Healthy-Sustainable-Regenerative Lifestyle
Saving Wet Seeds
Wet seeds are found in such plants as tomatoes, eggplants, and many squashes. When you find a variety that is doing well, you may want to save the seeds so the performance and or attributes can be repeated.
David Proctor
We may not live on a farm, but we can grow where we live.
It is all about the soil!
Saving Seeds From Your Garden
by David Proctor
July 15, 2021
Urban Farm Lifestyle Magazine Published Weekly
When you find a variety that is doing well, you may want to save the seeds so the performance and or attributes can be repeated.
You may also find a need to save the seeds due to the availability of that variety.
As our culture tends to plant more mono-crops and utilize fewer variations in the plant world, we are finding that variation is getting harder to come by.
Black Krim Heirloom Tomato
Harvesting Your Seeds
Seeds Benefit From Careful Harvesting and Drying
After giving your plants the help they need to produce healthy seeds, you must harvest and store the seeds properly to keep them healthy until you are ready to plant them.
How you treat your seeds during harvest and storage can greatly impact their viability and vigor when planted.
For best results, your seeds should be harvested at the right time, properly cleaned and dried, and then stored under conditions favorable to their long-term health.
Harvesting and Cleaning Seeds
Seed harvesting and cleaning techniques fall into two main categories according to whether the fruits and seeds are dry or wet when mature (actually, a third category exists of seeds that will die if dried out after maturing.
Dry Seeds
‘Dry’ seeds include beans, okra, peppers, basil, and the Onion and Carrot Families members. Cleaning dry seeds usually involves simply drying and crumbling the pods or husks, then screening or ‘winnowing’ the seeds to separate them from the chaff.
Wet Seeds
‘Wet’ seeds are found in such plants as tomatoes, eggplants, and many squashes.
Cleaning wet seeds require washing to clean the seeds and to separate them from the surrounding pulp.
In addition, in some cases, wet seeds (such as tomatoes) are best fermented for several days to remove germination-inhibiting substances from the seed coats.
Tomatoes
Some families (such as the Cucumber family) include some plants that produce wet seeds (e.g., squashes and melons) and others that produce dry seeds (e.g., luffa and hard gourds).
Cleaning Wet Seeds
Wet seeds are easy to clean, though some need the additional step of fermentation.
Seeds that require fermentation should be cleaned after—not before—fermenting.
Allow the fruits to fully mature on their plants before harvesting.
When seeds have fully matured for particular varieties—in many, the fruits will be well past the eating stage.
To clean wet seeds, scoop the seeds from the fruit, pulp, and all.
Pour the seeds and pulp into a large, sloping bowl and add water.
Healthy seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl, while dead seeds and most of the pulp will float.
Use your fingers to gently separate all the seeds from the pulp.
Then, to remove the pulp and dead seeds, carefully pour the extra water with the floating pulp and dead seeds from the bowl.
Wet Seeds
Pour quickly enough for dead seeds and pulp to pour off the top, and slowly enough so that the heavier, good seeds remain safely on the bottom.
By repeating this rinsing and pouring process several times, the seeds can be gotten very clean (getting seeds as clean as possible helps to keep them from sticking to whatever surface you dry them on).
Drying Wet Seeds After Cleaning
To initially dry your seeds after cleaning, drain them of excess moisture in a strainer.
Pat the bottom of the strainer with a cloth towel to pull extra water from the seeds after they have drained.
Then spread the seeds on a piece of glass or a shiny ceramic plate to dry (they will stick to paper, even waxed paper).
Place the glass or ceramic plate in a cool, dry shady spot for several days.
After the seeds are dry, they can be carefully removed from the glass or plate and final-dried before being stored in jars.
Treating Seeds for Viability and Disease Control
Seeds can transmit diseases from parent plants to succeeding generations, lowering their productivity and even completely preventing them from producing.
Simple treatments exist, however, for controlling many seed-borne diseases.
Two such treatments available to home gardeners include fermentation and hot water baths, both used on wet seeds.
Why Ferment Some Seeds?
Fermenting some wet seeds can dramatically improve their ability to sprout.
Fermentation removes germination-inhibiting substances from seed coats, makes them more permeable to water, and also helps reduce or control seed-borne diseases (for healthier seedlings).
Purposely fermenting wet seeds mimics the natural process of fermentation that occurs when ripe fruits are eaten by animals or drop to the ground and rot.
