Saving seed

[tootles]

I had mangetout this year which were brilliant and I want to save some seed for next year. Do I need to let the seed dry on the plant? If not do I need to let the seed dry in it's pod?
I could do with the space for my psb as soon as poss.
I suppose I could hang the whole plant up in the utility until dry if necessary - but there would be quite a few.....

[zazen999]

Leave the best plant to go to seed, and plant up round it.....I usually tie it into a cane and plant carefully around - the best seed really will need to mature on the plant - if you remove the plant from the soil it dries out but the seeds have less chance of being viable.

The more plants you save from of course the more variety you are taking into the next generation....I dug up a load of beetroot to harvest the seeds and they are in the way but after planting carefully round them and tying them in etc - I'm loathe to get rid even if they are ever so slightly in the way.

You could say, dig up 3 and transfer to a corner somewhere, tie them well in and leave until the pods go 'crack'...

[Two_Sheds]

Tootles, you probably don't need to save all your crop? I'm saving my best 3 (or so) for seed, and as Zaz says, planting around them.
They'll be out of the ground when your PSB gets big anyway

[tootles]

I rather wanted loads of seed. I got a 3 metre row out of the 50 seeds I had originally. I don't have any more and was hoping to get all of next years plants from the saved seed. They worked really well and I could use two or three times the original number.

Thinking about it, I could put the psb where the broad beans are coming out and follow the mangetout with leeks in a couple of weeks (how long will it take for the seeds to mature?)

[zazen999]

How long? It depends on how far along the pods are....The leeks can wait though surely - they won't worry about going in a few weeks later if it's the pea seeds you want.

[Flummery]

I rather wanted loads of seed. I got a 3 metre row out of the 50 seeds I had originally. I don't have any more and was hoping to get all of next years plants from the saved seed. They worked really well and I could use two or three times the original number.

Thinking about it, I could put the psb where the broad beans are coming out and follow the mangetout with leeks in a couple of weeks (how long will it take for the seeds to mature?)

50 seeds doesn't require much in the way of pods. You could get it from a dozen pods. So three times as much is still not a whole lot. You always get more seed from peas than you think you will!