does anyone save their own seeds?

[4390evans]

I saved some seeds last year but didnt think to save any from the very little crop I had.

Im thinking of doing it this year, does anyone else do it?

[scarey55]

I always save my seeds. The best one for me is to let a parsnip go to seed, that way, you always have fresh seeds every year but that is by no means the only thing I save.

[Knight of Albion]

Yes and I'm pretty sure most gardeners do.

And why wouldn't you? The price of seeds these days ... It can soon mount up.

And a seed is a seed. There's no difference to one you save yourself and the ones you buy from a garden centre.

The only thing is making sure they're fully dried and stored in a warm. dry atmosphere and if they are, they'll be ready to go come the spring.

[Kristen]

And a seed is a seed. There's no difference to one you save yourself and the ones you buy from a garden centre.

Unless the one you bought was an F1 seed - plants grown from seed saved from an F1 original are unlikely to grow the same as the parent.

Worth checking out Real Seeds as they sell "open pollinated" / Heirloom varieties and include instructions on how to save seed, and clean it, yourself. They are a nice, not-for-profit, company

Why grow Real Vegetable Seed?

[bretty666]

I saved hndreds of butternut seeds late in the winter ..just washed them and placed them on a load of kitchen roll then threw inti a tin with all my other pumpkin seeds and threw in 4 of those little paclages of silica gel you get with new shoes..iv had a 100% germination rate so far and iv done loads..i will save whatever i Can.

[rustylady]

I always save bean seeds (french, runner and borlotti), and peas. The beans I mostly grow for drying anyway.

[Shroomy]

Baked rice is good for drying out seeds

[Scarlet]

I also save my own seed, saving seed is as much a part of the whole veg growing thing for me as eating it!! I've never quite got around to saving any butternut squash seeds though Bretty, the easy cross pollination puts me off a bit - do you use the elastic band method? I try to save most other seeds though, I'm another grape that loves parsnip seed fresh as you have great germination success. Swapping my seed saves my pocket money for other garden purchases. Last year I just bought a few seeds from the Cardiff flower show and split them with another grape . This year I haven't bought any!

[bretty666]

What is the elastic band method scarlet?. Cross pollination..mehh..im not scared! I want a giant pumpkin but with butternut inside!!!!!

[Alison]

What is the elastic band method scarlet?. Cross pollination..mehh..im not scared! I want a giant pumpkin but with butternut inside!!!!!

Whilst that can be interesting I want to maximise crops I can store well and will be tasty so to m it's worth the effort of keeping the strain pure by means of isolation for those loose types


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[Scarlet]

^^ as Alison says really, it may be a fun experiment but I don't want to spend all summer tending plants that may not fruit, taste bloody awful or just wont store just to see some funny monster that is half squas and half courgette

[Kristen]

Me too. I'm probably out-on-a-limb but I don't see the point in growing an "experiment" tending to it for months, and running the risk of disappointment and, more importantly, no crop!

In that bracket I put:

Seeds saved from Supermarket Peppers (might be F1 parents and children thus Heinz-57)
Seed Potatoes using spuds from Supermarket - risk of disease (although slim I expect, but embarrassing if then given to plot neighbours)
Garlic from Supermarket too - might be hot-country type
Self-saved Squash seeds (such a promiscuous fruit!)
Multiple varieties of Sweetcorn

I have, and do, do experiments, but only when I also grow a fallback crop of known-good variety / seed source etc.

Each time I see someone post "Its just a bit of fun" I fail to understand why they want to put months of work into a "gamble". Probably got something to do with me being old and crotchety!

[Ananke]

I save seed too, it saves a fair bit of money, especially if you can swap some of them.

I grew potatoes from TPS a few years ago and picked the best tasting two for planting on, a waxy one and a floury one. I store some each year for planting the following year, I still buy a few too but not nearly as many as I used to.

Beans, herbs, peas, tomatoes etc, this year I'm branching out to the harder ones like squash (I said that last year too mind you

I found it a bit daunting at first but it's now just part of the whole growing thing for me.

[poly]

What is the elastic band method scarlet?. Cross pollination..mehh..im not scared! I want a giant pumpkin but with butternut inside!!!!!

If you place elastic bands around almost ready to open flowers of the variety you wish to save seeds for. Both male and female flowers need to be sealed to prevent insects spreading pollen amongst your chosen flowers. In a day or so (whenever the flower would have opened) you can then hand pollinate by transferring pollen to the female stigma flower from the male flower anthers. The female flower will need to be resealed with a band again, once the fruit starts to form the flower will drop off of it's own accord. You'll need to tie a bit of coloured wool or ribbon to the stem so you know which is the hand pollinated fruit come harvest time.

There are 4 main species of squash, Butternuts belong to C. moschata and although under certain conditions they may be able to cross with other species it happens very rarely. They will however readily cross with other C. moschata so any other variety of Butternuts, Black Futsu, Lunga Piena de Napoli etc. If you only have one C. moschata variety growing in the vicinity, you should be ok to save seeds.

[poly]

I enjoy saving seeds too, particularly tomatoes, potatoes, peas, herbs, beans, chillies, peppers, cucumbers and some brassica's. It kind of gets addictive