Gone To Seed

[JO,JO]

hi its my first time with a raised bed,how do i save seed from cauliflowers,cabbage etc,can you?

[vegman]

You can save seeds but why would you want to? F1 varieties will not come true to type and you save seed, you need to let the plants go to seed wasting good cropping land, drying storing etc Best stick to buying commercial packets.

Regards

vegman

[veg4681]

hi its my first time with a raised bed,how do i save seed from cauliflowers,cabbage etc,can you?

Your best port of call may be Realseeds.co.uk but the vegetables you've mentioned wouldn't be my first choice for saving seeds. Most fruiting vegetables are the easiest especially beans but you have to check that they don't cross pollinate e.g. vegetable within same family (beetroot, chard and spinach) can cross-pollinate or even within the same veg type e.g. among different variety of both hot and sweet peppers, same thing with squash. Runner beans easily cross pollinate with other runner variety but French beans don't normally among other French variety.

For Brassica, I won't bother with cauli, cabbage, sprouts or broccoli (sounds like too much hassle) unless they're leafy type brassica like Kale or Oriental leaves etc but even then all vegetables under the Brassica family can cross pollinate so you may only be able to save one Brassica vegetable per year unless you can manage big distance of growing apart but don't forget your neigbhour's veggies too.

Yes saving seeds means you mustn't buy the F1 hybrid seeds which leaves you with open-pollinated or heirloom or heritage variety. Just avoid those that say is F1.

[Alison]

You can save seeds but why would you want to? F1 varieties will not come true to type and you save seed, you need to let the plants go to seed wasting good cropping land, drying storing etc Best stick to buying commercial packets.

Regards

vegman

Why would you want to???? So that you can be self sufficient rather than putting increasinly large sums of dosh in the pockets of multinational companies............ I know that not all seed suppliers are big commercial outfits but most are and anything to avoid them and keep some of the old fashioned varieties alive has got to be a good thing in my book!

[King Carrot]

this book is very good for info on seed saving, has easy & difficult stuff and tells you exactly how to do it all.

Amazon.com: Back Garden Seed Saving: Keeping Our Vegetable Heritage Alive: Sue Stickland: Books

good luck with it,

KC

[Snadger]

One good thing about saving your own seed is that when you come to sow it, you know it's fresh.
Last year I seeded the best brussel sprout plant I had. After collecting seed I was informed that you need to seed at least six plants as they are not self fertile! I sowed some of the seed straight away on damp kitchen roll to make sure it was viable. 100% germinated! I live miles from anywhere so it couldn't have been pollinated from any other plants.

I've just sown some in an 8" pot last week and it germinated in 4 days and is growing well.
We'll just have to see what the final outcome is, but I have high hopes.

[pigletwillie]

but I have high hopes.

What, like an ant.................................on a rubber tree plant

[JO,JO]

thanks for the advice,i will take this on board,i have only a small plot so i will try to get as much seed saved as i can,and see what it produces next year

wish me luck

[veg4681]

I've just sown some in an 8" pot last week and it germinated in 4 days and is growing well. We'll just have to see what the final outcome is, but I have high hopes.

Do let us know if they look anything like Brussels Sprouts when they've grown bigger. Even if it's a bit deformed, might still taste the same .

[Paulottie]

I suggest you look at this excellent post by Geordie from last year that outlines what is likely to come true etc.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...seed_7174.html

[Snadger]

Do let us know if they look anything like Brussels Sprouts when they've grown bigger. Even if it's a bit deformed, might still taste the same .

Could be like Jack and the beanstalk! And we know how big HIS beans grew!

[Snadger]

I suggest you look at this excellent post by Geordie from last year that outlines what is likely to come true etc.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...seed_7174.html

inbreeding depression. Come to think of it I had about three brussels plants flowering but only collected seed from one (about 4 seed packets worth!) so it will be interesting to see what grows!

[Paulottie]

I wouldn't like to guess what you get up to in Newcastle