Collecting Seeds - Techniques used in the garden for growing your own seeds

June 30, 2011 - PRLog -- Although most gardeners grow plants from seed either from convenience, cheapness or just from the sheer joy of growing a plant from something that appears to be no more than a speck of dust, not many collect and save their own seed. This may be because once they have got a particular plant in the garden they do not want any more. Except for annuals and vegetables it is rare that a person will want to keep germinating the same plants. However there is always a large number of other people that do. By collecting your seed, particularly of the rarer or unusual forms, you can exchange it or give it away to friends or send it to one of the specialist society seed exchanges. Local gardening clubs welcome seed in plant sales or as prizes. So do not allow seed to go to waste just because you have no immediate need for it. If your plants die and you have distributed seed, you will normally be able to get some back; it is a good safety device.

Collecting seed is not a difficult procedure (except in the case of some of the thistles where it is more painful than difficult!) and has the inestimable value of making the gardener look closely at his plants after they have flowered; it is surprising how much beauty can be missed by ignoring plants after their blooms have faded. Not only the function but the shape and colour of the dispersal mechanisms are fascinating.

The equipment needed is minimal; something in which to collect the seed and some simple kitchen aids to help free the seeds from dross and debris. Paper bags and envelopes are the simplest of containers for collecting and storing. Polythene bags should be avoided unless they are used as a temporary convenience or unless the seed has been perfectly dried. Damp seed in a sealed. plastic bag will soon rot. Check that the bags and particularly the envelopes have no holes in the corners. Cheaper envelopes have often been crudely folded leaving large gaps through which precious seed can trickle. Origami experts can quickly make a folded envelope from a sheet of paper which is perfectly adequate as long as the recipient is aware of how it should be opened; attacking the wrong fold first can end in disaster.

Probably the most difficult aspect of collecting seed is in getting the timing right. Most seed when ripe changes colour; usually it gets darker. This change is a good indication of when to collect. Another indicator is when the pods begin to split. Here the collector must be quick because although some, like tulips and fritillaries, hold their seed in upright chalices giving the collector plenty of time, others, like hellebores, split from the bottom and the whole lot can be lost before the collector is aware of what is happening. Not all seed changes colour, for example many of the buttercups remain green. With this family indication of when to collect can be found by rubbing the fingers over the seed head and as soon as it comes away freely, it is time to gather it. Similarly the fluffy heads of composites come away easily when they are ripe. The critical time to collect, just before the seed is shed will soon be learnt, as most things in gardening are, by experience. The most difficult are those with explosive mechanisms such as the hardy geraniums, but even these can be collected safely if the right moment is chosen, just as the capsules are almost changed from green to brown.

Fortunately not all the seed heads ripen at once on the majority of plants, giving repeated opportunities to collect the seed. Do not be fooled into thinking that by seeing flowers on the plant there will be no seed, because many plants particularly herbaceous ones, bear seed and flowers at the same time. If the opportunity exists, the plants should be checked each day for ripe seed, particularly those with the more dramatic means of disposal. It must be borne in mind that there may be some considerable delay between the plant flowering and the seed being produced. Cyclamen hederifolium, for example, flowers in the autumn and produces seed the following summer. No one is likely to complain about the appearance of the cyclamen during this period, but with some plants their scruffy appearance might make the owner feel it is better to clear away the plant than await its seed.

It can be a pleasant task to wander round the garden each day with a basket of paper bags collecting seed. The simplest way of collecting the seed is to pick off the complete head and pop it into a bag. Another way is to stroke off the seed with the bag held underneath to catch it. I have found that the easiest way is to use a plastic container or bottle from which I have removed part of one side leaving the neck and bottom intact. The container is held under the seed head and the seeds shaken or stroked with the fingers so that they fall into it. With your fingers remove the bigger bits of debris. The smaller pieces can be removed by gently blowing into the container, the lighter chaff will blow out leaving the seed behind. The seed can then be poured directly into a packet or envelope using the neck of the container as a funnel. With practice this becomes a very simple method of dealing with seed and often this preliminary cleaning on site is all that is required before the seed is packeted. The bags should be clearly labelled as they are used either by writing on the side or dropping labels in with the seed. This is absolutely vital as it is all too easy to forget by the time you have finished which seed is which.

Seed from smaller plants, such as alpines, can be collected in a similar manner using smaller containers or egg cups, but it is likely that the only method available will be to patiently remove the seed one by one with a pair of tweezers and certainly if the seed has been shed, then this is the only method of retrieval.

Once the seed has been collected it should be left in the bags or envelopes with the top left open so that the seed can dry off, or in some cases to finish ripening. If the whole heads of plants with explosive mechanisms have been collected it is best to lightly turn over the tops of the bags to prevent the seed being scattered everywhere. The packets should be left in a cool airy position out of direct sunlight.

For More information about Collecting and growing your own seeds visit Thompson & Morgan

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Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK's largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. For more details visit http://www.thompson-morgan.com