How to Read a Seed Packet

Ordering seed packets online or picking up a few as you wander through a garden center is a nice way to get motivated for spring planting. The colorful photos in catalogs and the eye-catching store displays can get our gardening fingers twitching. One of the best things about buying seeds is that almost everything you need to know about the plant you want to grow comes with the seeds. Seed packets house a wealth of knowledge and can make the planting and growing process easy.

Some of last year's seed packets

Reading and understanding what the seed packets say can be a bit daunting and hard to understand for new gardeners. Even experienced gardeners can be thrown for a loop by some phrasing. By focusing on the important pieces of information, you can start sowing your seeds in no time at all with everything you need to know in hand.

A wealth of info on a packet

Some packets will show this information as an image instead of with words, but the information is the same.

Images can replace words

Here are 20 things to look for on a seed packet before purchase and at the time you place seeds in soil. Most of it is usually on the back side of the packet.

1. When to Sow. You'll find terminology for when you can begin growing the seed different on different packets; each seed supplier wants to be unique. Look for key phrases like: "Start Indoors"; "Sowing Indoors"; "Sowing Outdoors"; "Direct Sow". This is where you find out the best time to begin growing the seeds. Some seeds can be started indoors while others should only be sown outside. Finding this out as soon as you buy the packet is important for determining a planting schedule.

Some seed packets will be very specific by saying something like, "start seeds 3-4 weeks prior to your last frost date," or "start from seed indoors 4-8 weeks prior to the last frost of spring," or "sow after all danger of last spring frost and soil has warmed thoroughly." This makes it easy if you know your average Last Frost Date (see the link to "Know Your Last Frost Date" below).

If the packet says something like, "direct sow after danger of frost", that means plant outside only. If there is no mention of starting seeds inside, that also means you should sow outside only.

Others will include information for both starting indoors and for sowing outdoors. For those seeds you can do it either way.

2. Where to Sow. This is a very important piece of information too. If the packet says "sow in fertile soil in full sun," that's what you need to do for best results; don't sow in unamended soil in the shade and expect anything good to grow. "Direct sow in well drained soil" means that full sun isn't as important as the soil. Take the time to prepare the site for your seeds.

For starting indoors, the assumption is usually that you're growing in a nice soil medium or potting soil so packets will rarely tell you to do that. The packet may say something like, "place in a warm location and keep moist" or "do not let the soil dry out." That's an important clue to keep an eye on the seeds and new sprouts so they don't dry out and die.

3. Seed Depth. Different seeds require different conditions to germinate; you can't plant everything the same. Placing the seed at the proper depth will improve germination results. The "Seed Depth" or "Planting Depth" will usually be described in inches. If it's a specific number like 1/2", try to get close to that depth when you sow. If it's a range like 1/2" - 1", you have a little more leeway, but you still need to get within that range.

"Surface-sown" or "lightly cover seeds" means you don't need to place seeds in a measured hole; you can sprinkle them on the soil surface and sprinkle a little soil over them to keep them from blowing away.

4. Seed Spacing. Packets will also be very specific about how far apart the seeds should be sown. This helps ensure that the plants will have enough room to grow. Often it's expressed as a range of inches that the seeds are apart from each other, along with how far apart rows should be. While many traditional gardens may have plants 6"-10" apart in rows that are 2'-3' apart, you can usually plant a block of plants in a bed with everything 6"-10" apart from each other; it comes down to how you garden, with rows or blocks.

The packet may also tell you to "thin plants" to a certain spacing. This provides a number for how far apart the final plants should be. For example, onions can be sown close together and after germination should be thinned to 5"-7" apart for bulbing varieties or 2" apart for bunching varieties.

5. Days to Germination. Knowing how long it takes for the seeds to send a sprout to the surface helps you determine if conditions and seed viability are good. It also tells you if you should relax and not worry while the plants are growing. Some seeds only need a couple days to germinate while others may need a couple weeks. Don't assume something's wrong if you don't see plants right away.

Packets will give a specific range of days for "days to germination" or when "seedlings emerge." Within this range of days you should begin to see little green seedlings begin to break through the soil surface. If at the end of the range you still don't see plants, that's when you should become concerned. The soil heat or moisture may be wrong or the seeds could be bad. Give it a few extra days before you completely sow over again.

A few years ago my squash seeds were late in germinating and I became concerned. Just about the time I began to sow again, the first seedlings emerged. My guess is that we had a few cold nights that lowered the soil temperature enough to delay germination.

6. Soil Temperature for Germination. This information is only available on very thorough seed packets like those from Territorial Seed Company. The soil temperature needs to reach certain levels for all seeds to germinate. As mentioned above, if you sow when the soil is too cold it will affect how well the seeds germinate.

Most seed packets cover this subject with the general information described in "When to Sow" as described above.

7. Days to Maturity. This may also be expressed as "Days to Harvest" and may be the most important bit of information on the packet for vegetable garden seeds. This is how long it takes for the plant to reach the point when it begins to produce fruit. What's critical to know about this number is that it is based on when the plant is in the outside soil. Though seedlings may be growing for weeks inside, the days to maturity don't begin until transplanting outside. For seeds sown directly in the garden, it is the point when the plant has true leaves.

The reason this is such an important number is because many gardeners may not have a growing season long enough for specific plants. Many varieties of garden plants like melons, heirloom tomatoes, and winter squash have very long days to maturity. On average, my growing season at high altitude is about 130 days. If I try to grow a plant that takes 120 days to mature, I'm pushing the limits of my growing season and probably won't get any ripe fruit.

As important as this number is, it is just a guideline and not a definite timeline. Typically it is the number of days when you should expect fruit, assuming everything about your growing season is average. If you've had great conditions and you've done a great job caring for your plants, you may get fruit sooner. If you've had cool weather and the soil is marginal, it will probably take longer.

Before sowing seeds, have a good understanding of whether the plant will grow to maturity in your specific garden.

8. Light requirements. This goes along with "where to sow." Look for "sun", "full sun", "shade/sun", or an image of the sun on the seed packet. This guidance isn't for where you plant the seed, but rather where the final plant needs to be. Consider how the sun moves during the growing season in your garden, particularly if you have trees or fences. You may sow a seed in a spot with full sun, but at the end of the season that spot may end up in partial or full shade. The plant can suffer if it doesn't have the light requirements listed on the packet.

9. Growing Tips. Many seed packets will provide additional information about subjects like transplanting, weeding, how to water, pollination, thinning, and mulching. This varies greatly between seed companies. If there is extra information on the packet you should pay special attention to it because it is unique and probably important.

10. Fertilization. Few seed packets include this information, but it's nice to know. If you find it on the seed packet you're looking at, you're probably dealing with a company that cares about more than just selling seeds.

11. How to Harvest. This is another helpful piece of information found on few seed packets. This can be beneficial for plants like peas or beans that have different tastes and textures depending on when they're harvested. Suggestions for the size at which to harvest squash is helpful too. You'll seldom find this kind of information on seed packets for common plants like tomatoes that are colorful at harvest, but it's nice to find on less common plants like parsnips (A Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company seed packet says to harvest parsnips "in autumn after a few light frosts have mellowed and sweetened the creamy-white roots").

12. Diseases and Pests. Information about diseases and pests may be the rarest information on seed packets, but it shows up occasionally. If a hybrid is particularly resistant to a common scourge it will often be mentioned. It may also be mentioned in the form of acronyms after the plant's name, particularly in tomatoes. "VFN" on a tomato seed packet means the hybrid is resistant to verticilium wilt, fusarium wilt, and nematodes. You can find out what all the codes mean with a simple internet search.

13. Seed specifications. All seed packets should tell for what year the seeds were packaged. This may be the second most important piece of information on the packet and is often overlooked. This is usually printed on one of the flaps that seal the packet, either top or bottom. It may be printed in big letters on the front. Regardless of the location, find it before you buy.

