Monday, September 14, 2020

Harvesting Petunia Seeds

 

The petunias were mostly spent so I pulled them from their pots to plant the mums. Before I throw the petunia remains in the woods, I thought I would harvest the seeds. In the red circles you can see the seed pods. They are ready to collect when they are brown and dry.


The seed pod is split open. Inside are tiny, tiny black seeds


Coconut was having her breakfast while I was gathering the seeds


I've placed the little specks in a paper bowl. I'll put a silica pack in the bowl to help dry out the seeds and put the bowl in a cool, dark place. If the seeds are not dry, they could mold. Yuck!

In early Spring, I will start the seeds in seed trays in the sun room. When the seedlings are big enough and strong enough, I can plant them in the pots outside to enjoy through Spring and Summer. Collecting seeds will save time running to the garden shop and spending money buying plants.

Do you collect seeds to plant the following year?

21 comments:

  1. I am not a gardener but I remember my grandparents doing this for their HUGE victory garden. Good luck! I hope they don't mold. :D

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    1. I've had good luck with morning glory seeds not molding. 🤞

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  2. I am not a garden freak, but I do gather seeds and use some on my balcony, others get thrown into the fields in the hope they will flower there. Valerie

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    1. Tossing seeds into the fields must be working as the flowers are gorgeous on your walks

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    2. I hope it helps, and that it's good for the bees!

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  3. Wow, you collected so many seeds! Yes I collect seeds too from foxgloves, cosmos and snapdragons so far 😁. Wishing you a happy new week! Hugs, Jo x

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    1. It’s not hard to do when the seeds are microscopic specks

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  4. Cool! No, I leave the seed heads for the birds, but most of my plants are perennials.

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    1. I decided I would give seed collection a try this year

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  5. That is a good way to do it. I would if I had a better place to start seeds, which I don't. I do a few, but not a lot. It's that time isn't it? Today I pulled 99% of my veggie garden apart, except for 2 tomato plants hidden in the shade that look amazing and have lots of tomatoes growing well off of them. Go figure.

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    1. The tomato plants were the only veg that did well in Himself’s garden.

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  6. I'm lazy; I always snip the tops of the flowers and crumble around the root base; it's worked so far with shasta daisy and the thing in the front and the thing in the back; the things being plants I've no idea what their called !! ☺☺♥♥

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  7. One year I actually planted some cosmos, and I had seedlings from the plants reseeding by mid-summer. After that I started gathering the seeds and tossing them around without even planting them. They are everywhere, and I adore them.:)

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    Replies
    1. Cosmos was one of my mother’s favorite flowers

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  8. Definitely Collect Seeds - Also, Enjoyed The Last Post - Beautiful Cardinal And Still Dig That Weather Station Of Yours - All The Best This Week

    Cheers

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  9. I haven't collected seeds but i need to research more the dogwood seed pods. I know you can soak them in water for a few days and then removed the seeds. That's about all I know.

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    1. That would make a good blog post. 😉

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    2. yes i will look into it - ...i love the seed pods. I've seen some now around the shoreline at the lake - and when they start dropping I'm going to gather them up ..if for nothing else , because they are pretty.

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  10. Brilliant CJ! I do this with my Rose Of Sharon!

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