Complete Your Gardening Cycle: Growing Seeds
(Page 2 of 7)
August/September 1993
By Andy Van Hevelingen
Collecting From Specific Plants
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The first couple of years I grew pink gas plant (Dictamnus albus ‘Rubra’), I collected the seedpods in a small, open basket and was mystified when I later found the pods open but no seeds in the basket. I discovered that the seedpods pop open when they dry, and the seeds are expelled forcibly. I now collect gas plant seed when the pods begin to turn brown but before they’ve opened, and I put them in a closed paper bag. I can hear the seeds as they hit the sides of the bag. Some gardeners collect gas plant seeds by placing a paper bag or a piece of netting or sheer pantyhose over the immature seed heads while they’re still on the plant, and attaching it to the stem with a twist tie.
The ripe seedpods of butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) split open to expose great multitudes of seeds lodged in a cottony mass for wind dispersal, much like dandelion seeds. When the first pod on a plant splits open, I harvest all the pods on that plant and, as with gas plant, put them in a closed container.
Seeds of many plants, including honeywort (Cerinthe spp.) and borage, mature along the flowering stem until hard frost kills the plant. Borage will easily self-sow, but our winters are too hard for the honeywort, and so after the plant has been in flower for a while, I inspect the lower ends of the flower stalks daily. I pick any mature black nutlets carefully to avoid disturbing the upper end of the stalk, which is still flowering and contains immature seeds.
After-Ripening and Drying
Few seeds will germinate if planted immediately after ripening on the plant. I therefore leave the seed heads I’ve collected in their containers a few weeks until the seeds have dried and ripened completely. After the seed coat has dried and hardened, the embryo slowly loses moisture and also undergoes chemical and other physiological changes. The seed needs to be kept in a dry, warm place with good air circulation; I prefer the garage, as any hitchhiking insects can escape without entering the house. If you’re pressed for time, you can remove the seeds from the dry pods or seed heads and clean them immediately after harvest, but then give them a few weeks of open-air drying before storing them in airtight containers.
The main danger in storing seeds in an unheated garage or barn is the high humidity that several days of rain can produce. Seeds and other plant parts will take up the moisture from the air and thus become more susceptible to disease. By the time the fall rains start (usually in early September in northwestern Oregon), I will have taken all my seeds inside the house and started the next tasks: checking them carefully for insects, then cleaning them.
The only seeds that I find at all difficult to extract are those of licorice. The two hard seeds are contained in a small pod that’s covered with stiff, fine bristles like tiny slivers. I used to open each pod individually by pressing my thumbnail down on the pod seam, hoping my thumb was callused enough to prevent penetration by a spine. I finally wised up and now place the tough pods between newspapers and walk on them with heavy boots first, which tends to rub off the bristles as well as break open some of the pods. The seeds, dark green when mature, are tough enough to withstand this treatment.
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