Seeds don't last forever and some only remain viable for a year or two. If you end up buying a packet of seeds that is a couple of years old, you may end up with a very low germination percentage. Try to always buy seeds for the year you plan to plant.

Some packets will list the percentage of germination you can expect and how the long the seed life is. This is helpful if you don't sow all of the seeds and want to save the packet to plant next year. I save many seeds from one year to the next because many packets come with more seeds than I can use; I accept a lower germination rate with older seeds.

14. Botanical name. Many seed packets include the Latin name of the plant so you can increase your scientific knowledge. This can be helpful for conversations with botanists, but in practice I don't know many gardeners who use Latin descriptions on a regular basis. Probably because of that commonality, I'm finding that fewer packets include the botanical description and are opting instead for common names. Even when it is included it is often a generic title; on two different seed packets from Territorial Seed Company, one for shallots and one for Spanish onions, only the common name for bulb onions, "Allium cepa", was listed.

15. Blooms. Like for vegetable fruiting, many flowers seeds will include the blooming period. It is often expressed as "summer", "midsummer", "fall", or something similar. This is very helpful so you know how long it will take for new plants to flower and for how long the flowers will be produced.

Typically this is information on annual flower seeds. For perennials expect information about how long it will take for the plant to produce flowers; it could be one to two years after sowing.

16. Preservation. Ferry-Morse seed packets include a "preserve by" method on packets so you have an idea of what to do with abundant crops. This is great for new gardeners or new preservers so they understand that there are alternatives to eating everything right away.

17. A picture. Almost all seed packets have a picture of what the plant, fruit, or flower will look like at maturity. The picture is often intended to grab your attention for an impulse buy in box stores and garden centers. It may be a photo or drawing; I prefer a color photo so I can know what to look for at harvest.

Be sure to read the text throughout the seed packet to fully understand what you're planting because some companies may post the same picture for different varieties. I have several packets of tomato seeds from Baker Creek with the same display of various tomatoes on the front; only a sticker with the name of each packet’s tomato variety differentiates them.

Some companies like Livingston Seed will have clear plastic on the front of the packet along with a photo. This helps you see the actual seeds so you know their quality and quantity.

18. Weight. It's pretty universal that seeds are weighed in grams. Initially this may not mean a lot to you other than give an idea of how many seeds are in the packet; 3 grams of sunflower seeds will produce a few dozen plants while 3 grams of radish seeds will produce hundreds of plants. I find it most useful when comparing the price of seeds from different companies and for determining how big a packet to buy. I know 1/2 gram of onion seeds will do me fine and I don't need to buy more.

19. Contents. Look at what the packet actually contains. Some packets will actually tell you how many seeds are in them. Along with weight this gives a good idea of the space you need for all of the seeds. Read carefully. I bought a relatively expensive packet of monster pumpkin seeds only to discover three actual seeds when I opened it; it forewarned me if I had looked at weight and contents more closely.

When you're buying a blend, the photo is often misleading. I've purchased flower seed blends that look great on the front, but when you read the contents you find a list of plants that may be far different from the image. Also for flower seeds it's beneficial to read the contents so you don't buy a blend that may include an invasive species for your area.

For vegetable blends, particularly salad blends, reading the contents will help you identify the plants as they grow. It's nice to know you like the purple leaves in your garden, but looking at the contents of the seed packet can help you identify it as "Orach" (this happened to me).

Also note if there's any filler in the seed packet. "Inert matter" is anything except seeds. "90% inert matter" means it is only 10 percent seeds.

20. Company Name. Pay attention to the name of the company selling the seeds. You may find a favorite for quality, price, information, or find that certain packets have limitations. I love the seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, but I find their seed packets to be hit or miss. Some of their packets are filled with helpful info with a conversational tone that is easy to read, but others are often stingy with information. It helps that their catalog is about the best in the business.

For beginning gardeners I often recommend the seed packets at garden centers from companies like Burpee or Ferry-Morse. Their packets have nice, visual representations of how to sow seeds, along with the important basics.

Ultimately selecting a seed packet comes down to the gardener buying what he or she wants to grow in their garden, but if you like the seeds and like the information on the packet it helps to remember the company that gave you a good product.

Those are the 20 things you can expect to find on seed packets. I've yet to find a company that includes all of them on a single packet. Decide if certain factors are important to you and look for those factors when you get new seeds. If you don't fully understand a statement, number, or picture, refer to my descriptions above and do a little more research on your own.

I recommend saving seed packets after you've sown all of the seeds. I keep each year's seed selection in a box during that season so I can refer back to the packets if I need to be reminded about a variety or to confirm important things like days to harvest, especially when the fruit is slow to set.

Write yourself notes on the packets so you can refer to them in the future and know which ones you liked, or not.  They're like mini encyclopedias of gardening information. These little envelopes usually provide everything you need to get the seed in soil and begin growing.


 Link to "Know Your last Frost Date"

Ordering seed packets online or picking up a few as you wander through a garden center is a nice way to get motivated for spring planting. The colorful photos in catalogs and the eye-catching store displays can get our gardening fingers twitching. One of the best things about buying seeds is that almost everything you need to know about the plant you want to grow comes with the seeds. Seed packets house a wealth of knowledge and can make the planting and growing process easy.

Some of last year's seed packets

Reading and understanding what the seed packets say can be a bit daunting and hard to understand for new gardeners. Even experienced gardeners can be thrown for a loop by some phrasing. By focusing on the important pieces of information, you can start sowing your seeds in no time at all with everything you need to know in hand.

A wealth of info on a packet

Some packets will show this information as an image instead of with words, but the information is the same.

Images can replace words

Here are 20 things to look for on a seed packet before purchase and at the time you place seeds in soil. Most of it is usually on the back side of the packet.

1. When to Sow. You'll find terminology for when you can begin growing the seed different on different packets; each seed supplier wants to be unique. Look for key phrases like: "Start Indoors"; "Sowing Indoors"; "Sowing Outdoors"; "Direct Sow". This is where you find out the best time to begin growing the seeds. Some seeds can be started indoors while others should only be sown outside. Finding this out as soon as you buy the packet is important for determining a planting schedule.

Some seed packets will be very specific by saying something like, "start seeds 3-4 weeks prior to your last frost date," or "start from seed indoors 4-8 weeks prior to the last frost of spring," or "sow after all danger of last spring frost and soil has warmed thoroughly." This makes it easy if you know your average Last Frost Date (see the link to "Know Your Last Frost Date" below).

If the packet says something like, "direct sow after danger of frost", that means plant outside only. If there is no mention of starting seeds inside, that also means you should sow outside only.

Others will include information for both starting indoors and for sowing outdoors. For those seeds you can do it either way.

2. Where to Sow. This is a very important piece of information too. If the packet says "sow in fertile soil in full sun," that's what you need to do for best results; don't sow in unamended soil in the shade and expect anything good to grow. "Direct sow in well drained soil" means that full sun isn't as important as the soil. Take the time to prepare the site for your seeds.

For starting indoors, the assumption is usually that you're growing in a nice soil medium or potting soil so packets will rarely tell you to do that. The packet may say something like, "place in a warm location and keep moist" or "do not let the soil dry out." That's an important clue to keep an eye on the seeds and new sprouts so they don't dry out and die.

3. Seed Depth. Different seeds require different conditions to germinate; you can't plant everything the same. Placing the seed at the proper depth will improve germination results. The "Seed Depth" or "Planting Depth" will usually be described in inches. If it's a specific number like 1/2", try to get close to that depth when you sow. If it's a range like 1/2" - 1", you have a little more leeway, but you still need to get within that range.

