Lesson 11 – Part A: SAVING SEEDS
Lesson 11 – Part B: EASY-TO-SAVE SEEDS
Lesson 11 – Part C: NEW PLANTS FROM CUTTINGS
SAVING SEEDS
If you have grown healthy plants from open-pollinated seeds in your garden, you can save the seeds and sow them again. Seeds saved from plants that don't have any signs of disease and haven't been attacked by lots of pests will grow the best as they come from plants that have adapted well to your local climate and soil conditions. Saving seeds for next season will save money, too.
The time to decide if you want to save seed from your plants is when your crops are getting ready to harvest. The first rule of seed saving is "save the best and eat the rest". By following this rule, you will have a garden full of healthy plants.
Mice and birds like to steal ripening seeds, too. If you want to save seeds from your garden, you may have to put bags over the seed heads or cover the crop with netting to keep mice and birds away.
Some vegetable plants produce seeds inside fleshy growths. These fleshy growths are really fruits, even if we eat them as vegetables. Strawberries are very unusual fruits because they produce seeds on the outside of the fleshy growth. Some plants produce seeds in pods, and others produce seeds on flower heads.
When saving seeds from plants that produce fruits and pods – loosely tie a scrap of brightly coloured cloth or wool around the stem of the fruit or pod you want to save so that someone else won't accidentally harvest it.
For storing saved seeds you will need:
• Some small envelopes that you can seal
• A pen for labelling the envelopes
• A container with a well-fitting lid to hold the envelopes
• A cool place to keep the container where it is dark and the temperature is fairly constant – a cupboard is ideal.
As soon as you collect any parts of plants for seed, write the name of the plant and the date you collected the seed-bearing part on the front of an envelope. Keep that envelope with that type of seed until the seeds have been cleaned and dried on paper or racks, and are ready to be sealed in the envelope, because it is very easy to get confused if you are saving seeds from different types of plants at the same time.
Some types of seed are easy to save, and others need special treatment. It is best to practice seed-saving with the easy varieties first. Seeds of watermelon, peas, beans, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, corn, dill and parsley are easy to save.
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EASY-TO-SAVE SEEDS
Watermelon Seeds
Watermelon seeds are the easiest to save because you can save them while eating the fruit. The seeds closest to the middle of the watermelon will be the strongest. Collect the seeds in a sieve or strainer and rinse them well to remove any sugary juice. Spread the seeds on a paper towel and pat them dry. Then put the seeds onto a clean piece of paper towel and allow them to dry indoors for a week before storing them.
Pea and bean seeds
Choose only well-filled pods for saving seed. Small pods, or pods that are flat in parts, will tend to grow into plants that produce small, partly-filled pods. Tie a scrap of brightly coloured cloth or wool near the pods you want to save. If possible, save well-filled pods close to the base of the plants.
You will have to cover your plants with netting if you want to save seed from pea plants or climbing beans because birds love eating these seeds before they are ready to harvest. The pods on dwarf beans are usually well hidden by the leaves and may not need netting.
Leave the pods to ripen on the plants until the seeds rattle in the pods. Then bring them indoors, shell them, and spread them on a sheet of paper to dry until the firm pressure of a thumb nail won't make a dent in the seed. Throw out any discoloured seeds and seeds much smaller than average before storing them.
Tomato seeds
Harvest one fully ripe large tomato, or two Roma or small tomatoes. For best results, keep the tomatoes at room temperature until they are just beginning to get soft.
Cut the tomato into sections and use a teaspoon to scrape the seeds and the surrounding jelly into a clean glass jar. For tomatoes that don’t have a lot of jelly around the seeds, you can add a tiny amount of water to keep the seeds moist, but don’t drown them!
Leave the jar in a warm place, out of direct sunlight, where you can watch what happens. Within 2 or 3 days a foamy mould will form on the surface of the tomato mixture and it will look as though something has gone horribly wrong. Don’t worry! This is a good mould (fermentation) that kills off several diseases that can affect tomato plants – but the mould can cause seeds to germinate if it is left on the seeds for too long.
As soon as the thick foam forms, scoop it off the top with a spoon, and fill the jar with clean water. Healthy seeds will sink to the bottom of the jar. Carefully pour off any loose jelly floating at the top of the jar, then tip the jar contents into a sieve. Wash the seeds thoroughly in the sieve to remove all the jelly, then tip the seeds onto a sheet of smooth paper to dry. Don't use paper towels for tomato seeds because these seeds are hairy and will stick to the paper towel. After they have been drying for a few hours it is easy to rub the seeds between your hands to separate any clumps of seed. Allow the seeds to dry on paper indoors for a week, before storing them.
Cucumber Seeds
Seeds from cucumbers are saved in the same way as tomato seeds, but the cucumbers must be allowed to ripen for a lot longer. In the photo below, the Lebanese cucumber that is ready to eat is the green one on the right. Seeds from this cucumber won't produce any plants because the cucumber fruit is too young.
You must leave a cucumber on the vine until it turns yellowy-white in colour (like the cucumber on the left). It will be quite large by the time it does that. Then pick the cucumber, bring it indoors, and leave it where air can circulate around it for about a week until it feels springy when you squeeze it gently - but don't leave it until it feels soft!
