Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange
Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [seed-saving]

Keeping and re-using seed

Use this tag for questions about keeping seed from one season to the next. This will generally be from plants, but might also include left-over purchased seed.

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Can I harvest vegetable seeds and store for the next year?

This discussion of seed storage got me wondering if it is feasible to harvest seeds from vegetables (I'm partial to tomatoes) as I cut them up for consumption. Generally, I buy seeds each year. But if I have a steady supply, and it's not…
kmm
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What is a proper container to preserve seeds?

I received seeds from various produces as a gift. They are in sealed paper bags, but they occupy a lot of space and I was thinking about opening the bags and putting the seeds into small transparent plastic containers. Is this a good way to store…
Stefano Borini
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How do I prevent the seeds on my Japanese Maple from falling off?

I have a 6 ft tall 'Bloodgood' Japanese Maple in my yard. It gets a lot of afternoon Californian sun, but the leaves are a nice color and are healthy. I wanted to collect some seeds this fall (to try to grow some unique seedlings and the such) and…
Vervious
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Do potatoes produce seeds that you can store and/or replant?

Do potatoes produce seeds (specifically La Ratte potato) and how do you harvest them? Although I don't fully understand, I am aware that "seed potatoes" are a thing and can be used to grow a new potato plant. I'm looking for a long term storage…
at0micV3n0m
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What is a good method for extracting the earliest-viable seeds from young pumpkins?

I am in need of a good strategy to extract the earliest-possible batch of seeds from an upcoming batch of white pumpkins (I may have a few available within a month). My main uncertainty is at what size a pumpkin needs to be before extracting seeds…
Brian Webster
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How should I store my chili seeds for planting next year?

Should I let the chili mature on the plant, cut it open and take the seeds, dry them and store in a cold, dark and dry place? Or is there more to it than that.
Dan
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I have the flowers, but how can I get seeds from my basil?

My basil has produced very nice white flowers. It's still cold outside so I can't put the plant out and let nature take its course. How do I successfully obtain seeds from the flowering plant? Do I have to cross pollinate, or does basil take…
Stefano Borini
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How can I harvest my own grass seed?

I have a kind of perennial evergreen grass that I would like to spread around the yard. How can I save seeds from the plants efficiently ?
J. Musser
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How should mustard seeds be collected?

This is probably a simple question but I just want to know any common advice for collecting seeds from mustard greens. 4-5 self-seeded mustards (Brassica juncea) popped up in the autumn and I just let them go to be green manure, but I've neglected…
Lisa
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Storing Garlic for Seed

I've started growing garlic each year, with the idea being I'd store most of it for seed the next year to gradually increase the amount I was growing. Last year, I planted 100 cloves, and saved about 80 head of garlic in July when I harvested. I…
David Griffiths
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How can I ensure a crop of potato seeds?

Background: I did an experiment where I put the cut seed potatoes directly onto a live lawn, and then covered with 4" of premium bark mulch. The plants did exceptionally well, and I noticed that a large number of the flowers successfully set fruit.…
J. Musser
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What vegetables/seeds/fruits at the grocery store can be viably replanted?

I have a crude understanding that planted seeds should be non-hybrid non-gmo open-pollinated in order for their offspring to be as good as the parents. If I try to use organic produce from the grocery store to start different varieties of plants…
Rick
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Why should I leave my coriander seeds on the plant to dry before harvesting?

I want to harvest the seeds from a Coriander/Cilantro plant. I would like to pick them now, but investigation on the internet suggests that I should let them dry on the plant. Why? The plant has bolted so I would like to cut it back to encourage new…
Dan
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How do I know when winter rye seed is ready to harvest?

I planted some winter rye last fall to hold a patch of soil over the winter. Planned to mow it, but spring came, summer came, and I still haven't cut it down. It's got beautiful fat seed heads on it now. How do I know when these are ready to harvest…
bstpierre
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How do I save lilac seeds?

I know it's possible, because that's how people come out with new hybrids, but how does one go about saving the seeds of a lilac? Specifically, I have the straight species of Syringa vulgaris, and each year it produces a few seed capsules in the…
J. Musser
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