My daughter cleaned out the seed cabinet today. Wow did we have a lot of older seed. Going to do some germination tests just to see before I chuck it. Some is from the late 90s. Been stored in the basement. Found some cotton seed and sorghum from a few years ago when I messed with them.
Seed Seeds
- Thread starter mecoastie
- Start date
Martinhouse
Deceased
My sister once heard on a gardening program that when you have old seed, instead of tossing them, scatter them all in the fall and whatever comes up in the spring can be tilled into the soil to improve it for planting time.
Myself, I'd probably be saving all I could of any seedlings I recognized because I couldn't bear to turn them under.
Myself, I'd probably be saving all I could of any seedlings I recognized because I couldn't bear to turn them under.
One year with carrots I found some old seed and just tilled it up and threw them down. I don't think the germination rate was more than 10-15% but I used so much seed that we got a decent crop. I may do that with some of the things like lettuce and carrots. Better than just tossing it.
Martinhouse
Deceased
Be sure and post if those seeds germinate. I've read that onion and lettuce are two types of seed that don't really store well beyond a year or so.
I will. I threw out the onion seed as I have gotten zero germination with 2-3 yo seed in the past. That is one I get new every year. Never tried lettuce as we just setup a perennial lettuce bed. We let some go to seed every year and it just sprouts again in the spring. I think we got 4 years out of our longest one before it got too leggy and weed infested.
My self have encountered volunteer plants from last years crop that got tilled in at the eand of the growing season where the seeds from last year grow I often leave tomatos alone if it's not in the walk way path between rows. I will take all the tomatos I can get and turn them into home canned meat sauce, Yum.
Martinhouse
Deceased
I think we have to be sure the volunteer seedlings are from non-hybrid plants. One year I planted a row of volunteer tomatoes and some grew and produced well, but three plants grew the finest dark green healthy plants I'd ever seen, got over six feet high, and never got a single tomato on them. Now that I think about it, I don't think they even got any blossoms, but I could be mistaken. If they did, they were few.
China Connection
TB Fanatic
Soak the seeds in a weak nutrient solution for 24 hours and then bury under a layer of compost.
Old Gray Mare
TB Fanatic
Organic seed sources:
I go to the produce section of my local organic food store and buy some winter squash. Eat the squash and clean and save the seeds for the garden. Instead of paying $3 to $4 dollars for half a dozen seeds that may or may not sprout I end up with enough for a winters worth of squash.
I've also used organic whole spice seeds like dill in the garden and it worked fine. The chick peas? Not so much but, did get a few.
I go to the produce section of my local organic food store and buy some winter squash. Eat the squash and clean and save the seeds for the garden. Instead of paying $3 to $4 dollars for half a dozen seeds that may or may not sprout I end up with enough for a winters worth of squash.
I've also used organic whole spice seeds like dill in the garden and it worked fine. The chick peas? Not so much but, did get a few.
Martinhouse
Deceased
My little town doesn't have an organic market, but that's a good idea about getting seeds from organic herbs and produce. I'll check in the organic sections of a couple of grocery stores. Thanks!
Old Gray Mare
TB Fanatic
You're welcome. You may want to try to get US grown so there is less chance it has been irradiated. I'm not sure if that kills the seeds or not.
Illini Warrior
Illini Warrior
??? - organic doesn't mean that the grower necessarily used heirloom seeds - if it's a big commercial grower that has gone the organic route >>> he's still using regular seeds because he doesn't harvest seeds from his own crop ....
Yes! NOT mentioning that unless they are a huge grower, with many acres of a single variety of squash or whatever, the seeds (even IF the squash is an OP or heirloom variety) will almost certainly be a cross.
Now, tomatoes and peppers can be grown relatively close together without insect protection, and you'll get *mostly* pure seed. I've been saving seeds (and developing several sweet bell pepper varieties which produce well in our short seasons) from tomatoes and peppers for years. I plant different varieties at different ends of the garden, and so far, I haven't ever had unexpected results.
Also, dry beans and peas are essentially self-pollinating, and to the best of my knowledge, there aren't any hybrid varieties out there.
But any vine crop, even if heirloom varieties, is likely to be crossed.
This year, my goal is to hand pollinate several heirloom/OP pumpkin, squash and melon varieties. Seeds from vine crops store quite well, and you can get several ounces of seed from a single fruit. As long as you save seeds from at least two different vines (and when pollinating the female blossom, use a male from a different vine (same variety, though!) You can avoid inbreeding issues.
One change i think I'm going to need to make if the GSM does mean much wetter summers is switching ftom bush beans to pole varieties. I have enough tall stock panels for about 120 feet of row... way more than we'd ever need if used to grow pole beans! I've been growing some favorite varieties of bush green and yellow beans, and started trying to save seeds in the past few years. But the wet summer and fall (along with the difficulty of keeping the weeds under control, also a rain related problem) creates huge mold snd disease issues. I did manage to get a couple pounds of seeds, but they look pretty sad. Interestingly, i germ tested some, and germination was near 100%
But pole beans should be easier on our spines for picking, too. Now i just have to see if i csn find varieties we likewe prefer a round pod, not the flat Italian types, and there just hasn't been as much research onpole besns as bush types, fir obvious reasons...
Summerthyme
Martinhouse
Deceased
post just got eaten by forum problem so I'll try again.
Summerthymne, we like Rattlesnake pole beans here. They will grow twelve feet high if they can. They will give a second spell of picking (sort of like everbearing strawberries) if they are kept watered when the summer starts getting hot and dry. The beans are a pretty green and purple pod which cook up green. Dried beans are a lot like pinto beans. I used to let the second batch of beans dry on the vine for dried beans and seed. They are nice round pods that stay fleshy and tender longer even when the bean inside gets bigger. The pods can get very long.
I don't grow them any more but my sister does and she said the last couple of years the plants aren't as lush and the crop is half what it used to be. This agrees with what I've read recently that leaf cover on plants will be less because the sun is different during the GSM. This spring she is going to extend her bean fence to nearly double what it's been.
I never worry about buying organic seeds. If I plant regular store-bought seeds and they grow in my garden, that's organic enough for me! I just make sure they are not hybrids.
Summerthymne, we like Rattlesnake pole beans here. They will grow twelve feet high if they can. They will give a second spell of picking (sort of like everbearing strawberries) if they are kept watered when the summer starts getting hot and dry. The beans are a pretty green and purple pod which cook up green. Dried beans are a lot like pinto beans. I used to let the second batch of beans dry on the vine for dried beans and seed. They are nice round pods that stay fleshy and tender longer even when the bean inside gets bigger. The pods can get very long.
I don't grow them any more but my sister does and she said the last couple of years the plants aren't as lush and the crop is half what it used to be. This agrees with what I've read recently that leaf cover on plants will be less because the sun is different during the GSM. This spring she is going to extend her bean fence to nearly double what it's been.
I never worry about buying organic seeds. If I plant regular store-bought seeds and they grow in my garden, that's organic enough for me! I just make sure they are not hybrids.
Seeker22
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I have a huge problem with UV here in South Texas. I have increased yields by mulching with Alfalfa hay and bunny berries that drop out of the rabbit hutches. Mound it up high and water well. Put shade cloth over the plants, and water in the morning. If I water at night the bugs come in droves and the frogs can't eat them all. Your sister may see similar results, good luck.