How to collect seeds

What vegetable seeds can you collect yourself

In fact, there are not so many crops from which you can collect your seeds – most vegetables are pollinated. You can collect only self-pollinated plants or those in which cross-pollination will not greatly affect the offspring.

Tomatoes. These are self-pollinating plants, so you can safely collect seeds from them.

For reproduction, you should choose the very fruits from 2 or 3 fruit clusters (1), typical in shape and color. It is better to cut the fruits not along, but across – this is how all the seed “nests” open. The seeds, along with the pulp, are scraped with a teaspoon into glasses, cups or goblets. And leave for a day – they must ferment. This is necessary so that the seeds are better washed from the pulp. Fermented seeds are washed under the tap and dried on a plate. You can, of course, on paper, but they stick during the drying process. It’s easier to scrape them off the plate.

By the way, tomatoes have an interesting feature – the seeds ripen earlier than the fruits. So it is not necessary to wait for full ripening – you can take them from slightly unripe tomatoes.

Peas, beans, soybeans. These are also self-pollinating plants, you can safely take seeds from them.

Everything is simple here – you need to wait until the pods are fully ripe, open the valves and select seeds from them. You can’t just pack them right away – you need to dry them for about a week.

Spices. Dill, parsley, cilantro have different varieties, and they are pollinated. But! The differences between them are usually insignificant, so you can also collect seeds from them.

You need to wait until the umbrellas are fully ripe, then peel the seeds into some kind of dish, such as a saucepan, and then lay them out on paper so that they dry out – for about a week.

Leaf types of onions. Chives, slime and batun are pollinated by insects. They have varieties, but as a rule, the differences between them are small. So the offspring does not differ much from the parents even after cross-pollination. Therefore, the seeds can be collected.

All that is needed is to cut off the ripened inflorescences and peel the seeds. And then dry for a few days.

Carrot. It is pollinated by bees, and if different varieties bloom nearby, cross-pollination will occur. But! Seeds carrot gives only in the second year. That is, in the first season, you need to dig up the root crops, store them in the cellar, plant them in the garden in the spring, and only then will it bloom. As you understand, now few people bother with this method of obtaining seeds, for many it is easier to buy them in a store, so you can safely engage in your own seed production. Of course, in one year you can get seeds from only one variety.

Collecting carrot seeds is easy – you need to collect fully ripe umbrellas, peel the seeds and dry them for several days.

Beet. Here is the same story as with carrots – it gives seeds in the second year.

Plants are wind-pollinated, so cross-pollination is possible. But again, your neighbors are unlikely to bother with getting their beet seeds, so you can safely collect your own. In one year – from one variety.

Collecting seeds is also simple – you need to cut off the ripened inflorescences, peel the seeds and dry them.

Cabbage. Although she is not a root crop, she is also a two-year-old. If you cut heads of cabbage in the fall, store them in the cellar, and plant them in the garden in the spring, the head of cabbage will bloom and produce seeds.

Cabbage is pollinated by bees, but again, hardly anyone nearby plants heads of cabbage for seeds. So you can grow your own. But remember that in one year you can leave only one variety of cabbage and only one of its types for seeds. The fact is that different types of cabbage – white, red, Savoy, Brussels sprouts and kohlrabi – are easily pollinated with each other.

Collecting cabbage seeds is easy – you need to cut off the ripened pods, open them and pour the seeds into some container. And dry for a few days.

Seeds of what vegetables can be collected, but with a reservation

There are crops that, in principle, pollinate themselves, but bees visit them with pleasure, so cross-pollination is possible. And if this happened, then the characteristics of the variety will not be preserved.

Peppers. Yes, yes, they are. In order for the variety to survive, they must be covered with a non-woven fabric for the whole summer so that insects do not penetrate the plants. Or grow from seed at home in pots. If these conditions are met, you can collect your seeds.

Pepper seeds can only be collected from fully ripe fruits. Better yet, pick them up and put them at home to wilt a little – this is a guarantee that the seeds are fully ripe.

The fruits are cut lengthwise, the seeds are poured onto a plate and dried for about a week.

Which Vegetable Seeds Cannot Be Harvested?

First of all, these are vegetables that are pollinated by bees. In order to preserve the characteristics of the variety, spatial isolation of about 1 km is needed.

But in the countryside, this is not possible. Even if you grow only one variety, your neighbors will probably have others. And there will be re-pollination. For this reason, you can not collect seeds from cucumbers, watermelons, melons, pumpkins, zucchini and squash. The last 3 cultures, by the way, are even capable of pollinating with each other.

Not suitable for collecting seeds radish и radish. Everyone grows them, they often shoot, and bees pollinate them, so the probability of cross-pollination is very high.

Same with seeds. corn. Its pollen is carried by the wind, and over long distances, and many summer residents grow it.

Onion also not suitable for seeds – it is pollinated by bees and flies, and it grows in almost every garden.

The second point is hybrids, which are denoted by the F1 icon. Even if they are self-pollinating, there is a strong splitting of characters in their offspring and children rarely resemble their parents. Under industrial conditions, such hybrids are obtained by crossing the same initial parental forms every year (2).

How to store seeds

During storage, the seeds breathe, so it is important to choose the right packaging for them. Plastic bags are not the best option, small seeds are stored well in them, but over time they will begin to lack air. And large seeds such as beans, peas and pumpkins will suffocate very quickly. You can, of course, periodically open the bags and let fresh air in, but this is a troublesome task, especially if there are a lot of seeds.

The best option is gauze bags, cloth or paper bags. In them, the seeds breathe perfectly. But it is important that they are stored in a dry place.

It is better to store seeds at a temperature of 10 – 15 ° C, but at home it is not easy to observe such conditions. Therefore, you can just keep them in the room, but find the coolest place – in the closet, near the window or balcony.

It is sometimes advised to store the seeds in the refrigerator, but this is a bad option – condensation often forms there, and if the seeds get wet, they will spoil.

It is not advisable to store seeds in the kitchen – there are temperature drops, and this is also bad for seeds.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about harvesting our own seeds with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Sources of

1. Pantielev Ya.Kh. ABC vegetable grower // M .: Kolos, 1992 – 383 p.
2. Guidelines for New Types and Species // International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), 2002
3. Federal Law of December 30, 2021 No. 454 FZ “On seed production”