"Surface-sown" or "lightly cover seeds" means you don't need to place seeds in a measured hole; you can sprinkle them on the soil surface and sprinkle a little soil over them to keep them from blowing away.

4. Seed Spacing. Packets will also be very specific about how far apart the seeds should be sown. This helps ensure that the plants will have enough room to grow. Often it's expressed as a range of inches that the seeds are apart from each other, along with how far apart rows should be. While many traditional gardens may have plants 6"-10" apart in rows that are 2'-3' apart, you can usually plant a block of plants in a bed with everything 6"-10" apart from each other; it comes down to how you garden, with rows or blocks.

The packet may also tell you to "thin plants" to a certain spacing. This provides a number for how far apart the final plants should be. For example, onions can be sown close together and after germination should be thinned to 5"-7" apart for bulbing varieties or 2" apart for bunching varieties.

5. Days to Germination. Knowing how long it takes for the seeds to send a sprout to the surface helps you determine if conditions and seed viability are good. It also tells you if you should relax and not worry while the plants are growing. Some seeds only need a couple days to germinate while others may need a couple weeks. Don't assume something's wrong if you don't see plants right away.

Packets will give a specific range of days for "days to germination" or when "seedlings emerge." Within this range of days you should begin to see little green seedlings begin to break through the soil surface. If at the end of the range you still don't see plants, that's when you should become concerned. The soil heat or moisture may be wrong or the seeds could be bad. Give it a few extra days before you completely sow over again.

A few years ago my squash seeds were late in germinating and I became concerned. Just about the time I began to sow again, the first seedlings emerged. My guess is that we had a few cold nights that lowered the soil temperature enough to delay germination.

6. Soil Temperature for Germination. This information is only available on very thorough seed packets like those from Territorial Seed Company. The soil temperature needs to reach certain levels for all seeds to germinate. As mentioned above, if you sow when the soil is too cold it will affect how well the seeds germinate.

Most seed packets cover this subject with the general information described in "When to Sow" as described above.

7. Days to Maturity. This may also be expressed as "Days to Harvest" and may be the most important bit of information on the packet for vegetable garden seeds. This is how long it takes for the plant to reach the point when it begins to produce fruit. What's critical to know about this number is that it is based on when the plant is in the outside soil. Though seedlings may be growing for weeks inside, the days to maturity don't begin until transplanting outside. For seeds sown directly in the garden, it is the point when the plant has true leaves.

The reason this is such an important number is because many gardeners may not have a growing season long enough for specific plants. Many varieties of garden plants like melons, heirloom tomatoes, and winter squash have very long days to maturity. On average, my growing season at high altitude is about 130 days. If I try to grow a plant that takes 120 days to mature, I'm pushing the limits of my growing season and probably won't get any ripe fruit.

As important as this number is, it is just a guideline and not a definite timeline. Typically it is the number of days when you should expect fruit, assuming everything about your growing season is average. If you've had great conditions and you've done a great job caring for your plants, you may get fruit sooner. If you've had cool weather and the soil is marginal, it will probably take longer.

Before sowing seeds, have a good understanding of whether the plant will grow to maturity in your specific garden.

8. Light requirements. This goes along with "where to sow." Look for "sun", "full sun", "shade/sun", or an image of the sun on the seed packet. This guidance isn't for where you plant the seed, but rather where the final plant needs to be. Consider how the sun moves during the growing season in your garden, particularly if you have trees or fences. You may sow a seed in a spot with full sun, but at the end of the season that spot may end up in partial or full shade. The plant can suffer if it doesn't have the light requirements listed on the packet.

9. Growing Tips. Many seed packets will provide additional information about subjects like transplanting, weeding, how to water, pollination, thinning, and mulching. This varies greatly between seed companies. If there is extra information on the packet you should pay special attention to it because it is unique and probably important.

10. Fertilization. Few seed packets include this information, but it's nice to know. If you find it on the seed packet you're looking at, you're probably dealing with a company that cares about more than just selling seeds.

11. How to Harvest. This is another helpful piece of information found on few seed packets. This can be beneficial for plants like peas or beans that have different tastes and textures depending on when they're harvested. Suggestions for the size at which to harvest squash is helpful too. You'll seldom find this kind of information on seed packets for common plants like tomatoes that are colorful at harvest, but it's nice to find on less common plants like parsnips (A Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company seed packet says to harvest parsnips "in autumn after a few light frosts have mellowed and sweetened the creamy-white roots").

12. Diseases and Pests. Information about diseases and pests may be the rarest information on seed packets, but it shows up occasionally. If a hybrid is particularly resistant to a common scourge it will often be mentioned. It may also be mentioned in the form of acronyms after the plant's name, particularly in tomatoes. "VFN" on a tomato seed packet means the hybrid is resistant to verticilium wilt, fusarium wilt, and nematodes. You can find out what all the codes mean with a simple internet search.

13. Seed specifications. All seed packets should tell for what year the seeds were packaged. This may be the second most important piece of information on the packet and is often overlooked. This is usually printed on one of the flaps that seal the packet, either top or bottom. It may be printed in big letters on the front. Regardless of the location, find it before you buy.

Seeds don't last forever and some only remain viable for a year or two. If you end up buying a packet of seeds that is a couple of years old, you may end up with a very low germination percentage. Try to always buy seeds for the year you plan to plant.

Some packets will list the percentage of germination you can expect and how the long the seed life is. This is helpful if you don't sow all of the seeds and want to save the packet to plant next year. I save many seeds from one year to the next because many packets come with more seeds than I can use; I accept a lower germination rate with older seeds.

14. Botanical name. Many seed packets include the Latin name of the plant so you can increase your scientific knowledge. This can be helpful for conversations with botanists, but in practice I don't know many gardeners who use Latin descriptions on a regular basis. Probably because of that commonality, I'm finding that fewer packets include the botanical description and are opting instead for common names. Even when it is included it is often a generic title; on two different seed packets from Territorial Seed Company, one for shallots and one for Spanish onions, only the common name for bulb onions, "Allium cepa", was listed.

15. Blooms. Like for vegetable fruiting, many flowers seeds will include the blooming period. It is often expressed as "summer", "midsummer", "fall", or something similar. This is very helpful so you know how long it will take for new plants to flower and for how long the flowers will be produced.

Typically this is information on annual flower seeds. For perennials expect information about how long it will take for the plant to produce flowers; it could be one to two years after sowing.

16. Preservation. Ferry-Morse seed packets include a "preserve by" method on packets so you have an idea of what to do with abundant crops. This is great for new gardeners or new preservers so they understand that there are alternatives to eating everything right away.

17. A picture. Almost all seed packets have a picture of what the plant, fruit, or flower will look like at maturity. The picture is often intended to grab your attention for an impulse buy in box stores and garden centers. It may be a photo or drawing; I prefer a color photo so I can know what to look for at harvest.

Be sure to read the text throughout the seed packet to fully understand what you're planting because some companies may post the same picture for different varieties. I have several packets of tomato seeds from Baker Creek with the same display of various tomatoes on the front; only a sticker with the name of each packet’s tomato variety differentiates them.

Some companies like Livingston Seed will have clear plastic on the front of the packet along with a photo. This helps you see the actual seeds so you know their quality and quantity.

18. Weight. It's pretty universal that seeds are weighed in grams. Initially this may not mean a lot to you other than give an idea of how many seeds are in the packet; 3 grams of sunflower seeds will produce a few dozen plants while 3 grams of radish seeds will produce hundreds of plants. I find it most useful when comparing the price of seeds from different companies and for determining how big a packet to buy. I know 1/2 gram of onion seeds will do me fine and I don't need to buy more.

