When can the seeds be harvested?
The fruit heads of many vegetables and flowers ripen from green to brown. With beans, the shell becomes hard and leathery. Keep this process in the eye and let the seeds mature on the plant as long as possible.
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With a little experience, it is easy to tell when the seed pod pops open. Cut this off shortly beforehand.
How is the seed dried?
So that the seeds do not go moldy, you need to dry them thoroughly before packing:
- Dry fine flower seeds on the seed stand. They then fall out almost by themselves.
- Vegetable seeds, for example from tomato or pumpkin, must be free from pulp. Put this in a sieve and rinse the seeds thoroughly. Cleaning is even easier if you put the seeds in a water glass and leave it open for a day or two. This causes the pulp and gelatinous shell to peel off.
- You can leave pods and pods whole.
Drying seeds
- To dry, place the seeds in wide containers that you line with kitchen paper or blotting paper.
- Put the inflorescences upside down in small jars. If the fine seeds fall out, they will collect on the ground.
- Put the bowls in a warm, sunny place. However, the temperature must not exceed 35 degrees.
- Here the seeds need about one to two weeks to dry out completely.
Store seeds
- Remove casings, capsules and other plant debris.
- Then shake the bowl. Since the germinable seed is heavier, it will fall down.
- By carefully blowing you can remove any last husks and seeds that would not sprout.
- Pack the seeds in small paper bags and label them.
- Store seeds in a cool, dark place.
Tips
Since hybrid seeds cannot germinate, you can only harvest seeds from plants whose origin you know. If you want to use your own seeds in the future, you should therefore only cultivate solid plants in your garden. Whether a plant fulfills this characteristic is written on the seed bag.