Are the ones on the left "over dried", or are they just a different variety than the right? Thanks!

My friend gave me a vase of cut zinnias, is it possible to save seeds from cut flowers or do they need to go to seed on the plant?

I want to expand out on the types of seeds I collect from my flower garden, as we head into the fall months. I'm quickly finding out though that I'm not very organized and need a better storage solution.

What system or products do y'all recommend for storing seeds and keeping them organized?

Can someone explain to me or point me towards a resource that can help me know when it’s the right time to save seeds? I’m struggling to know when is the right time to deadhead and collect seeds…. How can I tell the seeds are fully developed and it’s time to cut them down? How can I tell if I’ve waited too long and the seeds have dropped or birds have eaten them and only the chaff is left? Are there any tips to get my timing right?

I’ve gardened for years, but this is my first time saving seeds (perennial flowers, annual flowers zone 5, and herbs….no veggies this year) and I don’t want to waste time collecting and sorting if I don’t have the timing down correctly….

Also, is it recommended to stick all seeds in a dehydrator before storing? I live in the upper peninsula of Michigan where it’s reallyyyy humid in the summers but really dry all winter and am worried they will spoil, but again don’t want to create extra steps if it’s not necessary. I have seed envelopes and tiny silica gel packs to put in each envelope to save them.

Obviously I’ve googled articles and watched videos but everything is also so simplified and I want someone to break things way down and provide more thorough info about correct process and correct markers to look for.

Any and all advice/resources are greatly appreciated!

So I've been harvesting cosmos seeds by just plucking the heads after the petals has died and fallen off, but I've been curious about whether that is too early.

So as an experiment, I tried placing a bouquet of dead heads by the window in water. Sure enough, the heads opened up and the seeds dried out as they would if left on the plant. Except now I won't lose any seeds to the ground.

Is it possible to save seeds from a closed head like this or is there something wrong with it?

I plan to switch to heirloom seeds for all my veg crops next year so I'm finding out about saving the seeds for all the things I usually grow. I'm struggling to find any information on saving seeds from swedes. Does anyone know any good websites or books that would have this info please?

I love collecting cosmos seeds, but if I wait for them to be fully dried out, I often lose most of the seeds to the ground.

I know it's recommended to harvest seeds when they are all dried up and the dead head expands, but would the seeds still be viable if I cut the head before then?

I would like to save the double flower zinnia seeds shown from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, but I read on r/gardening that double flowers won’t produce seeds. Is this true? It says on the seed packet that they are open pollinated.

I have been saving my own seeds for years, but have never invested in buying or making seed screens to filter them. I saved a half gallon of carrot seeds this year, but there is so much chaff and I’d really like to store them in a more cleaned up form, and they are so small, I can’t use my usual “bowl
& blow” method, without the seeds blowing away along with the waste.

TLDR: How do you clean up your carrot seeds for storage?

Seeds are gifts from nature, says a major organic producer. So now it's going to give them away
https://candorium.com/news/20240814130022187/seeds-are-gifts-from-nature-says-a-major-organic-producer-so-now-its-going%20to-give-them-away

I've been looking into growing Zya Maize or 🌽. I've been trying to source some non-typical varieties. Right now I'm growing a flint variety called bronze beauty I was told it was cultivated by the Ho-Chunk in Wisconsin.

After I've spent some amount of time looking through seed catalogs I'm only really seeing a very small handful of other types of corn and varieties I'm curious to what the seed saving community has to say about what they grow and where they found it.

I didn’t realize seed saving would take so long. This has been growing since (it feels like) forever. How long until I can pull out the plant?

I’m new to saving seeds— do you have to wait until the end of the season or can you harvest seeds from a dried/browned flower mid season? I wanted to start saving my zinnias now that some flowers are fading but I wasn’t sure if I needed to wait until the fall for some reason. Thanks!

I have begun to store my seeds in my mini fridge but I now have two questions:

1.) Should I not be storing them in a fridge? I have been seeing more and more articles these days that seeds that have been refrigerated will not germinate, but I haven’t had any issues with germination with my refrigerated seeds. But maybe I got lucky? Since the seeds I have used so far have not been refrigerated for more than a few weeks.

2.) I plan to donate seeds to seed libraries around my city, but most use cabinets to store their seeds. The seeds I would like to donate have been refrigerated for a few weeks now. Would a change in storing method impact the germination rate or make the seeds unusable?

We're having a heat wave and my peas were getting some maggots. I pulled what was left inside but the pods are still green. Can I dry some of them out top save as seeds for next year or will they not germinate well?

My sister and I have been finding these seeds or possibly pits in our bird bath. We found them last year around this same time. I think it is from a small fruit that is ripe around this time but we have only seen the seeds. We live in Maryland. Does anybody know what these are?

My petunias seed pods are opening so I’ve been collecting the small black seeds. Is there anything special I have to do to save these? Do they need to be cold stratified? Any particular storage tips?

Hi All,

I just harvested some Painted Mountain corn and want to save some seeds for replanting but unlike the other seeds I save simply by drying and putting in a plastic bag for storage, this corn needs some time to sit out and dry down and it has/had teeny tiny bugs (grain beetles?) running around in it. I have the cobs I want for seed in the refrigerator hoping to kill the bugs right now but I need to put it out to dry more and am afraid of a new infestation. I froze some for eating to kill the bugs and when I thawed it on the back porch the little bugs were back later in the day.

Will corn sprout if I freeze the seeds after drying, or can I spritz the seeds with my pyrethrin garden bug killer before storage? Other options?

Thanks

I live in a subtropical climate. My temperature only mildly fluctuates during the year. My lowest low is only 10C. I'd like to save seed off kale and cabbage but I'm not if they'll ever flower. Does anyone know if it's chill hours or increasing spring daylight that triggers flowering? Is there anything I can do?

I came up short on Hopi blue corn seeds this year, and everywhere seemed to be sold out. I managed to get my hands on “Navajo blue.” My question is, are these the same variety? Can I expect to have something consistent saving seeds with these two together? I couldn’t find any info online. Both are blue flint, and look identical.

Hi! I'm new to seed saving for cold weather crops... how long of a wait do you think it is before I can save these baby bok choy seeds? I planted these early in Spring, maybe mid to late March, and we had some hot weather in April that sent them to seed. I decided to enjoy the flowers and then try to save some seeds, but as you can see it's becoming pretty crowded in here... I know I am to wait till the pods are dry and brown, but I'm concerned that's going to be a long wait and I was hoping to make it a little roomier in this bed if possible.

Does anyone know how long it might be before they become dry and brown? A couple weeks vs a couple months? They've been in this pod state for only about a week or two tops.

Thanks!