DIY: Collecting Your Own Seeds
Collecting seeds from your favorite plants is a fun task that can also save you some money. If you’ve never collected seed before I would suggest starting with flower seeds. Harvesting vegetable seeds can be tricky but flower seeds are very easy to start with. Growing flowers from seeds is not difficult to do and it is both rewarding and economical. Harvesting seed provides a way to enjoy your favorite flowers year after year and to share some with your friends and family.
The following flowers are good choices for this DIY project:
Annual Flowers: Cosmos, Marigold, Zinnia, Tithonia, Sunflower, Petunias, California Poppy, Morning Glory, Hyacinth Vine
Perennial Flowers: Black-Eyed-Susan, Coneflower, Columbine, Coreopsis, Shasta Daisy, Blanket Flower
Materials You Will Need For This Project: Sharp Scissors, Coffee Cans or Similar Type Containers, Labels and/or a Sharpie Pen
After choosing the flower whose seed you want to collect you should follow these steps:
- Knowing when to harvest the seed is the first step in the process. You should start to curtail your deadheading (removing faded blooms) and allow some of the faded blooms to ripen. Once the seed pod turns from green to brown and it can be easily broken apart you can begin to collect the seeds.
- Begin harvesting the seed on dry, sunny days which are not windy. Wet seeds will get moldy and degrade and the wind can blow away your seed if you’re not careful. When you find a ripe seed pod place your coffee can or other container under the pod and using the scissors cut it off and allow it to fall into the container.
- Once you’re done gathering the pods you can put them on a paper towel and let them dry out for a few days; then label your container and put the seed back in. You can store the seed in a cool, dry location such as the corner of your garage or perhaps your basement workbench. Just make sure they won’t freeze or get wet.
Here are some other tips for collecting flower seeds:
- Make sure you harvest seeds from your strongest performing plants. Performance is usually a good indicator of how well the seed will germinate next year.
- Paper bags, envelopes and glass containers such as baby food jars are also good containers for seeds.
- Not all plants grown from seed will look exactly like their parent plant. This is particularly true of plants that were created by cross-pollination is also known as hybridization.
- Some flowers produce seed pods that can be painful to touch. Tithonia and Coneflowers are two such flowers. Sometimes it is best to harvest the entire spent bloom on these plants and put them in a paper bag. You can then shake the bag and collect the seed that should fall to the bottom of the bag.
If you follow these tips by the end of the fall you’ll have enough seed for a beautiful garden next spring!
