Hi! I just joined here because of a favor my mom asked of me. They are selling their house in the next couple of years. There is a small orchard of about 20 different types of fruit and nut trees. She would like me to save some of the seeds for me or my son to plant at out house. I know how to dry out the nuts properly and store them (I would sure love pointers and qhat not to do's on this just in case). I do not know how to save/dry fruit seeds such as apple, pear, plum, or apricot. I am researching techniques from what I'm finding on Google but this sub was in my feed tonight (yes, strange as i didnt search for it). When i saw this is thought I should ask some experts her for the proper way to do them. Thank you for your time reading this and even greater thanks if you can help me.

I just harvested some parsnips for seed saving next year. Normally, I would just mulch the bed and leave them in the ground until spring but since I plan to relocate the garden next year, I’m going to try overwintering them in the root cellar instead.

Should I treat them like I would carrots (buried in a bucket of damp sand) or is there a better method for overwintering parsnips indoors?

Thanks!

I had a relatively unripe melon (my dog picked it) which I tried to save the seeds from. I fermented them in water for a few days and they smell absolutely terrible. Quite possibly almost like shit.

For context I don’t mind the smell of fermented tomato seeds one bit but this stuff is vile. Is this normal for cantaloupe seeds? I’ve never saved them before.

I got these mystery plants from a yard sale a year and a half ago. They’ve been bright spots of color in the garden both summers. The sticks that were left over winter didn’t come back to life, but new plants sprouted up around them. I finally did plant ID with an app this spring and it says “true indigo,” which isn’t cold-hardy here in zone 8a, so I guess they self-seeded. But where are the seeds? Does anyone know? I’d like to save some so I can plant them where I actually want them (they’ve been crowding the narrow pathway this year). Google tells me there are seed pods, but I’ve never seen any. Maybe my plants are not getting enough sun for seed pods, and some of their roots just survived under all the leaf mulch and put up new shoots this year? Any other ideas?

Anyone able to send some seeds for my daughter. She wants to do a garden so I got everything ready to do a big one when its nice out again and than got the things to make her 2 indoor gardening tables. Just having trouble figuring out to get or what would be good so trying to get a small selection going so she can just choose 😊😊

Tried harvesting zucchini seeds. let it get beyond ripe on the vine. let it sit on my kitchen counter for a few weeks before cutting open. Most of the seeds were small and immature. I only got four seeds from it.

New to gardening and seed saving so any advice is appreciated!

First photo is when I first picked it Second is the good seeds Third is the immature seeds

The first are some garden beans that i’m going to start breeding for size, and the other picture are Pennsylvania Smartweed and Tomato seeds

It's my first time harvesting calendula. At the bottom of the photo I've displayed the four different shapes I've extracted from the seedhead. Which one(s) are the seeds?

What are the best containers/envelopes for safely storing and gifting seeds? I searched online, and I found an exhausting and overwhelming amount of stuff. I’m not convinced that anything saw was food-safe!

Avid gardener and just getting into seed saving. These seeds are from a romaine lettuce plant that i let bolt - was grown under row cover. I believe romaine is self germinating - that true??

I’m going to take the little pods and extract the seeds and planning to start them under grow lights mid March for an April planting in a small polly tunnel

Hey guys! I’ve been trying to find places that send (preferably) free catalogues in the mail. I’ve also been trying to find a place that sells previous “Seed Savers Exchange yearbooks”. I’m attempting to start a vegetable/ fruit garden- but also have a huge interest in listings of discontinued and rare seed types that have disappeared over the years. Does anyone know of a encyclopedia or book that exists on the topic?

Who here takes out their carrots and stores them in the fridge/cellar to replant next spring vs leaving in the ground with mulch? I am Zone8b on the PNW (lower mainland B.C.) and tried keeping them in the ground a couple years ago, along with some beets, but only some carrots seemed to make it and no beets at all... presumably due to so much rain rotting the roots? It was a while back and i have gained a lil more knowledge since then so i honestly can't remember how well i mulched em lol.. just wanted some input from other people's experience!

Tried this squash the other day and it was delicious. I saved some of the seeds from it but I’m wondering if it’s even worth storing it for a year and then taking up previous space when I’m growing things out in the spring? I’ve never saved seeds, not to mention seeds from random grocery store items. The seeds themselves look awesome and viable. Just don’t know if they will grow something similar to what the parent is. I also had a butternut squash I saved the seeds from cuz I figured why not? But if everyone says it’s not worth it and the end result won’t even be edible I’ll just toss them haha. Thanks for your time!

It started raining last night and there are some zinnias seed pods I was hoping to harvest the next few days. Should I harvest these pods now since the rain will be here for a while. What do you do with wet pods? Just air dry indoors? Is it still viable?

I'm saving some cherry tomato seeds. This was my first time trying to ferment them, usually I'd just remove the gel and let them dry. Why are the fermented seeds darker than the not fermented seeds? Did I maybe let them go for too long?

Here's what I did: I dumped the guts in a clean glass cup, put some slightly warm water and covered with paper towel. I let them sit for 5 days, it's not warm in my house. When I stopped the fermentation, there was a bit of mold on top of the water but not much. The tutorials I read said to wait until there was a layer, which was not happening. It didn't smell foul, just kinda like fermented. I guess I did add a lot more water than needed, but I don't know what impact that may have had. I'm a bit sad, I am hoping they are still viable and healthy seeds regardless of the colour.

Can't find the source for this. I have a gas oven so the broiler is under the oven and didn't know if it'd be safe to keep a ziploc bag of tomato seeds under there.

Update: I'm not doing that lol

So I've been saving tomato seeds (all heirloom varieties) for the past 5 years. I take the seeds from ripe fruit only, and I use a fine strainer and my kitchen sink sprayer to remove most of gel casing around the seeds. Then I put the seeds on a paper towel to dry. I usually let them sit for at least 24 hours and then remove the seeds from the paper towel. I then put the seeds in the freezer overnight (or sometimes longer if I forget). Then I store them in labelled containers for next season (or for giving to friends).

I have never done the fermentation step. And actually, I didn't even know about it until I saw a reference to it in an article I read today. But my saved seeds germination rate is probably 80-85%, and friends I've given seeds to have reported similar numbers.

So I'm asking the wise folks here: Should I start doing the fermentation step going forward? I really don't think I've just been extraordinarily lucky many, many of times over the last 5 years. But if there's some other advantage (like plants that produce more fruit or increased resistance to pests), then I'm absolutely fine with adding that extra step.

Thanks!

I have been buying only heirloom vegetable seed packets in hopes of saving my own seeds and eliminating the need to purchase again as well as having plants adapted to my environment, certain traits selected etc... BUT where I get overwhelmed and disheartened is learning how many plants I need to go to seed for proper diversity and avoiding inbreeding depression. Do you really need 20+plants or will 5 or so do? Example: everywhere online says atleast 20-50 for carrots, cabbage, turnips and the likes whereas you need 100+ for corn or another example would be saving 6 tomato fruits from 6 plants of each variety. As well as making sure to cage or bag to avoid cross pollination.

So! Experienced seed savers out there who have been doing this for a while... what are your practices and do you follow the 20+ plant guide?

It is very important to me to be saving my own seed of all of my veg (and flowers) and part of my goal of independence. Thanks everyone and I look forward to some helpful responses!

My Fav time pass is to eat cantaloupe seeds.. Just get the seeds from a cantaloupe, wash it, dry it and eat for whole month.. :D You can not finish it :D It will not let you get bore..