19. Contents. Look at what the packet actually contains. Some packets will actually tell you how many seeds are in them. Along with weight this gives a good idea of the space you need for all of the seeds. Read carefully. I bought a relatively expensive packet of monster pumpkin seeds only to discover three actual seeds when I opened it; it forewarned me if I had looked at weight and contents more closely.

When you're buying a blend, the photo is often misleading. I've purchased flower seed blends that look great on the front, but when you read the contents you find a list of plants that may be far different from the image. Also for flower seeds it's beneficial to read the contents so you don't buy a blend that may include an invasive species for your area.

For vegetable blends, particularly salad blends, reading the contents will help you identify the plants as they grow. It's nice to know you like the purple leaves in your garden, but looking at the contents of the seed packet can help you identify it as "Orach" (this happened to me).

Also note if there's any filler in the seed packet. "Inert matter" is anything except seeds. "90% inert matter" means it is only 10 percent seeds.

20. Company Name. Pay attention to the name of the company selling the seeds. You may find a favorite for quality, price, information, or find that certain packets have limitations. I love the seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, but I find their seed packets to be hit or miss. Some of their packets are filled with helpful info with a conversational tone that is easy to read, but others are often stingy with information. It helps that their catalog is about the best in the business.

For beginning gardeners I often recommend the seed packets at garden centers from companies like Burpee or Ferry-Morse. Their packets have nice, visual representations of how to sow seeds, along with the important basics.

Ultimately selecting a seed packet comes down to the gardener buying what he or she wants to grow in their garden, but if you like the seeds and like the information on the packet it helps to remember the company that gave you a good product.

Those are the 20 things you can expect to find on seed packets. I've yet to find a company that includes all of them on a single packet. Decide if certain factors are important to you and look for those factors when you get new seeds. If you don't fully understand a statement, number, or picture, refer to my descriptions above and do a little more research on your own.

I recommend saving seed packets after you've sown all of the seeds. I keep each year's seed selection in a box during that season so I can refer back to the packets if I need to be reminded about a variety or to confirm important things like days to harvest, especially when the fruit is slow to set.

Write yourself notes on the packets so you can refer to them in the future and know which ones you liked, or not.  They're like mini encyclopedias of gardening information. These little envelopes usually provide everything you need to get the seed in soil and begin growing.


 Link to "Know Your last Frost Date"

How to Save Plant Seeds, Part 3

After seeds have been gathered from garden plants, it's time to remove them from the stem, flower, pod, husk, pulp, or shell that protects them from nature's destructive elements. If left in place, the forces of wind, sun, snow, rain, and insects and animals will separate a seed from the withered plant, drop it to the ground, and gradually wear down a seed's covering so it is ready to germinate and sprout. For gardeners saving seeds, we can separate the seeds in a controlled manner so they're ready to grow for us as soon as we sow them.

This is the most time-consuming aspect of collecting and saving seeds. But it is a necessary part of the process.

The simplest and most common way to separate dry seeds from the plant parts holding them is to pinch the dried pieces between your fingers until the seeds fall out. Besides allowing them to mature, permitting the seeds to dry out before collecting them makes this effort easier.

Collecting Marigold seeds

This method is very effective for many annual and perennial flowers. For these plants, the dried flower head is bursting with seeds. The same parts that you're deadheading are the ones that hold the seeds. Some, like Marigolds and Zinnias, maintain their flower shape as they dry. Gently squeezing the dried flower heads releases the seeds.

In the vegetable garden, big seeds tend to be the quickest to collect. Crush a pod of peas or beans and the dried, hard seeds inside separate easily from the thin exterior shell. These kind of seeds are sturdy and you can grab a bunch and roll them in your hands until the dried pods are pulverized, leaving behind the seeds.

Collecting green bean seeds

The same procedure works for smaller dry seeds too. A pinch of the fingers separates the seeds from the plant pieces. Usually the color of the seed is different from the rest of the plant so you can tell which is which.

Some seeds are easy to separate

One of the biggest issues with separating seeds this way is that you're left with a lot of small, broken plant pieces when you only want the seeds. A second step is necessary to separate the seed from the chaff. Again, it's easier with big seeds.

I separate my seeds on a blank sheet of paper. It's a piece of cake to see the seeds, move aside the chaff, and put the seeds in a clean, dry container. I remove big seeds from the paper with my fingers and leave behind the small bits. Then I lift the sheet and pour the remains into my compost bucket.

It's the opposite for most small seeds. I collect the seeds on the sheet of paper, remove the larger pods or plant pieces, and pour the seeds into the clean container.

Pouring seeds in a jar

I like to work in small batches that give me control over collecting as many seeds as possible. Working on a few pieces at a time, I separate the seeds, remove the waste, and clean off the paper.

You can put a large amount of pods, stems, or dried flowers in a bowl or bucket and crush the mass to shred it. When the protective shells break apart, the dried seeds will fall to the bottom for collecting. You can also put the seeds and plant pieces in a paper or cloth bag and roll it around to crush what's inside.

To me, this tends to create a big mess and it takes just as much time to separate the seeds from the pulverized plant pieces because so much of the pile is waste material. Also, regardless of how much you pound it, there are always some of the seeds clinging to pods and stems and you still need to comb through the mass to separate and collect all of the seeds.

You can try a few methods to separate the chaff from the seeds if you choose to do a mass crushing method.

Pick out as many of the larger pieces of chaff as you can and place the remaining material in a bowl. Shake and roll the bowl. Seeds tend to be heavier than small chaff and will sink to the bottom. It's like panning for gold where swirling the mixture separates heavy and light pieces.

Separating dill seeds in a bowl

This method can work well for medium size, sturdy seeds that can be easily detected. Particularly when the seeds are bigger than the plant material, separating a lot of seeds this way may be preferable. For seeds that grow in umbrellas, like cilantro, dill, and parsnips, there is little plant material with many seeds and the bowl fills quickly with seeds.

I find there are always stem pieces that are the same size as or smaller than the seeds so a secondary separation is still required. Putting the mixture on a sheet of paper and picking out the seeds from chaff still works well. Tweezers may be necessary when fingers are too bulky.

For some seeds that are definitely heavier than the pulverized chaff, a little breeze can help. While leaving them in the bowl or while slowly pouring them out, gently blow across the surface so that the chaff is blown away and the seeds fall to a collecting mat. If you're mechanically inclined, a small fan set on low may achieve the same effect. Depending on the strength of the air, the chaff can be blown around quite a bit and create a widely-distributed mess.

For small seeds, a screen, colander, or sieve can be beneficial. When you place the chaff and seed inside and crush it all, the small seeds will drop through the holes leaving larger pieces behind. This is an efficient way to separate the big pieces, but you still have small chaff mixed with the small seeds.

Using a colander to separate dill seeds

For most wet seeds, the process is easy and straight-forward. Scoop the seeds out of the fruit and separate them from the pulp. Many wet seeds are large so they're easy to work with. Washing the seeds and pulp in a bowl of water works well to separate the seeds with your fingers.

Scooping out squash seeds

Squash and pumpkin seeds are a breeze. Pull them from the flesh of the fruit and place the seeds on a paper towel or sheet of newspaper to dry. You want all of your seeds to be dry before storing so you don't have rot or mold problems.

Drying squash seeds

Other wet seeds that are encased in a very wet, fleshy pulp, like tomatoes and cucumbers, need to be fermented before drying the seeds. This helps break some of the protective covering and encourages better germination later on. For these types of fruits, place the seed and pulp in a bowl and leave them alone for three to five days. They'll ferment and a mold will develop on top. At that point scoop as much of the mold and pulp off as you can, then add water and mix it all up.

Watery pulp like cucumbers may need fermenting

Viable seeds will sink to the bottom while bad ones will float. Gently pour off the water and unnecessary pulp. Add more water and agitate until you have separated the clean seeds from the rest of the residue, being careful not to pour out the good seeds. Place the seeds in a sieve with smaller holes than the size of seed and rinse well. Then place the seeds on paper to dry out.

