Possible Bonus reason: when you save seeds from the most successful plant in your garden, over many years, you will end up with plants that are better adapted to your garden (soil and climate) than your original plant. Its like culling. You only let the strongest plant become a seed plant.
Eugenics FTW! I have been hearing about this and so far I am seeing that this is possibly true, at least for peppers. It has made me want to save more seeds of other plants. I grew about 70 pepper plants this year. I used old seed from last year, saved seed from last year's plants as well as new seed all of the same variety. The saved seed plants are doing the best without a doubt. This is by no means scientific, but it has made me want to test this out for years to come.
I've saved an orange tomato for 5 years now. It came in a rainbow heirloom mix, but I had no idea what it was named. It survived mass flooding (30" of rain in one month!) so I wanted to keep such a tough plant! It's my favorite tomato, and I'm so glad I kept the seed.
Last fall I harvested the seeds from a lovage plant (which comes back every year) and ground them up. They turned out to be a very delicious spice - especially on fish. I also harvested parsnip seeds, but some got away, and now I have parsnips growing all over my back yard - the more, the merrier.
Each year I choose the best radish, best heirloom tomato, etc. and allow them to go to seed and have great results. One year I saved seed from a cantaloupe that grew next to a honeydew, and the resulting fruit was orange and green striped like rainbow sherbet, and very tasty! I have good success saving all types of squash seed, however some of the resulting squash looks like nothing I've seen before. I've had several volunteers spring up from last year's tomatoes, and that plants are vigorous and hardy...tho I haven't tried the fruit yet.
This guy is right, I bought 1 pack of heirloom yellow watermellon seeds and now I have a bunch of yellow watermellon and I have hundreds of seeds and I started with only 25 seeds.
I love seed saving. I saved lettuce from my garden today and Dino kale. I have been doing this for a few years now. It saved me during the covid lockdown. Starting onions starts this weekend.
That carrot seed video that you linked at the end is how I originally found you! Thank you for your informative videos, I am so looking forward to starting my new garden at our new house. It is almost finished being built. From watching your videos I know not to jump in and just put gardens in anywhere right from the start. I have plans for a temporary garden to grow a few vegetables and herbs while I work out the real thing. I have been keeping an eye on the movement of the sun and shade over the past 6-8 months and have already had to change the plans I had in my head. My hobbies are usually very short lived but I think your videos have contributed to keeping gardening interesting for me.
Love this. In AU, I'm a member of the diggers club where they specifically promote, sell and bank heirlooms. We need everyone in the world to be saving and reusing seeds that are vanishing. Great video Scott.
Thank you. Food , or the absence of it will become a weapon. I am trying to do this too ( my first year gardening) and save wild edibles seeds too, in order to start wild edibles" crops" in different areas , untouched by farming. This autumn I'll plant 7 peach trees and raspberries, randomly in the same areas. If nobody discovers them, I'll harvest them myself and let the" crop" somewhere in town for the people to take it for free.
When I have a vegetable that is especially early, large, or beautiful I love saving the seed but I needed the encouragement to save more! Thanks Gardener Scott!
Last year when I started gardening I didnt save any seed. I bought some hybrid tomato starts and some hybrid cucumber seeds, I really didnt know better but I soon learned that was a bad move. But I still saved seeds from some green peppers we bought and a cantaloupe over the winter. This year I bought all heirloom seeds and started them inside and planned on saving seed. So far I have saved radish, buttercrunch lettuce, marigolds and bachelor buttons. I am going to save the seeds of most of what I am growing, exept the tomatoes. I am still trying to find a tomato I like and the three this year (Rutgers, Tommy Toe and some beefsteak variety that got blight easy) were good, but not great. Perhaps next years varieties will impress me enough to save the seed.
Great pep-talk video, I've only been saving seeds from my winter squash and poppies. Guess I should re-think my seed harvesting needs. Thanks for sharing.
About 5 years ago, my wife saved some muscadine seeds from...some muscadines she was eating from the store. She put them in a pot until the plant was about a foot tall. Then she had me plant it. These plant grew better than any of the grape vines that I purchased at the store. Great tasting muscadines too. This will be my first year saving seeds from my garden even though I bought some extra seeds earlier in the year when I heard about a shortage. Thanks for the video!
I've been collecting cilantro and Thai basil seeds but this year I'm trying to save as much as I can. *What I learned before this video:* watch for white powdery mildew (or other pests, diseases) as you normally do- I didn't keep checking on my red mustard and I stopped spraying neem... and just as the seeds were plump and heavy I found the leaves covered in the dreaded fuzzies. *What I learned from the video:* I'm throwing away my Sungold tomato seeds I just dried last week. 🤣
Thank You Gardner Scott - (yes I aim to save any seeds that might happen) I am totally New -- I finally have 2 red Cos lettuces - bought as seedlings but guessing they are baby gems due to size - but rich in colour and strong and I have harvested the outside leaves a few time. We are in Winter here in Southern Australia -- but I have decided - to create some Raised Beds (small ones - and self standing - as you have described as well - I am a senior) -- - I did finally manage to get some seeds (for a long time none of the shops had any during the lockdowns) packages say OK to plant in Winter for my Area. - So far - I have only 2 chances of plants going to seed - I am hoping to have my Cos Lettuce go to Seed -- and there is an Indonesian Broccoli - sort of extra small baby broccolini -- -- very very tiny - single head per plant - and maybe 2cm in diameter (could be my fault) - still - I aim to let them go to Seed - and keep those - I might do a better job planting the seeds - planting the seedling did not really bring any success -- I ate the head of one - very sweet -- left the other hoping it will seed - and maybe the other one - its 2nd head - is up - it too might go to seed. ------ OHH - yesterday - I noticed my First Bee in the garden - after planting my first seedling in later March (our Lockdown) - thinking the Bee visiting me yesterday - is a good sign - I hope. I have watched Most if not all of your videos - I learn Soooo Much - you speak slowly and precisely -- allowing my Senior Brain to digest this New Experience -- which I hope will give Successful Experience. Keep Up the Great Work - you are helping - I am sure - many more than you might realise
Another awesome video! I love all the reasons for saving seeds. I've started saving my seed this year. Hoping for a great harvest for the next years' growing seasons.
Your channel has been extraordinarily helpful! I was given some young plants from my Aunt earlier this year, and it's my first time ever really experiencing gardening. I've really grown to love it, and I hope to keep gardening for as long as I can! I went out today to buy some more seeds for next spring, and I'm very curious about saving seeds. Please help us newbies learn how to save our favorites like tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, basil, etc. Best wishes to you and your awesome garden :) Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Carrots are biennial-- this means they don't flower until the second year. At the end of the first year, you can leave in the ground if you can prevent critters from eating them or bring into a root cellar and keep moist to replant in the spring. They also cross easily with queen annes lace so if any are in your local area need to be grown in a screened box for each variety but hand or insect poliinated.
I’ve dabbled in seed saving but doing it in earnest after watching this! You’re right that it’s something we should all do! This year has been a roller coaster ride, and it’s made us more aware that we need to be producers not consumers. On another note my Roma tomatoes are doing great and loaded with fruit, however the tomatoes get to that orangey stage and they fall off. No apparent damage and it’s all 13 plants??? Any ideas? ♥️👍🐝🌻😎
We've always saved some seeds, and I even had a pumpkin cross w/ a zucchini once and planted the seeds for a few years to try to develop a new variety, but couldn't develop the characteristics I wanted. But my actual question is - won't bugs get bad if I plant the same crops each year? We usually like to break things up to break the life cycle of the pests.
Saving seeds is great, but it can be a bit of a pain. Worst seeds to extract is from Frisee/Escarole. The tiny seeds are in hard to access seed pods. On the other hand, red leaf lettuce is really easy.
@Dianne Higo I think so, I did it the first time this year. I am waiting till the heat is over, my first frost date is late December, so it is way too early to plant. I will probably set them out the end of September.
I saved seeds from last year collards. Two varieties that may be cross pollinated but it's okay because we love collards. Five plants gave hundreds of seed pods and each pod has atleast 15 seeds. I got a lot of seeds for years to come.
I grow some glory tomatos , that came from the store bought glory tomatos. I t cut them in slices and planted them . Don't know if they were hybrids or not looked like small Roma tomatoes. They tasted good but skin was tough. Is this because they were hybrids ? Looking forward to the answer this is my second year gardening. Love listening to your videos, I'm in Katy tx zone 9 .
tough skin can be from environmental conditions, such as heat. personally i am ok with a wilder tomato that can take my desert heat, so i love planting my own seeds.
Hi Scott, a friend of mine tore down an old house and I found a treasure trove of seeds in the kitchen. I planted a pack of cucumber seeds that were packaged for the year 2012 and they are up about four inches and I’m so excited to see what happens. Why do seed packs say packaged for a specific year? Thanks for all your valuable information!
To cover their butts because the older the seed, generally the lower the germination rate. Many companies will advertise the germination rate for their seed and they can't guarantee that % rate after the first year
I had no idea cucumber seeds lasted that long. I have some old seed from 2008 I may try to germinate next year. They were from my grandfather. I did try eggplants seeds from 2008 and they did not germimate. They were even vacuum sealed from in a foil pouch. But no germination.
@@VladTheImpalerTepesIII I hope they do germinate for you. It's so cool! I just love seeds and have a huge bag and a old coffee can full of seeds from that house to try next year. Good luck on yours.
Different seeds do not stay viable for the same length of time. Onion seeds may only last a year while tomato seeds may last 10. Viability reduces in time so the year on the package is for germination rates that should be above 90%, unless stated otherwise.
Great seed saving information. Unfortunately I grow hybrid vegetables so I don't save the seed. Next year I will try to grow more heirloom varieties of vegetables.
hybrids are rine, especially with leafy greens. they are very similar and sometimes you get something really great. i used to have a lovely spotted basil. it was so much fun. i have since lost it but maybe i’ll hunt for it in old seeds and try to sprout old basil seeds and hope. i tried to rebreed it but have not seen the speckled type. so sad.
This channel is just so amazing. I know all the suggestions are worth considering and it helps me grow so quickly as a new gardener. Amazing content. Im so thankful I found it.
Serrie Lu You can keep them growing indoors, if you have grown them in a pot or can transplant into a 2 or 2 1/2 gallon container. You can overwinter them like a house plant.
Any tips on okra seeds? First frost has come but pods are not quite ready I think.. just turning brown. I am not sure if they are ready, and if not will they become ready not that it is cold? Zone 7
Allowing the pods to grow big and dry on the plant until they begin to split is ideal. If the plant is still growing, the pods might develop more. Try to leave them as long as yo can.
Did you miss the reason to save seeds is because it is from your area and climate and every year it’ll do better in your garden because it’s acclimated to your weather, soil, amount of water, your gardening style.
No, you can't expect a hybrid plant to produce seed that will grow into a plant similar to the parent. For open-pollinated plants like heirloom varieties, if the squash didn't cross pollinate with another squash, you should expect the seed to grow true.
Hi Scptt! For the first time I bough hibrid seeds. Question: if I save seeds from these plants will they produce fruits? And could you tell me where are the seeds from Tatsoi (when the plant is full grow)? I bough few and they were very expensive. I already planting lots of seeds that I saved through the last years!!! Thanks!!!!
If you save the seeds they should produce fruit, but it will not resemble the parent plant. When the Tatsoi is stressed or it gets too hot it should send up a stalk and flowers and seeds will develop there.
I'm very new at this. When you say leave your plant to grow until it seeds, what exactly does that mean? Do you mean when you harvest the fruit, that you take the seeds out of the fruit? Or if you let it grow after you harvest, seeds will just grow on the plant? Please advise. Thank you!
A plant has only one goal and that is to produce seeds so that it can create offspring. To create seeds, the plant first creates a flower. That flower is pollinated and after that the flower dies and a seed pod is produced and seeds start to grow and mature. For fruits and vegetables, the fruit/vegetable is the seed pod. So for fruits and vegetables, you have to save the seed from the fruit/vegetable that you eat. For other plants like herbs, root vegetables, etc, there is no fruit on the plant itself so you have to let it go to flower. Once the flowers die, it will begin to produce seed pods of some sort. When the seeds are mature, you harvest them to save for the next season.
It depends on the plant. Let the plant flower. If it's a plant like lettuce or beets where we eat the plant, the flowers will turn into seeds and that is what we collect. For plants where we eat the fruit, seeds will be collected from the fruit. I have a video coming soon that will show it all.
Thank you both for the lesson. I have much to learn. Proud to report that I planted for the first time in my life in June and am harvesting banana peppers as we speak 🙂
Mic drop moment. 1:10 The seeds I started with are probably patented. Legal ramifications for reproducing. (smh) Thank you Master Gardner Scott. Grateful I didn't get in too deep with this idea. Definitely need more education. Really appreciate your content and the work that goes into it.
There was quite a recall on zucchini seeds this year. Seeds that had cross pollinated and the fruits were very bitter and made quite a few people sick. I had very bitter cucumbers regardless of my watering etc. and had to scrap the plants after getting a fair amount of digestive upset after a few bites (which tasted bad, I shouldn't of ate it in hindsight) . Makes me a little nervous to save seeds from squash, cucumber, zucchini etc. now. Granted my fear comes mostly from not understanding that process of cross pollination.
Is there ever an issue with genetic diversity when saving seeds from the same small plot of crops? I’ve read some things about that. For example, one description of sweet corn seeds said that you need to save 500 seeds from 15% of the plants to maintain diversity. Also, someone said that potatoes can lose viability after a few seasons/generations.
Genetic diversity is affected if you only save seeds from a small sampling. If you're looking for the best plant, at some point diversity will be reduced. Plants that require pollination from a different plant (like dioecious ones) often benefit from diversity, but not all veggies need that.
Onion seeds are not viable for very long. Usually about a year, so that may be part of the problem. I've let onions flower in a garden bed and allow many of the seeds to fall on the soil. The next spring I always have new onion plants.
The seeds are not real quick to germinate, and should be kept a little moist until they germinate. I find it easier to do a bunch of starts in a flowerpot, then set them out once they gain a little size.
That may be the case, but the best growing one may be bigger due to location, water, sun, fertilizer, and pest control, especially with the same variety from the same seed. A single generation may not be enough to determine the best plant.
You can eat sunflower microgreens or any part throughout the growing stages. Maybe that gives you the motivation not to eat all your seeds right away :)
Ryan It did happen to farmers whose corn got cross-pollinated/contaminated with a GMO corn grown nearby: the GMO seed company came after them for not having paid for the GMO trademark of the seed corn that their corn was pollinated by. They counter-sued that their crops had been contaminated by pollen drift from the GMO-corn-covered field, and they eventually won after a long, drawn out court battle.
@@doloresreynolds8145 Yes, it happened to farmers/commercial growers. But no one would ever know that a home gardener saved a patented seed for personal use. lol. I think scott put that in there for a CYA kinda thing lol.
Did God or man create the seed? Patents on seed is immoral and unethical. My 2 cents. Give a man a fish and eats for a day, teach him how to fish and he eats forever!
Possible Bonus reason: when you save seeds from the most successful plant in your garden, over many years, you will end up with plants that are better adapted to your garden (soil and climate) than your original plant. Its like culling. You only let the strongest plant become a seed plant.
💯
Eugenics FTW! I have been hearing about this and so far I am seeing that this is possibly true, at least for peppers. It has made me want to save more seeds of other plants. I grew about 70 pepper plants this year. I used old seed from last year, saved seed from last year's plants as well as new seed all of the same variety. The saved seed plants are doing the best without a doubt. This is by no means scientific, but it has made me want to test this out for years to come.
I wanted to be a gardener, because of you I am becoming a gardener. Thank you so much for all you teach.
Your channel is just brilliant. Want to know anything it's right here! I love. Gardening is my hobby. I've chronic illness and it helps me. Thsnkyou
I've saved an orange tomato for 5 years now. It came in a rainbow heirloom mix, but I had no idea what it was named. It survived mass flooding (30" of rain in one month!) so I wanted to keep such a tough plant! It's my favorite tomato, and I'm so glad I kept the seed.
Such a wealth of knowledge. Much appreciated.
Watching/listening to this while watching a big bumble bee hitting my tomato flowers🐝 4 to 6 ft tall fully trimmed and rocking in the free world🇺🇸
Let it go! Let it go! Hey you gardeners, just let it go... To seed!
Last fall I harvested the seeds from a lovage plant (which comes back every year) and ground them up. They turned out to be a very delicious spice - especially on fish. I also harvested parsnip seeds, but some got away, and now I have parsnips growing all over my back yard - the more, the merrier.
With every new video, I just hit the like button, and then start watching. Thank you for this one!
Each year I choose the best radish, best heirloom tomato, etc. and allow them to go to seed and have great results. One year I saved seed from a cantaloupe that grew next to a honeydew, and the resulting fruit was orange and green striped like rainbow sherbet, and very tasty! I have good success saving all types of squash seed, however some of the resulting squash looks like nothing I've seen before. I've had several volunteers spring up from last year's tomatoes, and that plants are vigorous and hardy...tho I haven't tried the fruit yet.
This guy is right, I bought 1 pack of heirloom yellow watermellon seeds and now I have a bunch of yellow watermellon and I have hundreds of seeds and I started with only 25 seeds.
I love seed saving. I saved lettuce from my garden today and Dino kale. I have been doing this for a few years now. It saved me during the covid lockdown. Starting onions starts this weekend.
