Fall is the perfect time to harvest seeds from our gardens or from a friend or family members plant that you love. Seed harvesting is so exciting because it allows you to save money and create more of your favorite plants!
Gardeners, please note - if you are taking seeds from an heirloom plant, or a plant variety that has been around for 50 to 100 years, it will be an exact replica of the plant you harvested from. However, if you are taking seeds from a hybrid plant variety that was cultivated to be a specific color, height, or vigor, it will not produce a duplicate. Instead, a similar plant will result but will not be a mirror image of the hybrid plan, but it will be free, unique, and beautiful!
How to Remove Daisy Seeds:
Daisy plants have similar seed heads and once you learn how to extract seeds from one daisy you can do it for all of them.
- Allow seed heads to dry completely so that the flower looks brown and dead.
- Brush the top of the seed head and press it down, that will cause the daisy seeds to fall out easily.
How to Remove Zinnia Seeds:
Zinnias are a great plant to harvest seeds from if this is your first-time collecting seeds and are great for kids and grandkids!
- Allow the seed head to dry completely, then start to pull off the individual petals that are left on the seed head. The seed will be on the tip of the petal.
- Cut off the petals from the seed or leave intact and store that way.
How to Remove Crape Myrtle Seeds:
In the fall, the crape myrtle seed pods turn from green to brown and form a crown like shape at the base of the seed. This is how you know it is ready to harvest. Usually the seed pods will crack and expel seeds on their own, so harvest them before they are cracked open.
- Once the seed has cracked, remove the very fine wing like seed inside and you will have anywhere from 25-50 seeds.
How to Remove Canna Lily Seeds:
Heirloom variety canna lily have green seed pods when they are just starting to form. Keep the seed pods on the plant until they turn brown and dry. They will look spikey, but don't be afraid, they are not sharp!
- When seed is ready to be harvested spikes will start to fall off and the seed head will look clean. It will crack on its own and then you can squeeze out the seed. Canna lily will bear anywhere from 1- 5 seeds.
How to Store Harvested Seeds:
- Place seeds in a paper envelope with a photo of the plant on the outside.
- Label the envelope with the height, name and color, where it came from, sun or shade and the date harvested.
- Add silica packs to the envelope to keep seeds from becoming moldy.
- Store envelopes in a cool, dry location
You may also like these how-tos:
