Seed saving

chiefjason

Vendor and Leather Hack
2A Bourbon Hound 2024
2A Bourbon Hound OG
Vendor
Joined
Dec 18, 2016
Messages
10,691
Location
Longview, NC
Rating - 100%
12   0   0
First, you need to start with an open pollinated, heirloom plant/seed. Hybrids are not going to work well if they work at all.

I've been saving some of the easy seeds for a while, sun flowers and okra are pretty simple. I let them dry on the plant a while. Then bring them in to finish.

Decided to seed some of our zucchini since it did so well this year. Been letting a couple go for a few weeks. Pulled all the plants today and seeded the biggest one. You need to go a couple weeks past edible and the skin should be firm.

c0d8f539bfbfeddf8f963bb639685543.jpg


First split in half.

ee2d632896e667fe49f7758f4483537f.jpg


Used a serving spoon to scoop out the middle.


95c81a31361d25d00ff43513836ac59b.jpg



Separate the larger un damaged seeds from the rest of the center.

d8d523486823b46496541e7739aa19e3.jpg



Use a colander to wash the seeds. Continue pulling any big chunks out. You also want to work off any of the wet stuff stuck to the seeds. It can inhibit germination.

db55fef5b232b9bdeb7aeffffa40d3e6.jpg


Put cleaned seeds on wax or butcher paper to dry for a week or two.


aa95e48db0f315ed457da283214fd48d.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Now on to tomatoes. This is the quick and dirty method. Seeds should be good up to 2 years. If you want cleaner seeds you need to Ferment them first.

This one is a black krim.

Cut in half, but not through stem wise.

86e2a1f3750e2b5d647911243e5715d6.jpg


Squeeze or spoon out the seeded parts.

3afad27caaaf84d404377f4a777ab8bc.jpg


I dump them in a container. Add water. Stir. Then strain and pull out any meat in there. Do that several times. Towards the end you can push any left over junk through the strainer and rinse well.

889c6f77d4984d6eb59ee8da2fd02ee2.jpg


The end result looks like this.

c91a494decabdec1067f052bdd8fce8e.jpg


I take a paper towel and grid it off. Dump the seeds on a plate. Take tweezers and put 3 seeds on each grid. I will plant one grid per starter next year. Out of the 3 one should take. If more take just cut the weak ones.

8393dcc24faf76b735ed484681497127.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Did you use heirloom varieties of the vegetables?

Yes. All open pollinated heirloom seeds. I have some unknowns in the garden where I bought the plants. I don't bother with those. I only seed the plants I have brought up from seed myself.

Hybrids are not worth seeding. You might get something but they usually don't produce.

Added that to the post, thanks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom