How to save vegetable seeds for next year

how to preserve vegetable seeds

Why store seeds

Saving seeds for next year will seem like a lot of work. But by storing like that create new, custom varieties of vegetables that grow best in your backyard and have fun in the process. Next, we do not have to buy seeds at high prices in the shops outside, we will have quality seeds ourselves. Avoid collecting the same hybrid seeds because they may not germinate for the next generation or give low yields. Choose as many country seeds as possible in your zone. In this article, we will look at how to collect a variety of vegetable seeds for the next season.

Can collect any seeds

If you are new to seed collection you can save the seeds of easy plants first. For example peas, beans, lettuce, and tomatoes.

The first thing to keep in mind is that only "open-pollinated" seeds can be stored for the next season.

You must mind that few plants can cross-pollinate if they are planted too near each other. For saving seeds, it’s best that the variety of seeds you are saving isn’t intermixed with other varieties

We have to take the whole ripe fruit to collect the seed.

Tomatoes And Cucumber 

For tomato and cucumber seeds there is a kind of gel around the seed. We can remove this by fermentation. But this method will smell bad so it is better to keep the doors open while doing this method.

Take a plastic cup or jar and put tomatoes and cucumbers in it and squeeze well.

Pour the required amount of water and keep it in the shade away from direct sunlight. Good if the tree is shady.

Stir this daily

On the second day, the seeds stay alone underneath. Everything that is unnecessary can start floating above and remove them.

Keep this for five days

Then take the seeds and wash them well then put them on a nice cloth or plastic plate

The seed should be kept in the shade until it dries well

Peppers 

take the peppers cut and open to finding the seeds in a mass on the central stem.

After brushing them off the stem onto a plate or screen.

Put seeds aside to dry.

Squashes And Pumpkins 

squashes and pumpkin are ready, cut them open and remove the seeds.

flushing the seeds in running water, rubbing them between your fingers to remove any stringy material and membrane.

Then take the seeds and wash them well then put them on a nice cloth or plastic plate and dry 

Peas And Beans 

After turning brown color pods from the vines and remove the seeds, May this requires about five to six weeks of air-drying. 

The seeds take out formula is to put them in loosely woven baskets and stir them once a day.

May very cool or other forecast threatens Beans and peas that are ripe but not dry, take up the vines by the roots, and hang the plants up to down in a shaded area, such as your basement or barn. 

Beans and peas will draw energy from the plants for another few days, which will increase the seed viability.

Melons 

melons have simply rinsed the seeds under running water to remove any traces of flesh or membrane. 

For cantaloupe and musk melon, seeds will have more fibers and membranes attached to them. After wash, rubbing the seeds between your fingers to remove as much debris as you can.

After put the seeds in a container of water, and the good seeds will sink to the bottom.

All take out what floats to the top, give the good seeds another rinse, and dry them on a plate or screen.

how to preserve vegetable seeds

Once the seeds are well dried they should be placed in a container cool or dry area

The Big Size seeds, Like beans, melons you can recycle the cardboard canisters that certain snack foods come in.

The small size seeds, like pepper and tomatoes, washed-out pill bottles work well.

Depending on the seed and storage capacity, the germination capacity of the seeds can be up to 5 years. At the same time squash quickly loses germination capacity. But zero-degree freezing them if you want to keep any seeds germinating for a long time. Doing so can keep it alive for almost 40 years.

By

Peoples Gardening