Learn about Seeds
Click on a topic or scroll down to see them all!
What are seeds?
What kind of seeds should I use?
Seed starting equipment for starting seed indoors
Transplanting seedlings
Starting seed outdoors
Observing your seedlings
Flowers, pollination and isolation
Seed formation
Collecting seed
Processing and cleaning seed
Storing seed
Pollination Guide provides information on the types of pollination, isolation distances and number of plants needed to insure genetic diversity.
Seed Viability chart details how long you can expect seeds to remain fresh.
What are seeds?
Seeds are alive! They are small containers for future plants and hold everything from genetic material to food that the young plant will need to germinate and then grow into a healthy plant.
What kinds of seeds should I use?
For the home gardener and small grower there are basically three types of seed available:
* Hybrid
* Open pollinated
* Heirloom
Hybrid seed comes from two parent plants with disimilar traits. These plants have been heavily inbred to focus on one or more outstanding traits like vigor, or disease and insect resistance. If you save seed from these plants, the offspring usually reverts back to one of its parents, meaning that it is unlikely you will get the same plant you planted last season. Because of this, hybrid seeds are not recommended for seed saving.
Open pollinated seed also comes from two parent plants, but in this case the parents are more similar to each other than the hybrid parents. The traits have stabilized so the offspring reproduce true to their parents.
Heirloom seeds are open pollinated seeds that have been handed down from one generation to another. They have usually been available for at least 50 years, but may not have been commercially available.
Seed starting equipment for starting seed indoors
* Pots with enough room for roots to grow freely until it is time to transplant. Four inch nursery pots work very well. but almost any type container can be used as long as there is a drainage hole.
* Light weight soil mix, sometimes sold as "Seed Starting Mix"
* Plastic wrap
Starting seed indoors
* Use the freshest seed available to assure the best germination rate.
* Premoisten your seed starting mix to the consistency of a damp sponge.
* Fill your containers almost to the top.
* Sprinkle seeds on top of mix, making sure they aren't too crowded. The larger the seed, the fewer will fit in a 4 inch pot. For instance, I ususally never put more than 2 squash seeds or 4 sunflower seeds in a 4 inch pot.
* Press the seeds into the mix making sure the surface of the seeds have contact with the mix. This ensures the seeds' ability to take up water.
* Cover the seed very lightly with mix.
* Label your pots with the variety and the date you started them.
* Cover the pot with plastic wrap to create a moist environment.
* Place the pot in a warm location. Most seeds require warmth and moisture to germinate.
* At this stage, light is not necessary for most types of seed.
* Once the seeds germinate, place your pots in good sunlight or add artificial light.
* Remove the plastic wrap to avoid damping off.
* Water pots from the bottom when the mix starts to dry out.
Transplanting seedlings
Once your seedlings have two sets of true leaves they can be moved to either a larger container or can be moved outdoors. If your weather and soil are still too cold, consider holding your seedlings indoors, but transplant them into a larger pot. Transplants will need fertilizer at this point so consider using a hald dose of fish emulsion every week.If the weather is cooperating and your soil is warming up, you should move the seedlings outdoors Before doing this you will need to gradually expose the seedlings to outdoor conditions.This process is called hardening off. Do this by placing seedlings in a shady spot for a few hours on the first day. Bring them back inside for the night. Over a week's time gradually increase the time they spend outdoors and gradually increase the amount of sun they are exposed to. By the end of the week, they should be ready to be planted in their permanent location in the garden.
Starting seed outdoors
Some seeds resent being moved/transplanted, so should be started where they will grow in the garden. Examples of crops that prefer to be sown directly include peas, beans, carrots and wheat.
* Prepare your planting bed with compost and fertilizers.
* Water the soil.
* Read the seed packet instructions on how far apart to space the seeds, especially if you don't plan to thin the seedlings after germination.
* Broadcast the seed over desired area or place seed in furrows.
* Cover the seed lightly with soil.
* Water the soil lightly so as to not disturb the seed.
* Label your rows.