Cut the cucumber in half as shown in the photo above, and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and the jelly. Then follow the directions for saving tomato seeds.
Lettuce seeds
Some seeds, including lettuce, come with their own fluffy 'parachutes' so that they can be carried far and wide, and won't all grow in a clump in the same soil. Choose a healthy plant that is not one which runs to seed before other lettuces are mature. Mark the plant with a garden stake and leave it in the garden. It may take two months for ripe seed to form.
A tall flower stalk will grow in the centre of the lettuce. Tie the stalk to the stake for support. When more than half the flowers have turned from yellow to fluffy white, cut off the stem during dry weather and bring it indoors to dry on a large sheet of paper.
As the flower parts dry over a week or so, occasionally tap the stalk firmly on the paper to loosen any ripe seeds. One lettuce produces thousands of seeds and the first ones to ripen are the strongest, so you don't have to wait for all the seeds on the stalk to ripen.
When you have enough seeds on the paper, rub them between your hands over the paper to loosen the fluff and papery base of the flower heads. Lettuce seeds are 'spearheads' with points at both ends. Lettuce seeds may be white or brown or black. Tip everything on the paper into a medium-coarse grade sieve over a dinner plate and shake gently to separate the seeds from the fluff before storing your seeds.
Popcorn seeds
Popcorn seed is fun to save as you can keep some of the seeds to grow next time, and eat the rest. Popcorn comes from a special variety of corn whose seeds (kernels) contain pockets of air. When the kernels are heated, the air expands and the seeds explode, producing popcorn.
Cobs remain on popcorn plants past the harvesting stage for sweet corn to allow the seeds to fully mature. As soon as the silk tassels on cobs have browned, all the plants should be netted, as birds know exactly when corn is perfect for eating. When the husk (covering) of the cobs has begun to dry and is changing to a pale cream colour, cobs can be brought indoors to complete drying, so that you can free up that garden bed to grow something else. Leave the cobs on racks indoors for several days, then carefully peel back the husks, thread string or wool through the turned-back husks, tie the string to form a loop, and hang the cobs from a hook until the seeds are completely dry, about 14 days after the husks have dried.
Then separate seeds from cobs by rubbing two cobs against each other over a large bowl to loosen the kernels. Save some seed for sowing, and keep the rest in a screw-top jar for popping.
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NEW PLANTS FROM CUTTINGS
Semi-hardwood cuttings
New plants can also be grown from pieces of stem from perennial plants. These pieces of stem are called cuttings. Making new plants from semi-hardwood cuttings of herbs such as lavender, lemon balm, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme is very easy. Wait until flowering has finished and new growth is strong enough not to snap or bend when pushed into potting mix. Choose a plant that has excellent colour or flavour.
Prepare your cutting mixture first. Mix one part organic-allowed potting mix with one part washed river sand. Use this mixture to fill a collection of small pots that have plenty of drainage holes. Remember to take more cuttings than you will need because some may not produce good roots. These cuttings should be at least 10-13 cm long.
First, pull out just the top few leaves from the cutting. This will force new growth from where leaves join the stem (leaf axils). Leave about 3 cm of stem with leaves and remove the rest of the leaves by sliding your fingers down the stem. Leave 2 or 3 joints in the stem (nodes) and trim the bottom of the cutting just below a node as shown in the diagram. Roots may grow from any one of the nodes buried in the potting mix.
For large-leaved cuttings, such as sage, cut any large lower leaves in half. Too much top growth will cause cuttings to wilt as cells collapse because, until they grow roots, they can't soak up a lot of water.
Push each cutting into the mixture at the edge of the pot, not in the middle, placing the cuttings about 3-5 cm apart. Water gently, and place pots in a comfortably warm position out of direct sunlight. Keep cuttings just damp. When you can see white roots near the drainage holes at the base of the pot, or a gentle tug on the cutting gives resistance, carefully turn the pots out and repot each cutting into a separate pot containing organic-allowed potting mix with some washed river sand added. Plants can remain in these pots until a suitable time for planting in open soil. In the photo below, you can see the cuttings have made strong roots and are ready for re-potting.
Marguerite, mint, and watercress cuttings
In summer, it is quite easy grow new plants from mint, watercress, basil and marguerite daisy cuttings in fresh water. Take 10-13 cm cuttings in the morning. Collect more cuttings than you will need. Prepare the cuttings as shown in the diagram at right.
Fill a clean glass or jar with clean water, and place a small square of brown paper over the neck of the jar – held in place with a rubber band. The paper will keep the leaves clear of the water so that it won't become cloudy. Trim the paper so that it won’t hide the stems of the cuttings.
Poke a hole in the brown paper for each cutting and insert the cuttings through the paper. Place the jar where it will receive good light but is not directly in hot sun where the water will become heated. A brightly lit window sill is ideal. Carefully top up with water as needed. In a week or so, white roots will appear from the nodes in the cutting stems. When these roots are about 2-3 cm long, remove the cuttings by carefully tearing away the brown paper, and place each one in a separate pot filled with moist, organic-allowed potting mix. Water gently to settle the soil around new roots.
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