When we intervene to keep seeds from fermenting naturally, it becomes necessary to ferment them artificially so they can complete their natural ripening cycle.
Fermentation is needed for tomato seeds (in order to remove a germination-inhibiting gel), and can also benefit Squash Family and eggplant seeds, though more care must be taken with these to avoid premature sprouting.
Ferment Squash Family seeds for only a day-and-a-half or so, eggplants a little longer.
How to Ferment Seeds
To prepare seeds for fermenting, simply squeeze or scoop the seeds—together with the pulp that surrounds them—into a jar with a little water (about half as much water as seeds and pulp).
There is no need to include more pulp than naturally comes with the seeds.
Store this seed/pulp mixture in a warm place (75 to 85º F) for 1½ to 5 days (depending on the seed type and whether conditions are warmer or cooler).
Fermentation will be evidenced by bubbling and/or by the formation of white mold on the surface of the mixture.
As soon as the bubbling or mold has been evident for a day or so, pour the mix into a bowl and clean according to the directions given earlier in the section Cleaning Wet Seeds.
Watch closely, as seeds left fermenting too long (especially above 80º F or so) may germinate, ruining their chances for storage.
Once the seeds start to ‘imbibe’ or swell due to taking on water, they will have begun their internal process of germination… by the time their tiny roots have begun to emerge, it is far too late to try and dry them for storage.
Sprouted seeds can be planted immediately and grown out (depending on the season), but they will die if they are dried out for storage once they have begun to germinate.
The experience will tell you how long you can ferment seeds under your conditions before they begin to sprout.
Eggplant and squash seeds germinate more readily than tomatoes, so they should only be fermented for a couple of days or so.
Squash seeds, particularly, are quick to germinate—sometimes even sprouting in well-ripened squashes while they are still on the vine!
It’s not required to ferment squash or eggplant seeds, though it increases their germination rates and kills some seed-borne diseases.
In general, when temperatures are kept between 75 and 80º F or so, fermenting is safe and beneficial and will be safely completed before seeds begin the process of germination.
Hot Water Baths
Another way to control some seed-borne diseases is to treat seeds for a short time in a hot water bath at high enough temperatures to kill disease pathogens (about 125º F).
Treatment times and temperatures are specific to each species, and both must be precisely controlled in order for the treatment to be effective without killing the seeds.
As you can see, there are a lot of ways to save seeds for future plantings. If you have some plants that you really like, this might be a way to save them for future generations to enjoy.
Check It Out!
An Introduction to Seed Savers Exchange 2:00
SSEHeritageFarm
Quick Tip
How to save squash seed:
- To save seed, allow the fruit to ripen on the vine until the plants begin to die.
- Choose only the finest specimens with the best varietal characteristics for seed.
- Harvest the fruit and store it in a cool, dry place. Further aging in storage raises seed viability.
- The seeds may be removed when the fruit is required for cooking.
- Scrape out the seeds and wash them in a colander to remove the placenta, the stringy flesh surrounding the seeds.
- Spread the seeds on screens or paper towels to dry. Let them dry for 2 to 3 weeks, then store them in dated, airtight jars in a cool, dark closet.
- When properly stored, squash seed will remain viable for about six years. (4)
Bibliography:
(1) “What Is An Heirloom.” Heirloom Vegetable and Flower Gardening Tips and Advice from Burpee.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July. 2021.
http://www.burpee.com/heirloom-seeds-and-plants/what-is-an-heirloom-article10162.html
(2) “The Difference between Open-pollinated, Heirloom, and Hybrid Seeds.”RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July. 2021.
http://blog.seedsavers.org/blog/open-pollinated-heirloom-and-hybrid-seeds
(3) “Complete, Free Seed-Saving Instructions.” Seed Saving Handbook: Learn How to Save Seeds From Common Garden Vegetables—Free! N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July. 2021.
http://howtosaveseeds.com/index.php
http://howtosaveseeds.com/seedprep.php
(4) “Heirloom Pumpkin Varieties and Other Squash.” Mother Earth News. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July. 2021.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/heirloom-pumpkin-varieties-zewz1309zpit.aspx
Almanac, Old Farmers. “Old Farmer’s Almanac.” Old Farmer’s Almanac. Yankee Publishing Inc, n.d. Web. 15 July. 2021.
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