Don't try to accelerate the drying time by putting seeds in the oven or near a heat source. Just let them air dry naturally. Larger seeds will take longer than smaller ones. In a week or two the seeds will be dry. Have patience.

When the seeds you've collected are dry, they're ready for storage. Choose a clean, dry container as your storage vessel. Many gardeners use paper envelopes. They're easy to write on which makes it easy to identify the type of seed and the date you saved it, both important things to know when you're ready to sow later on.

I like to use small, glass jars and bottles. I label them with a strip of masking tape. It's a good way to recycle household items. I also think jars do a better job of maintaining a dry environment; exposure to liquids will soak an envelope and the seeds inside. Seeds are alive and need some exposure to air, but the amount in a jar should be enough.

Some of the containers I use

You want to store seeds in an environment that is free from moisture and relatively cool. Moisture can ruin a batch of seeds. A refrigerator is a good place to maintain the proper conditions. A cool garage or shed works well too.

Most seeds can remain viable for three to five years after collecting, though they'll do best the sooner they're used. Proper storage conditions, like in a refrigerator, extends the storage time. It's best to keep seeds from different years separated in storage. That's another reason to label them. You'll know which ones are oldest and can choose to sow those first or discard them if the viability is in question.

Allowing plants to produce seeds and then collecting them is totally natural and easy to do. By adding this task to your annual gardening list you can establish a seed bank of your own and enable yourself to sow next year's garden from this year's or last year's crop. This makes your garden self-sustaining and will save you big bucks over time. I like those options.

Check out my previous articles for the entire process for saving seeds.

After seeds have been gathered from garden plants, it's time to remove them from the stem, flower, pod, husk, pulp, or shell that protects them from nature's destructive elements. If left in place, the forces of wind, sun, snow, rain, and insects and animals will separate a seed from the withered plant, drop it to the ground, and gradually wear down a seed's covering so it is ready to germinate and sprout. For gardeners saving seeds, we can separate the seeds in a controlled manner so they're ready to grow for us as soon as we sow them.

This is the most time-consuming aspect of collecting and saving seeds. But it is a necessary part of the process.

The simplest and most common way to separate dry seeds from the plant parts holding them is to pinch the dried pieces between your fingers until the seeds fall out. Besides allowing them to mature, permitting the seeds to dry out before collecting them makes this effort easier.

Collecting Marigold seeds

This method is very effective for many annual and perennial flowers. For these plants, the dried flower head is bursting with seeds. The same parts that you're deadheading are the ones that hold the seeds. Some, like Marigolds and Zinnias, maintain their flower shape as they dry. Gently squeezing the dried flower heads releases the seeds.

In the vegetable garden, big seeds tend to be the quickest to collect. Crush a pod of peas or beans and the dried, hard seeds inside separate easily from the thin exterior shell. These kind of seeds are sturdy and you can grab a bunch and roll them in your hands until the dried pods are pulverized, leaving behind the seeds.

Collecting green bean seeds

The same procedure works for smaller dry seeds too. A pinch of the fingers separates the seeds from the plant pieces. Usually the color of the seed is different from the rest of the plant so you can tell which is which.

Some seeds are easy to separate

One of the biggest issues with separating seeds this way is that you're left with a lot of small, broken plant pieces when you only want the seeds. A second step is necessary to separate the seed from the chaff. Again, it's easier with big seeds.

I separate my seeds on a blank sheet of paper. It's a piece of cake to see the seeds, move aside the chaff, and put the seeds in a clean, dry container. I remove big seeds from the paper with my fingers and leave behind the small bits. Then I lift the sheet and pour the remains into my compost bucket.

It's the opposite for most small seeds. I collect the seeds on the sheet of paper, remove the larger pods or plant pieces, and pour the seeds into the clean container.

Pouring seeds in a jar

I like to work in small batches that give me control over collecting as many seeds as possible. Working on a few pieces at a time, I separate the seeds, remove the waste, and clean off the paper.

You can put a large amount of pods, stems, or dried flowers in a bowl or bucket and crush the mass to shred it. When the protective shells break apart, the dried seeds will fall to the bottom for collecting. You can also put the seeds and plant pieces in a paper or cloth bag and roll it around to crush what's inside.

To me, this tends to create a big mess and it takes just as much time to separate the seeds from the pulverized plant pieces because so much of the pile is waste material. Also, regardless of how much you pound it, there are always some of the seeds clinging to pods and stems and you still need to comb through the mass to separate and collect all of the seeds.

You can try a few methods to separate the chaff from the seeds if you choose to do a mass crushing method.

Pick out as many of the larger pieces of chaff as you can and place the remaining material in a bowl. Shake and roll the bowl. Seeds tend to be heavier than small chaff and will sink to the bottom. It's like panning for gold where swirling the mixture separates heavy and light pieces.

Separating dill seeds in a bowl

This method can work well for medium size, sturdy seeds that can be easily detected. Particularly when the seeds are bigger than the plant material, separating a lot of seeds this way may be preferable. For seeds that grow in umbrellas, like cilantro, dill, and parsnips, there is little plant material with many seeds and the bowl fills quickly with seeds.

I find there are always stem pieces that are the same size as or smaller than the seeds so a secondary separation is still required. Putting the mixture on a sheet of paper and picking out the seeds from chaff still works well. Tweezers may be necessary when fingers are too bulky.

For some seeds that are definitely heavier than the pulverized chaff, a little breeze can help. While leaving them in the bowl or while slowly pouring them out, gently blow across the surface so that the chaff is blown away and the seeds fall to a collecting mat. If you're mechanically inclined, a small fan set on low may achieve the same effect. Depending on the strength of the air, the chaff can be blown around quite a bit and create a widely-distributed mess.

For small seeds, a screen, colander, or sieve can be beneficial. When you place the chaff and seed inside and crush it all, the small seeds will drop through the holes leaving larger pieces behind. This is an efficient way to separate the big pieces, but you still have small chaff mixed with the small seeds.

Using a colander to separate dill seeds

For most wet seeds, the process is easy and straight-forward. Scoop the seeds out of the fruit and separate them from the pulp. Many wet seeds are large so they're easy to work with. Washing the seeds and pulp in a bowl of water works well to separate the seeds with your fingers.

Scooping out squash seeds

Squash and pumpkin seeds are a breeze. Pull them from the flesh of the fruit and place the seeds on a paper towel or sheet of newspaper to dry. You want all of your seeds to be dry before storing so you don't have rot or mold problems.

Drying squash seeds

Other wet seeds that are encased in a very wet, fleshy pulp, like tomatoes and cucumbers, need to be fermented before drying the seeds. This helps break some of the protective covering and encourages better germination later on. For these types of fruits, place the seed and pulp in a bowl and leave them alone for three to five days. They'll ferment and a mold will develop on top. At that point scoop as much of the mold and pulp off as you can, then add water and mix it all up.

Watery pulp like cucumbers may need fermenting

Viable seeds will sink to the bottom while bad ones will float. Gently pour off the water and unnecessary pulp. Add more water and agitate until you have separated the clean seeds from the rest of the residue, being careful not to pour out the good seeds. Place the seeds in a sieve with smaller holes than the size of seed and rinse well. Then place the seeds on paper to dry out.

Don't try to accelerate the drying time by putting seeds in the oven or near a heat source. Just let them air dry naturally. Larger seeds will take longer than smaller ones. In a week or two the seeds will be dry. Have patience.

When the seeds you've collected are dry, they're ready for storage. Choose a clean, dry container as your storage vessel. Many gardeners use paper envelopes. They're easy to write on which makes it easy to identify the type of seed and the date you saved it, both important things to know when you're ready to sow later on.