That carrot seed video that you linked at the end is how I originally found you! Thank you for your informative videos, I am so looking forward to starting my new garden at our new house. It is almost finished being built. From watching your videos I know not to jump in and just put gardens in anywhere right from the start. I have plans for a temporary garden to grow a few vegetables and herbs while I work out the real thing. I have been keeping an eye on the movement of the sun and shade over the past 6-8 months and have already had to change the plans I had in my head. My hobbies are usually very short lived but I think your videos have contributed to keeping gardening interesting for me.
Can you please do a video on how to collect tomato, cucumber and other veggies seeds
I have an old video that shows that, and a new one is coming soon.
Love this. In AU, I'm a member of the diggers club where they specifically promote, sell and bank heirlooms. We need everyone in the world to be saving and reusing seeds that are vanishing. Great video Scott.
Thank you. Food , or the absence of it will become a weapon. I am trying to do this too ( my first year gardening) and save wild edibles seeds too, in order to start wild edibles" crops" in different areas , untouched by farming. This autumn I'll plant 7 peach trees and raspberries, randomly in the same areas. If nobody discovers them, I'll harvest them myself and let the" crop" somewhere in town for the people to take it for free.
I have come to enjoy your channel, and I thank you for sharing thine knowledge. Thank you, little human!
When I have a vegetable that is especially early, large, or beautiful I love saving the seed but I needed the encouragement to save more! Thanks Gardener Scott!
truly a sensitive, informative and inspiring video. thank you deeply.
Last year when I started gardening I didnt save any seed. I bought some hybrid tomato starts and some hybrid cucumber seeds, I really didnt know better but I soon learned that was a bad move. But I still saved seeds from some green peppers we bought and a cantaloupe over the winter. This year I bought all heirloom seeds and started them inside and planned on saving seed. So far I have saved radish, buttercrunch lettuce, marigolds and bachelor buttons. I am going to save the seeds of most of what I am growing, exept the tomatoes. I am still trying to find a tomato I like and the three this year (Rutgers, Tommy Toe and some beefsteak variety that got blight easy) were good, but not great. Perhaps next years varieties will impress me enough to save the seed.
So inspirational! Thank you.
I'm very new to gardening but just read Carol Deppe's "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties ... Seed Saving" and would highly recommend it!
Next from Scott: How to properly save and store your seeds.
Yes please
I’ll watch that
YES PLEASE! NOW!
Oh yes please and soon!
That video is coming soon.
Great pep-talk video, I've only been saving seeds from my winter squash and poppies. Guess I should re-think my seed harvesting needs. Thanks for sharing.
First comment!
Always happy to see that notification pop up
Thanks for the seed saving video. I'm hoping to use saved seeds next year!
About 5 years ago, my wife saved some muscadine seeds from...some muscadines she was eating from the store. She put them in a pot until the plant was about a foot tall. Then she had me plant it. These plant grew better than any of the grape vines that I purchased at the store. Great tasting muscadines too.
This will be my first year saving seeds from my garden even though I bought some extra seeds earlier in the year when I heard about a shortage. Thanks for the video!
I agree! It’s fun!
I've been collecting cilantro and Thai basil seeds but this year I'm trying to save as much as I can.
*What I learned before this video:* watch for white powdery mildew (or other pests, diseases) as you normally do- I didn't keep checking on my red mustard and I stopped spraying neem... and just as the seeds were plump and heavy I found the leaves covered in the dreaded fuzzies.
*What I learned from the video:* I'm throwing away my Sungold tomato seeds I just dried last week. 🤣
I wonder if it's possible to wash seeds with powdery mildew with a very light bleach solution or some thing else.
I would buy that shirt "save the seed's to save the bee's" 🌱🐝
That was inspiring and brilliant... thank you for your wisdom!💖💖
Thank You Gardner Scott - (yes I aim to save any seeds that might happen) I am totally New -- I finally have 2 red Cos lettuces - bought as seedlings but guessing they are baby gems due to size - but rich in colour and strong and I have harvested the outside leaves a few time. We are in Winter here in Southern Australia -- but I have decided - to create some Raised Beds (small ones - and self standing - as you have described as well - I am a senior) -- - I did finally manage to get some seeds (for a long time none of the shops had any during the lockdowns) packages say OK to plant in Winter for my Area. - So far - I have only 2 chances of plants going to seed - I am hoping to have my Cos Lettuce go to Seed -- and there is an Indonesian Broccoli - sort of extra small baby broccolini -- -- very very tiny - single head per plant - and maybe 2cm in diameter (could be my fault) - still - I aim to let them go to Seed - and keep those - I might do a better job planting the seeds - planting the seedling did not really bring any success -- I ate the head of one - very sweet -- left the other hoping it will seed - and maybe the other one - its 2nd head - is up - it too might go to seed. ------ OHH - yesterday - I noticed my First Bee in the garden - after planting my first seedling in later March (our Lockdown) - thinking the Bee visiting me yesterday - is a good sign - I hope. I have watched Most if not all of your videos - I learn Soooo Much - you speak slowly and precisely -- allowing my Senior Brain to digest this New Experience -- which I hope will give Successful Experience. Keep Up the Great Work - you are helping - I am sure - many more than you might realise
Another awesome video! I love all the reasons for saving seeds. I've started saving my seed this year. Hoping for a great harvest for the next years' growing seasons.
