Seed Saving Tips

Seed saving can bring the garden experience full circle for many students. Some types of seeds can be easily collected and saved for the following year, while others are more difficult. I would suggest beginning with a few fun easy seeds to make it a successful experience. Here are a few basics of seed saving. The 3 steps to seed saving are 1) picking the right plant 2) harvesting methods and 3) storage.

Type of plant

Hybrids

If you are interested in seed saving, it is important know the type of seed you are planting initially. Many seeds sold in stores and through catalogs are hybrids. The parent plants of these seeds were intentionally crossed to produce specific characteristics in the plant. Onion, sweet corn, cabbage, tomato, and cucumber seeds are usually hybrids.

Typically seeds collected from hybrid crops do not produce as well. Make sure to check the seed package or catalog. If it has hybrid in the name or says F1 it would not be good for seed saving. Open-pollinated plants or heirloom varieties are better choices.

Pollination Methods

When students ask why they are saving beans rather than carrot seed or corn you have the perfect teachable moment to talk about pollination. The way that particular plants are pollinated is one of the main factors in determining if it is going to be an easy seed saver.

There are three pollination methods of concern to the small scale gardener: air-borne, insect and self. If you want the seed to produce the same type of sweet tomato or fluffy popcorn, it has to have the same genetic composition of its parents, and therefore must be pollinated with pollen from the same variety. In the case of air-borne pollinated crops, there must be no other varieties within a mile shedding pollen at the same time. If there are, some of the seed you harvest may be a cross between these two varieties. In some cases this can be good, but most often you don’t end up with the plant characteristics you want.

If a crop is insect pollinated, there should be 1/4 mile separating varieties. Otherwise, some of the seed saved may result from the crossing of the varieties located within this 1/4-mile radius.

Self-pollinated Crops offer the best opportunity for easy seed saving because the pollen is transferred directly to the stigma within the flower. Even though this occurs automatically, there is some pollen that escapes and can be transferred to an adjacent variety. To avoid this, separate varieties by a few rows of another crop.

Root Crops

Not all garden plants produce their seed at the end of the growing season. The most noteworthy exception is the biennials. This group, which includes most of the root crops, grows vegetatively the first season. To obtain seed, the roots are dug in the fall and stored between 32 and 45 degrees F through the winter. As soon as the weather permits, replant the roots to produce seed stalks and seed. Seeds can be collected after the second year, but it requires more work and commitment.

I would begin with self-pollinated vegetables. If you want to save seed from insect pollinated plants make sure to plant one variety – or you might end up with a cucumbumpkin.

 Select healthy plants

Seeds should be taken only from the most vigorous growing

plants in your garden. Plants selected for seeds should be free of

any damage from insects or diseases. Just like people, plants pass

on their characteristics to their offspring. Seeds from healthy

plants usually grow into another healthy plant.

 Harvesting Seed

The vine crops (cucumber, melons, squash, and pumpkins) are somewhat more difficult. Without controlled pollination, these crops become crossed with other varieties and sometimes other types. For this reason, it usually does not pay to save these seeds. The fruit must be very ripe. Cucumbers must be entirely yellow, and squash and pumpkins must be thoroughly mature. When mature, separate the seeds from the fleshy fruit and dry at room temperature.

Regular correspondence-size envelopes make good containers for storing small quantities of most kinds of seed since they can be sealed and labeled quite conveniently. For larger quantities, I use glass jars

Tomato : The seeds are encased in a gelatinous coating, which prevents them from sprouting inside the tomato. Remove this coating by fermenting it. This mimics the natural rotting of the fruit and has the added bonus of killing seed borne tomato disease. Squeeze the seeds from a fully ripe fruit into a bowl, add water and let stand at room temperature for about three days. Once fermentation occurs, mold will form on the surface of the water. Add more water, stir, and then gently scrape mold and debris off the top. Repeat until only clean seed remains, strain, rinse, and leave the seeds at room temperature until they are thoroughly dry.

Peppers : Select a mature pepper, preferably one that is completely red. Cut the pepper open, scrape the seeds onto a plate and let the seeds dry in a non-humid, shaded place, testing them occasionally until they break rather than bend. Leave at room temperature until completely dry.

Beans, peas, and other legumes : Leave pods on the plant until they are "rattle dry." Pick the pods and remove the seeds when completely dry.

Eggplant: Leave the plant on the vine until it is well past the stage when you would pick it for kitchen purposes. Eggplants ready for seed saving will be dull, off-colored and hard. Cut the eggplant in half and pull the flesh away from the seeded area.

Cucumbers: Cucumbers change color after they ripen and start to become mushy. Cut it in half and scrape the seeds into a bowl. Remove their slimy coating by rubbing them gently around the inside of a sieve while washing them or soak them in water for two days. Rinse and dry.

Summer squash : Summer squash is at the seed-saving stage when you cannot dent the squash with a fingernail. Cut it open, and scrape the seeds into a bowl, wash, drain, and dry.

Watermelon : Put the seeds from ripe fruit in a strainer and add a drop of dishwashing liquid to remove any sugar from the seeds.

Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Melons: Open the fruits and

place seeds in a jar. Add a little water to make a soupy mixture.

Leave the jar open at room temperature and allow the mixture to

ferment for 2-3 days. During fermentation, stir occasionally to

separate pulp from the seeds. After 2-3 days seeds should settle

to the bottom of the jar and the pulp can be poured off. Wash

the seeds and lay them on an absorbent paper; an old newspaper

will do. Put them in the sunlight to dry for 2 days.

Beans, Okra, Onions, Mustard, and Radish: Allow the

pods to dry on the plant but pick them before the pods shatter

and seeds fall to the ground. Complete the drying process by

laying them out under the sun until the pods are hard and dry.

The seeds are easily taken from the dry pods.

Storage

You can store different kinds of seeds, each in individual paper packets, together in a large sealed container. The exception is legumes (beans and peas), which store best in breathable bags. Keep seeds dry and cool. A temperature between 32° and 41°F is ideal, so your refrigerator can be a good place to store seeds.

To keep seeds dry you can wrap a couple tablespoons of dry milk in a paper towel and place it in the sealed container with your seed packs. Powdered milk will absorb excess moisture from the air for about six months.

Be sure to label your saved seeds with their name, variety, and the date you collected them. It's too easy to forget the details by the following spring.

Germination test

A great math activity is to run a germination test on your seeds. This type of test will determine what percentage of your seeds will be viable (sprout). The easiest way to do this is to moisten two or three layers of paper towels. Place 10 seeds (or more depending on the math you want your students to be working on) on the towels and roll them up. Do not roll tightly. A loose roll will provide more oxygen and give a better test. Place the rolls in a plastic bag. Keep in a warm place such as a window sill or on top of the water heater. The germination time will vary depending on the type of seeds, but most should germinate in a week or so. Your students should be able to easily find the “days to germination” on the internet by typing in those key words along with the type of plant. If you have 8 out of 10 seeds sprout then your seeds have an 80% germination rate. This is a great opportunity to include fractions, percentages and probability.

Some seed packages will have a germination rate on them. If you are not saving your own seeds you can run a germination test to compare your results with those of the seed company.