I like to use small, glass jars and bottles. I label them with a strip of masking tape. It's a good way to recycle household items. I also think jars do a better job of maintaining a dry environment; exposure to liquids will soak an envelope and the seeds inside. Seeds are alive and need some exposure to air, but the amount in a jar should be enough.

Some of the containers I use

You want to store seeds in an environment that is free from moisture and relatively cool. Moisture can ruin a batch of seeds. A refrigerator is a good place to maintain the proper conditions. A cool garage or shed works well too.

Most seeds can remain viable for three to five years after collecting, though they'll do best the sooner they're used. Proper storage conditions, like in a refrigerator, extends the storage time. It's best to keep seeds from different years separated in storage. That's another reason to label them. You'll know which ones are oldest and can choose to sow those first or discard them if the viability is in question.

Allowing plants to produce seeds and then collecting them is totally natural and easy to do. By adding this task to your annual gardening list you can establish a seed bank of your own and enable yourself to sow next year's garden from this year's or last year's crop. This makes your garden self-sustaining and will save you big bucks over time. I like those options.

Check out my previous articles for the entire process for saving seeds.

How to Save Plant Seeds, Part 2

Saving seeds from the garden is easy, very cost effective, and allows you to selectively grow quality plants. There are many activities that gardeners consider standard tasks for a successful garden, like soil preparation, irrigation, fertilization, weeding, and fall clean up. I don't put my garden to rest at the end of the season until I've added "collecting seeds" to my chore list.

Vetch pods with seeds

The first step in saving seeds is to let the plant do what it is programmed to do. Let the plant develop seeds. Many gardeners snip off the flowers of their herbs, pull up cool season plants that have started to bolt, and harvest root vegetables in their first year. These are normal gardening practices and there is nothing wrong with them, but they eliminate an opportunity to continue growing the same plants in the next year with free seeds.

All plants will produce seeds. Identifying the part of the plant that contains the seed is usually elementary, but varies by plant. Look for the seed in or near the flower. For flowers that turn into edible fruit, (like tomatoes, peppers, squash, tree fruit, peas, beans), look for the seed inside the fruit. For plants that offer up another part to eat, (like roots, stems, leaves), look for the seed to develop in the flower itself; carrots, beets, radishes, celery, rhubarb, chard, spinach, lettuce, and kale all produce seeds in their flowers. Ornamental perennials usually produce seeds in flowers too.

Sunflowers produce obvious seeds

Collecting the seeds is simple, but determining when to collect them may not be. For a seed to be viable and able to grow into a plant, it needs to be fully formed. Just because a seed looks like a seed doesn't mean it is ready to sow. The key is knowing when it should be collected. Basically, let the seed or fruit that contains the seed remain on the plant as long as possible to help it mature appropriately.

Green beans drying on the plant

Seeds will be either wet or dry at maturity. Wet seeds are the ones surrounded by fleshy or pulpy plant material of a fully mature fruit. These are the fruit parts that we often eat, including the seeds. Seeds in tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, and many squashes are wet and usually require effort to separate them from the flesh or pulp. A completely ripe fruit will provide viable seeds.

Though some seeds are the goal of the harvest, like peas and beans, they are not suitable for saving and sowing in their young, edible phase. These are actually dry seeds from a collecting perspective. For them to be fully formed and ready for sowing, they should be left on the plant until the pod dries out and the seed begins to dry.

Pea pods drying on the plant

Seeds that develop directly from a flower are dry seeds too. They should remain on the plant until the pod or husk that forms is completely dry. Many seeds can be collected slightly early, before completely drying, and they'll continue to mature, but some, like plants in the mustard family, will not. It is best to leave developing seeds on the plants as long as possible.

While wet seeds are gathered wet, the key to dry seeds is that they dry on the plant and remain dry until sowing later. If sustained rain, snow, or fog threatens when it's time to collect seeds, it's better to gather them while dry, or in a stage of drying, than to run the risk of mold and rot setting in. Dry seeds can be damaged or ruined if moisture permeates them at maturity.

Collecting seeds isn't much different than harvesting fruit and vegetables. I enter my garden with a paper bag already marked with the type of seed I'm collecting. Then I snip, pluck, or break off the seed cluster into the bag. I focus on one plant and try to harvest all of the seeds before moving on to another.

Collecting radish seed pods

Some seeds, particularly large ones, can be easy to collect. Pea and bean pods are easy to grab and break off from the plant; radishes offer up nice little pods too. Corn cobs are one of the biggest seed containers you'll gather.

Seeds that develop in clusters from little flowers are slightly more effort. Cutting off the entire cluster is usually the easiest way. Dill, parsnip, and cilantro produce little umbrellas of seeds that are easy to cut off. Spinach, basil, and thyme produce little seeds along the stem and are easiest to gather by cutting off that part of the plant. Onions and leeks produce globes of seeds and the entire ball can be cut off.

Leek flowers with seeds at the tips

After I've collected dry seeds, whether in pods or clusters, I fold over the top of the paper bag and store it along with the others in a cool, dry place. In my case that's on shelves in my garage. I'll leave them in the bags to finish drying completely. When they're ready, the seeds will need to be separated from the protective coverings.

Bags of collected seeds

For the wet seeds, it's a similar process, with a few key differences. The seeds are still collected from their pod or cluster, but it's in a moist, robust form like a cucumber, tomato, or squash. If you attempt to let the fruit dry out to collect the seeds you'll end up with a stinky, mushy goo before the seeds are ready. Wet seeds are best separated from the fruit and allowed to dry individually.

Most of these fruits will change color as a sign that the seeds are ready to harvest; they will no longer be green. Tomatoes will be a deep red (or orange, yellow, or purple depending on the type). Peppers will turn red. Pumpkins will turn orange. Cucumbers will turn orange. Eggplant will be a deep purple (or white). The point is that when the fruit reaches its zenith of color, it's usually the right time to collect seeds. Often the fruit loses its best flavor and texture at the same time.

At that point cut open the fruit and scoop out the seeds to remove them from the fruit. The seeds will usually need to be scrubbed, rinsed, or fermented to completely separate them from the pulp. You want to get individual seeds that can be dried and saved.

Scooping out cucumber seeds

You can expect that all seeds will need to be separated from some type of covering. Whether it's a pod, husk, cluster, or pulpy fruit, the covering needs to go so only the seed remains. Depending on the plant and seed type this process will vary. I'll cover the different ways for isolating the seeds and preparing them for saving in my next article.

Collecting seeds involves just a few steps. Let the plant produce seeds, allow the seeds to mature, remove the seed and its covering from the plant, then separate the seed from its covering. Most of the work is done by the plant while you wait and do other gardening chores. When the process is complete you're left with seeds ready to sow the next season or share with fellow gardeners. A saved or shared seed has a definable history that you may not discover in anonymous seed from a retail package.

Knowing where my seed comes from and being part of the process brings me even more in touch with the plants I grow. For an avid gardener, collecting seeds is as much a part of the gardening experience as amending soil with my own compost, using reclaimed organic mulch, practicing integrated pest management, or any of the many other beneficial garden practices available.

Saving seeds from the garden is easy, very cost effective, and allows you to selectively grow quality plants. There are many activities that gardeners consider standard tasks for a successful garden, like soil preparation, irrigation, fertilization, weeding, and fall clean up. I don't put my garden to rest at the end of the season until I've added "collecting seeds" to my chore list.

Vetch pods with seeds

The first step in saving seeds is to let the plant do what it is programmed to do. Let the plant develop seeds. Many gardeners snip off the flowers of their herbs, pull up cool season plants that have started to bolt, and harvest root vegetables in their first year. These are normal gardening practices and there is nothing wrong with them, but they eliminate an opportunity to continue growing the same plants in the next year with free seeds.

