Seed Saving

[simple life]

Does anyone having any good tips for saving seeds for the following year?
Just wondering how everyone does it and getting ideas for the easiest way to do it.
Thanks.

 

[bid]

I store mine in all different ways...based on what I have more than anything else. I use paper envelopes, plastic ziplock bags and my favorite...glass jars.
First tip I can offer...make sure you let the seeds dry good before storing them...otherwise you may wind up with some weird science experiment... don't ask me how I know this.
Second tip is always label your seeds and don't assume you will recognize/remember what they are. I just write it on a small slip of paper and put it in with the seeds or on the outside of the envelope.

 

[setter4]

I have been saving prescription drug bottles to save seeds in this year. I just run them thru the dishwasher when they are empty.
Remember to ferment your tomato seeds when you save them.

 

[karanleaf]

I have saved my seeds and stored them in all those ways also. And Yes I second the fermenting the tomato seeds and having seeds completely dry did that one myself to

I have even gone so far as to take photos of the plant, friut and blooms I plan on putting this toegether and making myself a seed album with seeds in snack size ziplock bags and the page protectors putting together in a binder. at least that's my goal for this years organization :/ I just hope I can met this one by next spring we will see how it goes

:happy_flower Karan

 

[Rosalind]

I have even gone so far as to take photos of the plant, friut and blooms I plan on putting this toegether and making myself a seed album with seeds in snack size ziplock bags and the page protectors putting together in a binder.

That is a wonderful idea! May I borrow it?

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I do pretty much the same thing . . . make sure they are dry and then put them in a labeled envelope -- I make my own envelopes out of brown paper bags. Typically I store the seeds in an unheated room.

This winter I had to get a little more hardcore, because I found some tiny bugs hatched out in the room with my seeds and I had heard that bugs like that can eat the seeds. So, I also sealed the seed envelopes in ziplock baggies and put them in a tuperware container in the fridge. Keeping them in the fridge will preserve them longer anyway and I was planning to start doing that anyway. Nothing like circumstances to light a fire under one! If you put them in the fridge, try to get some desicant (like silica packets that come in vitamin bottles) to lower humidity in your container.

I don't actually ferment my tomato seeds. I just rinse them and then I rub the membrane off of them before drying them. It is more manual labor, but the idea of fermenting them kind of grosses me out. :/

 

[karanleaf]

The fermenting process creates acid to help disolve the coating on the seed which makes them a bit more viable to germanate. WOw that almost makes me sound like I have some smarts
:happy_flower Karan

And Yes Rosiland you may use the seed album idea

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I understand the fermenting process . . . I am just saying that the coating can be removed mechanically as well, and without any loss of germination potential. To each his own.

Edited to add -- I find it a little snarky that you should roll your eyes at me, as I am only saying that fermentation is NOT the only way to save tomato seeds.

 

[karanleaf]

I understand the fermenting process . . . I am just saying that the coating can be removed mechanically as well, and without any loss of germination potential. To each his own.

Edited to add -- I find it a little snarky that you should roll your eyes at me, as I am only saying that fermentation is NOT the only way to save tomato seeds.

Sorry,:/ But I was not rolling my eyes at you. I did that as a thinking jester. As I did a double take on what I had just said. It wasn't meant towards you. I do apoligze if you took it wrong.

:bouquet Karan

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Apology accepted.

As a friendly suggestion, you might try to be a little more careful about how the things you express could be interpreted by others. I know how easy it is to have one's words misinterpreted in this format, so try not to leave open any room for doubt as to your intentions. (In this case, just sticking to the facts of what you were saying, without adding the eye-rolling smiley would have been less upseting to me).

And, yes, I could very well have been over-reacting. :/