How can I dry seeds for next year?

The exact way in which dry seeds depend on the type of plant from which they come from, but the key aspect of seed drying is the temperature and humidity control around the drying area. You will also have to consider the type of plant from which you harvest, because the seeds from different plants need to be harvested at different times. If you are very concerned about getting exactly the same race for next year, you will have to be very careful to avoid cross pollination.

Wet and dry processing

The two main methods of seed drying are wet processing that is used for plants that produce seeds in fruit or other wet media; And dry processing used for plants that produce dry seeds, such as those that produce pods.

• Scratch the seeds from the fruit and rinse them.
• Put them in a pan or bucket full of water and cut off all that float because they are often not viable.
• pour a sieve from a watercourse.
• unfold clean seeds ona tray or piece of screen to dry from direct sunlight.
  • harvest the seeds and place them to dry on a tray or piece of screen.

  When the seeds are completely dry, they are ready for storage. You should remove any additional chaff or dirt residues by gently brushing the seeds with your fingers or softening them with a fine sieve - even if the individual seed is too large to pass, small pieces of material. Store them in paper envelopes marked with the type of seed they store. Whether you are wet or dry processing, it is important to control the environment around drying. Temperatures between 40 ° and 85 ° F (4.5 ° to 30 ° C) are best.

  When to harvest

  different seeds are harvested at different times. Most fruit seeds to be extracted after ripening, but before rot. Squash, cucumber and pumpkin should be left on the vine only after the first frost. The seeds thenu be separated from pulp and dried at room temperature. The pods and the heads of the seeds should be left to dry on the vines and the seeds should be collected before the scattering. Two -year crops, primarily composed of root plants, do not produce the seed at the end of the growing season; Instead, the roots should be dug during the fall and stored at a temperature between 32 ° and 45 ° F (0 ° to 7 ° C) through the winter.

  avoiding cross pollination

  If you are very worried that you will get exactly the same type of plant next year, you must make sure you only harvest from the specific ones. To be the same as its parent, it can only be pollinated from plants of the same variety. There are no other varieties up to 1 mile (1.6 km) for pollinated crops in the air. Plants pollinated by insects must be at least 0.25 miles (0.4 km) from other varieties. Selfylin plants have no risk of cross pollination.