All plants will produce seeds. Identifying the part of the plant that contains the seed is usually elementary, but varies by plant. Look for the seed in or near the flower. For flowers that turn into edible fruit, (like tomatoes, peppers, squash, tree fruit, peas, beans), look for the seed inside the fruit. For plants that offer up another part to eat, (like roots, stems, leaves), look for the seed to develop in the flower itself; carrots, beets, radishes, celery, rhubarb, chard, spinach, lettuce, and kale all produce seeds in their flowers. Ornamental perennials usually produce seeds in flowers too.

Sunflowers produce obvious seeds

Collecting the seeds is simple, but determining when to collect them may not be. For a seed to be viable and able to grow into a plant, it needs to be fully formed. Just because a seed looks like a seed doesn't mean it is ready to sow. The key is knowing when it should be collected. Basically, let the seed or fruit that contains the seed remain on the plant as long as possible to help it mature appropriately.

Green beans drying on the plant

Seeds will be either wet or dry at maturity. Wet seeds are the ones surrounded by fleshy or pulpy plant material of a fully mature fruit. These are the fruit parts that we often eat, including the seeds. Seeds in tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, and many squashes are wet and usually require effort to separate them from the flesh or pulp. A completely ripe fruit will provide viable seeds.

Though some seeds are the goal of the harvest, like peas and beans, they are not suitable for saving and sowing in their young, edible phase. These are actually dry seeds from a collecting perspective. For them to be fully formed and ready for sowing, they should be left on the plant until the pod dries out and the seed begins to dry.

Pea pods drying on the plant

Seeds that develop directly from a flower are dry seeds too. They should remain on the plant until the pod or husk that forms is completely dry. Many seeds can be collected slightly early, before completely drying, and they'll continue to mature, but some, like plants in the mustard family, will not. It is best to leave developing seeds on the plants as long as possible.

While wet seeds are gathered wet, the key to dry seeds is that they dry on the plant and remain dry until sowing later. If sustained rain, snow, or fog threatens when it's time to collect seeds, it's better to gather them while dry, or in a stage of drying, than to run the risk of mold and rot setting in. Dry seeds can be damaged or ruined if moisture permeates them at maturity.

Collecting seeds isn't much different than harvesting fruit and vegetables. I enter my garden with a paper bag already marked with the type of seed I'm collecting. Then I snip, pluck, or break off the seed cluster into the bag. I focus on one plant and try to harvest all of the seeds before moving on to another.

Collecting radish seed pods

Some seeds, particularly large ones, can be easy to collect. Pea and bean pods are easy to grab and break off from the plant; radishes offer up nice little pods too. Corn cobs are one of the biggest seed containers you'll gather.

Seeds that develop in clusters from little flowers are slightly more effort. Cutting off the entire cluster is usually the easiest way. Dill, parsnip, and cilantro produce little umbrellas of seeds that are easy to cut off. Spinach, basil, and thyme produce little seeds along the stem and are easiest to gather by cutting off that part of the plant. Onions and leeks produce globes of seeds and the entire ball can be cut off.

Leek flowers with seeds at the tips

After I've collected dry seeds, whether in pods or clusters, I fold over the top of the paper bag and store it along with the others in a cool, dry place. In my case that's on shelves in my garage. I'll leave them in the bags to finish drying completely. When they're ready, the seeds will need to be separated from the protective coverings.

Bags of collected seeds

For the wet seeds, it's a similar process, with a few key differences. The seeds are still collected from their pod or cluster, but it's in a moist, robust form like a cucumber, tomato, or squash. If you attempt to let the fruit dry out to collect the seeds you'll end up with a stinky, mushy goo before the seeds are ready. Wet seeds are best separated from the fruit and allowed to dry individually.

Most of these fruits will change color as a sign that the seeds are ready to harvest; they will no longer be green. Tomatoes will be a deep red (or orange, yellow, or purple depending on the type). Peppers will turn red. Pumpkins will turn orange. Cucumbers will turn orange. Eggplant will be a deep purple (or white). The point is that when the fruit reaches its zenith of color, it's usually the right time to collect seeds. Often the fruit loses its best flavor and texture at the same time.

At that point cut open the fruit and scoop out the seeds to remove them from the fruit. The seeds will usually need to be scrubbed, rinsed, or fermented to completely separate them from the pulp. You want to get individual seeds that can be dried and saved.

Scooping out cucumber seeds

You can expect that all seeds will need to be separated from some type of covering. Whether it's a pod, husk, cluster, or pulpy fruit, the covering needs to go so only the seed remains. Depending on the plant and seed type this process will vary. I'll cover the different ways for isolating the seeds and preparing them for saving in my next article.

Collecting seeds involves just a few steps. Let the plant produce seeds, allow the seeds to mature, remove the seed and its covering from the plant, then separate the seed from its covering. Most of the work is done by the plant while you wait and do other gardening chores. When the process is complete you're left with seeds ready to sow the next season or share with fellow gardeners. A saved or shared seed has a definable history that you may not discover in anonymous seed from a retail package.

Knowing where my seed comes from and being part of the process brings me even more in touch with the plants I grow. For an avid gardener, collecting seeds is as much a part of the gardening experience as amending soil with my own compost, using reclaimed organic mulch, practicing integrated pest management, or any of the many other beneficial garden practices available.

How to Save Plant Seeds, Part 1

Saving seeds from your garden is easy. With very little time and effort you can save yourself much time and money. I've been collecting seeds in my gardens for years and consider it one of the most important aspects of gardening.

Rhubarb going to seed

Saving plant seeds can reduce some gardening costs dramatically. Last year I spent over $100 on seeds for my vegetable garden. This year I spent nothing. Granted, last year was the first major planting of my new, big, vegetable garden. And this year I sowed many of the seeds left over from last year's big purchase.  But sowing seeds that I collected enabled me to continue growing plants that do well in my garden, at no additional cost.

I've grown green pole beans in my garden for about 12 years. The only time I bought green pole bean seeds was about 12 years ago. At the end of each summer I save some of the bean seeds and the next year I plant them. I foresee repeating this process until I'm no longer able to stick my finger in the soil. One purchase of green pole bean seeds over a decade ago has produced a legacy of innumerable plants and dozens of jars of pickled green beans.

My green beans

Vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers all produce seeds that can be saved and sown. If you discover a plant that you like, that performs well in your garden, or that has expensive seeds, you may be able to continue growing it at no additional cost.

At this point it's important to discuss important concerns about saving and sowing garden seeds. First, some plants are patented. A plant patent protects the rights of its inventor and prohibits reproducing the plant asexually. That means you aren't legally authorized to propagate such a plant from cuttings, divisions, grafts, buds, and all other asexual propagation methods. However, seeds are a sexual form of propagation and aren't covered under patent protection. Therefore, some gardeners hope to reproduce patented plants from seeds.

This raises an important second concern of collecting seeds. Seeds from hybrid plants will not grow true to the parent plant. A hybrid plant is almost every one with a fancy, copyrighted name. Virtually every patented plant is a hybrid. Plants with extraordinary color, shape, size, and growth characteristics are often hybrids.

Hybrid plants are created by cross pollinating two parent plants. The resulting hybrid offspring may have characteristics of the parents or may have completely different attributes. Because of genetic variation, the seeds of these hybrids will produce a mix of offspring that may not resemble the hybrid parent at all. To produce an exact reproduction of a hybrid plant, asexual reproduction is necessary; hence, the legal limitations of patent protection.

The only way to be ensure the seed you collect will grow into the plant you're trying to reproduce is to collect seeds from "open-pollinated" or "heirloom" plants.

Open-pollinated plants are the ones you see all around you in nature. The flowers bloom, insects and wind transfer the pollen to other flowers, seeds develop, and those seeds grow into the same kind of plants to start the process all over again. Collecting and sowing open-pollinated seeds will usually produce replicas of the parent plant.

