-save-tomato-seeds-1403292

Other plants should be allowed to "go to seed", such as lettuce, mustard greens, kale, and other plants. Some plants don't go to seed until the second season, at least here in the US northeast where we have cold winters. I select plants for cold-hardiness, so I'll usually select a few plants that displayed hardiness and not rip them up, let them overwinter, go to seed in the spring, and then harvest the seeds. Just snip off the seed heads once they've begun to dry and put them in a cool, dry place to finish drying and allow the seeds to drop out of the seed heads. Snip entire leek or onion flowers and put them on a newspaper or in a brown paper bag until the seeds drop out.

the over ripe is due to the info i mentioned about the gel coat containing anti sprouting compounds , hence the fermentation i mention in above post. and as i mentio what seeds they were interested to save because each have liittle qwerks