How To Save Seeds From Your Garden And Store Them

To make the most of your garden you can opt to save your seeds from your favorite plants to plant next year or share with friends and family to add to their own garden. Learning how to save and store seeds from your garden is easier than you think.

Why should you save seeds from your garden?

Saving seeds from your garden helps to preserve your favorite seed varieties while saving you money on your garden year after year. Many gardeners save seeds from plants that did particularly well each year to raise the chances of a great quality crop next year.

Saving seeds allows you to take part in seed swaps and to share seeds with friends and family when they start their gardening journey. With the right storage system, you can save seeds for years making your original investment worth more than you ever imagined when you first started your garden.

What kind of seeds can you save?

The only seeds you can save from your garden are heirloom seeds. When you buy conventional seeds from the store you are buying seeds that are bred to not produce more of the same plant. Heirloom seeds have been saved year after year by people dedicated to preserving that particular breed of plant and will continue to provide a reliable germination rate from seeds saved year after year.

How to save seeds from flowers

Saving heirloom seeds from flowers is very easy. Allow the flowers to mature and dry out while attached to the plant still. This will allow the seeds to fully mature and dry out and remain for a bit longer to ensure the seeds have dried for harvest.

Carefully cut the dried flowers off the plant at the first junction with clean sharp garden shears to deadhead your flowers. Deadheading rather than cutting just the bloom off will help encourage your plant to create more blooms. If you notice your flowers are not as dry and crunchy as you thought you can place them in a paper bag for a week or two to allow them to dry out more.

Break about your dried flower on a clean dry surface. Doing this over a sheet of paper can make cleaning up easier. Pick out each mature seed and place them to the side before disposing of the rest of the flower.

How to save seeds from vegetables

Seed saving for vegetables is easy and takes very little care before storing. When you cut open ripe fruits and vegetables with seeds inside simply wash the seeds and dry them completely in a paper bag or envelope before storing them away for the year.

For vegetables that produce their seeds with flowers after bolting, you will need to allow one of your plants to bolt. This can often ruin the flavor of the plant for eating but provides you with seeds, in the same manner, you preserve seeds from other flowering plants.

Self-pollinating plants like tomatoes and peppers are perhaps the easiest vegetables to save seeds from. This is because it is nearly a guarantee that your seeds are fully developed after proper pollination to make viable seeds to use for planting in the future.

Cross-pollinating plants like squash can be hit or miss on how well the seeds turn out for future years. It is a good idea to place plants like pumpkins, watermelons, cucumbers, and zucchini away from other plants like this to prevent cross-pollination and the making of some really odd combinations that are not always appealing in the next year.

How to store your seeds for next year

Store your seeds in individual paper packets that are well labeled. Don’t assume you will know what the seeds are next year, always label them with the plant type and seed harvest date. If you have the space you can even add growing instructions to make growing next year easy or make it easy for the people you may share the seeds with to plant them.

Store all of your seed packets together in an air-tight container like a large mason jar. Seeds should be stored between 30 and 40 degrees for the best results. Placing your container in the back of your refrigerator is a great way to store your seeds for the following year.

How to store seeds for long term

If you do not plan to use your seeds in the first year you can help make your seeds last longer and retain a good germination rate through proper preservation techniques. Before storing your seeds you want to ensure that they are COMPLETELY dry. Any moisture can leave your seeds soggy and covered in the mold when you pull them out. You want to protect your seeds from oxygen as well to help keep them fresh for the long term.

Most seeds can be saved long-term in an air-tight container inside your deep freezer. This will keep your seeds safe from moisture, oxygen, and pests that tend to destroy seed collections.

If you would like to store your seeds long-term out in the option you can vacuum seal your seeds in mylar bags. The mylar bag method can help store your seeds for up to 5 years while still maintaining a high germination rate.