saving seeds - dedicated seed bed?

[blondiewonder]

Hi, was wondering if anyone has a dedicated bed or space where they plant just one or 2 of each variety of veg that is going to go to flower for saving the seeds. I don't do this but when i want to clear a bed i have to just leave one thing dotted here and there and it looks odd and is a pain to then plant round come next year. what does everyone else do or think of this idea? obviously there is the cross pollination issue but can this be got round by covering the seed heads with cloche or net?
emma

[cheops]

That's an interesting idea. Will watch this thread with interest. Surely things like beetroot would be OK cross pollination or not.
Also if the seed heads are covered am I not right they still have to be pollinated [by hand maybe?]

[blondiewonder]

yes i'm sure theres are lots of things that could be planted and cross pollination is not an issue, maybe a bit of research and it would be easy to dedicate a bed to those veg that do not cross pollinate.....and eagerly awaiting what others think/do

[sparrow100]

I tend to leave the annual crops where they are if I am saving for seed. I have an area prepped for biannuals but I haven't used it yet. Will be shifting roots in winter for flowering next year. I grow on an allotment so isolating crops is key to avoid cross-pollination given I save for seed circles as well as myself.

[blondiewonder]

I tend to leave the annual crops where they are if I am saving for seed. I have an area prepped for biannuals but I haven't used it yet. Will be shifting roots in winter for flowering next year. I grow on an allotment so isolating crops is key to avoid cross-pollination given I save for seed circles as well as myself.

I've never really saved seeds before so i am a complete novice in that department, so its possible to move roots to a different location to free up a bed or area? never thought of that, plus i have just got my first allotment so will be using more seed and really need to start saving some of my own, so any information and tips will be greatly appreciated, thank you

[planetologist]

Please note that for many vegetables you need more than 1 or 2 plants to prevent inbreeding.

I find it's not a problem to leave a bit of a bed alone and sow something new in the rest of the bed. It does help if you leave a clump of plants as you eat the rest, rather than leaving them scattered about. But everybody finds their ways of doing things that work for them, so by all means go for a seed saving bed. It will neither solve nor aggravate the cross-pollination challenge, though, because isolation by distance requires how far a bee will fly, which is at least 500m. And yes, if it's an insect pollinated plant and you isolate it with insect-excluding material then they will need hand-pollinating.

Yes, you can move roots about in winter. I find that beetroot are only half-hardy, so in a severe winter they either need to be covered with soil (I'd say at least 2 inches) or another insulator, or to be dug up and stored in damp soil or sand in an unheated indoor space. With carrot I've found that Autumn King is really hardy, but Lisse de Meaux is not. All parsnip varieties I've grown are really hardy.