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Now that we are starting to have frost in the area, fall gardening is in full swing.
Whether your passion is vegetables or flowers, the cold nights are killing the more tender plants in the garden, and we're heading out to cut back foliage and remove tender annuals.
In addition to cutting and mulching, the fall is the ideal time to collect seeds.
HARVEST THE SEED
Saving seeds used to be an integral part of gardening. From ancient times and for centuries, favorite strains of both vegetables and flowers were collected each year. This was a necessity since seed companies really didn't exist. Things started to change in the 1800s when companies started breeding and hybridizing plants for specific traits and then selling the seeds. By the 1880s, seed companies were able to mass-produce hybrid seeds, making them widely available and inexpensive. By the early 20th century, many gardeners no longer saved their own seeds. Instead, they relied on the seed companies to provide new and improved varieties each year.
The hybrid varieties offer gardeners varied looks, tastes, and disease resistance or tolerance. But that doesn't mean that the seeds we see drying in our gardens this time of year cannot be saved and replanted next spring.
Saving seeds from year to year offers gardeners the opportunity to save some money, learn more about plant propagation, grow rare plants or save a fond memory of a friend or loved one by continually growing plants that they provided.
Learning how to save seeds does take some practice.
The first step is to harvest the seed. Some diseases can be carried on the seeds, so only harvest from healthy plants. It is also important to focus on the seeds from healthy plants because vigor is often genetic — weak plants produce weak seeds and weak plants.
GOOD CHOICES
Next, focus on saving seeds from plants that do not hybridize naturally.
Some good choices for purebred annual vegetable seeds include lettuce, beans, peas, herbs and heirloom tomatoes. If you grew more than one type of squash, cucumber, peppers, corn, spinach, onion or eggplant, then those seeds are probably hybrids since these plants are insect pollinated. The seeds from these plants will grow interesting crosses such as peppers that look like a bell but are hot, or zucchini-pumpkin mixes!
If you are interested in saving flower seeds, consider trying larkspur, California poppy, corn poppy, scarlet runner bean, sweet Williams, cosmos, morning glories, and columbines. There are many other types of flowers whose seeds are easy to save, but these are good ones to start with if you are a beginner.
If you want to save seeds from a flower or vegetable that is fleshy (like a tomato), harvest the fruit when it is fully ripe, separate the seeds from the pulp, wash the seeds and thoroughly dry them.
To save the seeds from a non-fleshy flower or vegetable, harvest the seed head or pod before the seed pod or head is completely dry. Then place the seed stalk in a paper bag and place the bag in a warm, dry location. The seed will dry completely and fall into the bag. If you let the seed stalk dry completely outside, you risk the seeds falling to the ground and getting lost.
Once the seeds are completely dry, place them in an airtight storage container marked with the name of the plant and the date saved. Store the seeds at around 40 degrees F in an area with low humidity, like the refrigerator.
START SMALL
Seeds of many plants can remain viable for several years if stored properly. However, it is best to use seeds during the following growing season since some plants produce short-lived seeds.
If you are curious, you can check your germination rate next spring before you plant by placing some seeds between paper towels that are kept moist and warm. Check the seeds daily for sprouts. If the germination rate is less than 70 percent, consider purchasing seeds. If it is 70 percent or greater, consider your seed saving a success and enjoy planting them.
Seed saving can be quite a bit of fun for gardeners of all ages. There are many books, seed exchange organizations and resources for beginners and expert seed savers. Like gardening, it is best to start small, and before you know it you will be saving several varieties each year and maybe even experimenting in hybridization.
Anne Lenox Barlow is the horticulture educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Clinton County. Office phone numbers: Clinton County 561-7450, Essex County 962-4810, Franklin County 483-7403. E-mail questions to: askMG@cornell.edu
