Harvest seeds
If you bring in moist seeds, the risk of them spoiling is relatively high. Therefore only harvest on dry days.
- Cut the fully mature seed heads of flowering plants with a sharp knife or a knife Secateurs away. You can recognize them by the dark colored sleeves. Put them upside down in a glass.
- In the case of vegetables, the fruit contains the seeds. Put the pulp in a glass of water for a day or two. As the fermentation process begins, the residues and the germ-inhibiting layer are detached from the seeds.
- With vegetables such as chard, rocket or onion, let the plant bloom and then proceed as with annual summer flowers.
- If you have peas or beans, just put a few pods aside.
also read
- Dry the seeds
- Growing tomato seeds from tomatoes - this is how you get your seeds
- Drying tomato seeds - this is how you get usable seeds
Collect fine flower seeds
After drying, you can hit the seed heads of the flowers against the edges of the glass. This will release the seeds from the pods. Then put everything in a tea strainer that you hold over a piece of white paper. The small seeds falling through the fine net are easy to see.
Drying seeds
So that the seeds do not go moldy, they must dry out completely:
- Spread out paper towels, newspaper or cardboard in a dark, not too warm place.
- Put the seeds on it.
- Layer up occasionally so that the seeds dry evenly.
- If you collect a lot of seeds, you should put a label next to each seed type so that you can distinguish the grains even after the drying time of about a week.
After drying in envelopes or pack, label and use small paper bags store the seeds in a dry, dark place. Under ideal storage conditions, they remain viable for three to five years.
Tips
Only seeds from solid seeds inherit the characteristics corresponding to those of the previous year. F1 hybrids also produce seeds, but these are not seed-proof. It can happen to you, for example, that pumpkins are no longer all the same color or shape and even differ in taste.