Your channel has been extraordinarily helpful!
I was given some young plants from my Aunt earlier this year, and it's my first time ever really experiencing gardening. I've really grown to love it, and I hope to keep gardening for as long as I can!
I went out today to buy some more seeds for next spring, and I'm very curious about saving seeds. Please help us newbies learn how to save our favorites like tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, basil, etc.
Best wishes to you and your awesome garden :) Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Great video, you do a fantastic job.
Enjoyed your video learning more every time lol :)
Fantastic episode. All my tomato 🍅 plants this year came from one tomato and I’m looking forward to planting next season from the same. Cheers 🍻
I’m saving my carrot and broccoli and spring onion seeds for the first time.
Carrots are biennial-- this means they don't flower until the second year. At the end of the first year, you can leave in the ground if you can prevent critters from eating them or bring into a root cellar and keep moist to replant in the spring. They also cross easily with queen annes lace so if any are in your local area need to be grown in a screened box for each variety but hand or insect poliinated.
I’ve dabbled in seed saving but doing it in earnest after watching this! You’re right that it’s something we should all do!
This year has been a roller coaster ride, and it’s made us more aware that we need to be producers not consumers.
On another note my Roma tomatoes are doing great and loaded with fruit, however the tomatoes get to that orangey stage and they fall off. No apparent damage and it’s all 13 plants??? Any ideas? ♥️👍🐝🌻😎
The most common reason for fruit dropping is high temperature. You may want to harvest early or provide some shade to the plants.
Gardener Scott thank you...we have been having higher than normal temperatures.😎
Vườn rau nhà anh trồng thật là tuyệt vời quá
Great video and thank you for sharing😊
We've always saved some seeds, and I even had a pumpkin cross w/ a zucchini once and planted the seeds for a few years to try to develop a new variety, but couldn't develop the characteristics I wanted. But my actual question is - won't bugs get bad if I plant the same crops each year? We usually like to break things up to break the life cycle of the pests.
Without other controls, pests can increase with the same plantings. I focus on encouraging beneficial insects so that problem doesn't develop.
Saving seeds is great, but it can be a bit of a pain. Worst seeds to extract is from Frisee/Escarole. The tiny seeds are in hard to access seed pods. On the other hand, red leaf lettuce is really easy.
@Dianne Higo I think so, I did it the first time this year. I am waiting till the heat is over, my first frost date is late December, so it is way too early to plant. I will probably set them out the end of September.
maybe plant the entire seed pod. maybe the plant would enjoy being multi-sown. or you could thin.
Good philosophy. Thanks!
I saved seeds from last year collards. Two varieties that may be cross pollinated but it's okay because we love collards. Five plants gave hundreds of seed pods and each pod has atleast 15 seeds. I got a lot of seeds for years to come.
I grow some glory tomatos , that came from the store bought glory tomatos. I t cut them in slices and planted them . Don't know if they were hybrids or not looked like small Roma tomatoes. They tasted good but skin was tough. Is this because they were hybrids ? Looking forward to the answer this is my second year gardening. Love listening to your videos, I'm in Katy tx zone 9 .
tough skin can be from environmental conditions, such as heat. personally i am ok with a wilder tomato that can take my desert heat, so i love planting my own seeds.
It may have been a hybrid. Store tomatoes are often developed with tough skins so they can be transported without damage. Thanks.
Hi Scott, a friend of mine tore down an old house and I found a treasure trove of seeds in the kitchen. I planted a pack of cucumber seeds that were packaged for the year 2012 and they are up about four inches and I’m so excited to see what happens. Why do seed packs say packaged for a specific year? Thanks for all your valuable information!