* Protect from birds by covering with a spun polyester cloth like Reemay.
* Keep soil moist until seeds have germinated.
Observing your seedlings
While your seedlings are growing, take time to observe them. How are they doing? Do they seem healthy? Do they seem strong or weak? Observe and note any special characteristics or traits which may emerge. Good flavor, high yield, vigor, good color, early fruit, late bolting are just a few of the qualities gardeners look for when they evaluate their plants for seed saving. Tag the plants that you may wish to save seed from later in the season and continue to observe.
Flowers, pollination and isolation
When the plants mature, they start to form flowers.
Depending on the crop, pollinators can be essential to the process of creating seed. Crops like lettuce, tomatoes, beans, and peas are self pollinated which means they don't need the help of insects or wind to move pollen from the anthers to the stigma, a step which ultimately starts the formation of seed. For successful seed formation, the anthers must produce healthy pollen and the pollen must germinate and reproduce once it reaches the ovules. In tomatoes, the stigma is only receptive for 2-3 days. If weather extremes occur during this period, you will either not get fruit or you will get blossom drop.
Most other crops, including squashes, cucumbers, and the brassica family, all need help to move the pollen. Once the pollen is moved, a pollen tube forms and the pollen travels down to reach the ovules inside the ovary. This is a very important step and can often mean the difference between good seed set or not. This process normally takes 24 hours to complete and is the hardest part of the journey. If this occurs when the night temperatures are really cold, the pollen can die. Drought stress and heat and cold stress determine how the pollen moves down the tube.
Seed formation
Seeds form after a plant has set its flowers and the ovary has been pollinated.
Seeds are found on the plants where flowers used to be. When these plant parts mature you will observe that they change from green to brown. This indicates that the seeds are maturing and drying. The longer you can leave the seeds on the plant without them scattering, the better. As the seeds get ready to scatter it is best to make daily observations, so that they can be collected at the peak point of maturity.
An easy way to collect seed from plants that send up stalks, such as lettuce, carrots and parsley, is to cut the stalk and immediately place the whole thing into a paper bag upside down. Label the bag with the variety name and the date you harvested. The mature seeds fall into the bottom of the bag which makes collecting easier. Some seeds benefit from additional drying off the mother plant. Leave these seeds to dry in the paper bag in a dark, dry location.
Seeds that form in pods, like green beans and peas should be collected in the pod. The pods should be brown and dry to the touch. They are really ready when the pods almost pop open in your hand. Place the pods in a paper bag and label the bag.
Seeds from tomatoes, peppers, melons, cucumbers, pumpkins and squash are located in the flesh of the fruit. Collect the fruit when it is ripe or slightly over ripe.
Seeds that have been collected in the field that are already dry need only be separated from the chaff and other dry plant parts. If the chaff is light, it can either be picked out by hand or blown off with a hair dryer or fan on a low speed.
Seeds that are located in the flesh of a fruit need to be separated from the fruit. Cut the fruit open and scoop out the seeds onto a plate. Wash off any flesh that remains and let the seeds dry.
Tomato seeds require special processing. They need to be fermented.
Once the seeds are processed, cleaned and completely dry, they can be stored.
To store seeds, place them in paper envelopes. Mark the name of the variety and the date you collected them. Mark whether they are from your garden of from a friend or neighbor. Then place the envelopes in a glass jar, preferably with a rubber seal in the lid. If you are saving your seed for next year's garden, you can place the jar in a cool dry location in your home. The best location is where the temperature added to the percent of relative humidity equals 100 or less. If you don't have a location that meets these temperature and humidity numbers, then the seeds should be stored in the tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator. If you use the refrigerator, keeping moisture out is absolutely critical, so make sure your lid is sealed with a rubber gasket. If the jar isn't sealed well, the seeds will absorb ambient moisture. The more moisture in the seed, the more the seed metabolizes. The more it metabolizes, the more energy and nutrients it uses while in storage, thus reducing its viability over time. Keeping seeds dry and cool increases the number of years the seed can be stored and then successfully germinated.