To cover their butts because the older the seed, generally the lower the germination rate. Many companies will advertise the germination rate for their seed and they can't guarantee that % rate after the first year
Deb R Thank you for your information! I will be so excited if I actually get cucumbers from those old seeds!
I had no idea cucumber seeds lasted that long. I have some old seed from 2008 I may try to germinate next year. They were from my grandfather. I did try eggplants seeds from 2008 and they did not germimate. They were even vacuum sealed from in a foil pouch. But no germination.
@@VladTheImpalerTepesIII I hope they do germinate for you. It's so cool! I just love seeds and have a huge bag and a old coffee can full of seeds from that house to try next year. Good luck on yours.
Different seeds do not stay viable for the same length of time. Onion seeds may only last a year while tomato seeds may last 10. Viability reduces in time so the year on the package is for germination rates that should be above 90%, unless stated otherwise.
Great seed saving information. Unfortunately I grow hybrid vegetables so I don't save the seed. Next year I will try to grow more heirloom varieties of vegetables.
hybrids are rine, especially with leafy greens. they are very similar and sometimes you get something really great. i used to have a lovely spotted basil. it was so much fun. i have since lost it but maybe i’ll hunt for it in old seeds and try to sprout old basil seeds and hope. i tried to rebreed it but have not seen the speckled type. so sad.
This channel is just so amazing. I know all the suggestions are worth considering and it helps me grow so quickly as a new gardener. Amazing content. Im so thankful I found it.
I like everything about it except they are not expensive.
They can be. I and many gardeners spend hundreds of dollars a year on seed.
Wondering if you could clone plants like peppers tomatoes cukes.. if you had an indoor growroom?
Serrie Lu You can keep them growing indoors, if you have grown them in a pot or can transplant into a 2 or 2 1/2 gallon container. You can overwinter them like a house plant.
Tomatoes are easily cloned, just by planting a sucker. The others may require more effort.
Do you ever let anything just self-seed/sow? I have with flowers but not with herbs so I'm curious. Thanks!
I do. I let many of my flowers and herbs self sow and then thin or pot up as needed.
I had some cherry tomatoes that kept falling under other foliage and hiding....I had cherry tomato volunteers throughout the next 2 or 3 summers.
Any tips on okra seeds? First frost has come but pods are not quite ready I think.. just turning brown. I am not sure if they are ready, and if not will they become ready not that it is cold? Zone 7
Allowing the pods to grow big and dry on the plant until they begin to split is ideal. If the plant is still growing, the pods might develop more. Try to leave them as long as yo can.
Where do you find comfrey seeds in Colorado?
I haven't found them locally, but there are some online nursery sources.
Did you miss the reason to save seeds is because it is from your area and climate and every year it’ll do better in your garden because it’s acclimated to your weather, soil, amount of water, your gardening style.
I didn't miss it, but it was the reason I mentioned my local tomato variety.
So say I have a hybrid buttercup squash. If it didn’t cross pollinate would the seed grown from that plant still be normal?
No, you can't expect a hybrid plant to produce seed that will grow into a plant similar to the parent. For open-pollinated plants like heirloom varieties, if the squash didn't cross pollinate with another squash, you should expect the seed to grow true.
Thanks. Do you have all your weekly livestreams in one spot? The playlist only has a few
I often fall behind in updating playlists. I've added the more recent ones now. Thanks.
Hi Scptt! For the first time I bough hibrid seeds. Question: if I save seeds from these plants will they produce fruits? And could you tell me where are the seeds from Tatsoi (when the plant is full grow)? I bough few and they were very expensive. I already planting lots of seeds that I saved through the last years!!! Thanks!!!!
If you save the seeds they should produce fruit, but it will not resemble the parent plant. When the Tatsoi is stressed or it gets too hot it should send up a stalk and flowers and seeds will develop there.
Thank you!! Have a wonderfull week!
How can I get some Goose Creek lack tomato seeds ? Do you sell the seeds or do you know someone who does ?
I don't know of anyone who sells the seeds. There area a few nurseries in Colorado Springs that sells plants in spring.
I'm very new at this. When you say leave your plant to grow until it seeds, what exactly does that mean? Do you mean when you harvest the fruit, that you take the seeds out of the fruit? Or if you let it grow after you harvest, seeds will just grow on the plant? Please advise. Thank you!
A plant has only one goal and that is to produce seeds so that it can create offspring.
To create seeds, the plant first creates a flower. That flower is pollinated and after that the flower dies and a seed pod is produced and seeds start to grow and mature.
For fruits and vegetables, the fruit/vegetable is the seed pod. So for fruits and vegetables, you have to save the seed from the fruit/vegetable that you eat.
For other plants like herbs, root vegetables, etc, there is no fruit on the plant itself so you have to let it go to flower. Once the flowers die, it will begin to produce seed pods of some sort. When the seeds are mature, you harvest them to save for the next season.
It depends on the plant. Let the plant flower. If it's a plant like lettuce or beets where we eat the plant, the flowers will turn into seeds and that is what we collect. For plants where we eat the fruit, seeds will be collected from the fruit. I have a video coming soon that will show it all.
Thank you both for the lesson. I have much to learn. Proud to report that I planted for the first time in my life in June and am harvesting banana peppers as we speak 🙂
Mic drop moment. 1:10 The seeds I started with are probably patented. Legal ramifications for reproducing. (smh) Thank you Master Gardner Scott. Grateful I didn't get in too deep with this idea. Definitely need more education. Really appreciate your content and the work that goes into it.
There was quite a recall on zucchini seeds this year. Seeds that had cross pollinated and the fruits were very bitter and made quite a few people sick. I had very bitter cucumbers regardless of my watering etc. and had to scrap the plants after getting a fair amount of digestive upset after a few bites (which tasted bad, I shouldn't of ate it in hindsight) . Makes me a little nervous to save seeds from squash, cucumber, zucchini etc. now. Granted my fear comes mostly from not understanding that process of cross pollination.
I hand pollinate my squash/zucchini/pumpkin, which helps me be confident with them.
Can you show us when seeds are ready to collect? I'm sure you will!
Yes, that video is coming soon.
For vegetables, save the seed from the first flush of vegetables on that plant, not the later ones.
How do you know if the seed is patented?
it should say on the seed packet.
@@GardenerScott ty!
Is there ever an issue with genetic diversity when saving seeds from the same small plot of crops? I’ve read some things about that. For example, one description of sweet corn seeds said that you need to save 500 seeds from 15% of the plants to maintain diversity. Also, someone said that potatoes can lose viability after a few seasons/generations.
Genetic diversity is affected if you only save seeds from a small sampling. If you're looking for the best plant, at some point diversity will be reduced. Plants that require pollination from a different plant (like dioecious ones) often benefit from diversity, but not all veggies need that.
I save my seed in Kleenex brand tissue
Please cover how to save seeds from the different plants
That video is coming next month.
@@GardenerScott Thanks
Saved seeds from onions but they did not grow. Why? I have not been able to get onions to grow from seeds.
What is the trick to get them to grow?
Onion seeds are not viable for very long. Usually about a year, so that may be part of the problem. I've let onions flower in a garden bed and allow many of the seeds to fall on the soil. The next spring I always have new onion plants.
The seeds are not real quick to germinate, and should be kept a little moist until they germinate. I find it easier to do a bunch of starts in a flowerpot, then set them out once they gain a little size.
benar benar bagus
Is it true, that if you grow a plant and you choose the best growing one, that it will be better for your region
Yes, what you are doing is akin to natural selection.
That may be the case, but the best growing one may be bigger due to location, water, sun, fertilizer, and pest control, especially with the same variety from the same seed. A single generation may not be enough to determine the best plant.
Save variety from your grocery store and all other seeds that are NOT PATENTED just incase A SEED shortages.
I don't think I have the willpower to save any sunflower seeds (because I eat them).
You can eat sunflower microgreens or any part throughout the growing stages. Maybe that gives you the motivation not to eat all your seeds right away :)
What scrooge would hunt you down for growing a specific kind of plant lol
Ryan It did happen to farmers whose corn got cross-pollinated/contaminated with a GMO corn grown nearby: the GMO seed company came after them for not having paid for the GMO trademark of the seed corn that their corn was pollinated by. They counter-sued that their crops had been contaminated by pollen drift from the GMO-corn-covered field, and they eventually won after a long, drawn out court battle.
@@doloresreynolds8145 Yes, it happened to farmers/commercial growers. But no one would ever know that a home gardener saved a patented seed for personal use. lol. I think scott put that in there for a CYA kinda thing lol.
Did God or man create the seed? Patents on seed is immoral and unethical. My 2 cents. Give a man a fish and eats for a day, teach him how to fish and he eats forever!
A lot of seeds are made and manipulated by man. There's so many hybrids out there.
@@DebRoo11 Very true! Nothing wrong with that. However patents on seed is a different story.