"Heirloom" is the name that the gardening industry has given to these kind of plants. Many plant growers and nurseries recognized long ago the value in producing seeds and plants with consistent characteristics. Seeds from heirloom plants can be saved and when sown will grow into the same plant. Thankfully, heirloom plants aren't patented.

It's also important to recognize the biggest limitation with collecting seeds from open-pollinated plants: they open pollinate.  That means that if you're growing one heirloom tomato next to another heirloom tomato, they will cross pollinate. The seeds will produce hybrid plants and may not resemble either of the parent heirloom plants. If you want to collect true seeds from open-pollinated plants you need to be sure they haven't been compromised or contaminated by another, similar plant.

With a focus on collecting open-pollinated plant seeds, the next thing to know is how the plant produces seeds. Annual, biennial, and perennial plants will all provide seeds, but not all in the same way.

Annual plants complete their life cycles in one year. They grow from seed, mature, flower, set seed, and die. Many of our garden plants fall into this category: tomatoes, peppers, squash, peas, beans, cucumbers, lettuce, basil, dill, cilantro. You'll be able to collect these seeds the same year you plant.

Biennial plants have a two-year life cycle. They grow from seed, mature, lie dormant in winter, grow, flower, set seed, and die. Many of the biennial plants we grow in the vegetable garden are harvested before they produce seeds:  parsley, carrots, beets, onions, and parsnips will only seed when left in the ground for a full year. Flowering plants like Black-eyed Susan, Foxglove, Forget-Me-Nots, Sweet William, and some Hollyhocks are biennials. You have to wait a year to harvest seeds from these plants

Parsnips setting seed in their 2nd year

Perennial plants live longer than two years. They grow from seed and mature, but may take a few years before they flower and set seeds. Once they do, they can be expected to flower virtually every year. In the vegetable garden, asparagus, artichoke, and rhubarb are the ones most gardeners know (I treat horseradish as a perennial too, leaving it to return each year and harvesting as needed). The number of perennial flowering plants is too numerous to list.

Plants flower and produce fruit after pollination. The fruit may be large and edible or small and almost imperceptible. In many perennial flowers the fruit isn't much more than an enlargement at the base of the flower where the ovary is. Some fruit may be pods with the seeds inside. Some may be husks. Some may connect to feathers or parachutes. Most of the fruit we eat has seeds inside (with the exception of strawberries); in some the seeds are edible (pomegranate) and in others they may be toxic (peaches).

Regardless of how big the fruit or how big the seed, the process of saving seeds is basic. You remove the seeds from the fruit, allow them to dry, place them in a clean container, label them, and store them in a cool, dry location. Some seeds will only remain viable for one year while others remain viable for centuries; it all depends on the plant.

Many seeds need exposure to cold temperatures before germination, also known as vernalization. If the seed you're saving is from a perennial that can handle cold, hard winters, it probably needs to be stored in temperatures below 50F degrees (10C) for a period of time. Usually, four to six weeks in a refrigerator is enough. I store my seeds in an unheated garage or shed through the winter.

I'll cover the procedures of how to collect and save specific seeds from a variety of plants in my next article.

While I save many seeds and grow much of my garden from them, I'm not advocating that you take business away from nurseries and seed companies.

In exchange for the opportunity to begin growing a new heirloom plant from a seed that a seed company provides, I'm more than willing to let them sell me hybrid seeds that I can't reproduce. There are also many heirloom plants that don't do well in my garden, but I don't know that until I've tried. The price of that seed is written off as a failed experiment.

If I can save seeds from a plant I've grown successfully and reproduce it in the future at no additional cost, I will. But this represents just one aspect of gardening costs. I'm continually on the lookout for new plants to try in my garden. Some are heirlooms and some are hybrids. Some are seeds and some are plants. Each year I try new things. While I didn't buy any seeds this year, I did buy a number of plants.

Saving seeds spotlights the ability of the gardener to find a specific plant that can be grown year after year with continued success in an individual garden. In my garden, only dill, cilantro, beans, and pumpkins are plants that I grow every year from saved seeds. This year I've also collected seeds from cucumbers, radishes, leeks, parsnips, shallots, beets, peas, vetch, and spinach. Some of those may return for years to come and some may fade away.

I'll continue saving seeds and sowing them in an effort to find plants that provide me what I want, whether it be fruit, flowers, or some other result. It would be great to find another plant like the green beans that I've come to love so much for the many years of pickled green beans they produced.

Saving plant seeds doesn't take much effort, but can pay huge dividends. Join me in my next article to find out more about it.

Saving seeds from your garden is easy. With very little time and effort you can save yourself much time and money. I've been collecting seeds in my gardens for years and consider it one of the most important aspects of gardening.

Rhubarb going to seed

Saving plant seeds can reduce some gardening costs dramatically. Last year I spent over $100 on seeds for my vegetable garden. This year I spent nothing. Granted, last year was the first major planting of my new, big, vegetable garden. And this year I sowed many of the seeds left over from last year's big purchase.  But sowing seeds that I collected enabled me to continue growing plants that do well in my garden, at no additional cost.

I've grown green pole beans in my garden for about 12 years. The only time I bought green pole bean seeds was about 12 years ago. At the end of each summer I save some of the bean seeds and the next year I plant them. I foresee repeating this process until I'm no longer able to stick my finger in the soil. One purchase of green pole bean seeds over a decade ago has produced a legacy of innumerable plants and dozens of jars of pickled green beans.

My green beans

Vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers all produce seeds that can be saved and sown. If you discover a plant that you like, that performs well in your garden, or that has expensive seeds, you may be able to continue growing it at no additional cost.

At this point it's important to discuss important concerns about saving and sowing garden seeds. First, some plants are patented. A plant patent protects the rights of its inventor and prohibits reproducing the plant asexually. That means you aren't legally authorized to propagate such a plant from cuttings, divisions, grafts, buds, and all other asexual propagation methods. However, seeds are a sexual form of propagation and aren't covered under patent protection. Therefore, some gardeners hope to reproduce patented plants from seeds.

This raises an important second concern of collecting seeds. Seeds from hybrid plants will not grow true to the parent plant. A hybrid plant is almost every one with a fancy, copyrighted name. Virtually every patented plant is a hybrid. Plants with extraordinary color, shape, size, and growth characteristics are often hybrids.

Hybrid plants are created by cross pollinating two parent plants. The resulting hybrid offspring may have characteristics of the parents or may have completely different attributes. Because of genetic variation, the seeds of these hybrids will produce a mix of offspring that may not resemble the hybrid parent at all. To produce an exact reproduction of a hybrid plant, asexual reproduction is necessary; hence, the legal limitations of patent protection.

The only way to be ensure the seed you collect will grow into the plant you're trying to reproduce is to collect seeds from "open-pollinated" or "heirloom" plants.

Open-pollinated plants are the ones you see all around you in nature. The flowers bloom, insects and wind transfer the pollen to other flowers, seeds develop, and those seeds grow into the same kind of plants to start the process all over again. Collecting and sowing open-pollinated seeds will usually produce replicas of the parent plant.

"Heirloom" is the name that the gardening industry has given to these kind of plants. Many plant growers and nurseries recognized long ago the value in producing seeds and plants with consistent characteristics. Seeds from heirloom plants can be saved and when sown will grow into the same plant. Thankfully, heirloom plants aren't patented.

It's also important to recognize the biggest limitation with collecting seeds from open-pollinated plants: they open pollinate.  That means that if you're growing one heirloom tomato next to another heirloom tomato, they will cross pollinate. The seeds will produce hybrid plants and may not resemble either of the parent heirloom plants. If you want to collect true seeds from open-pollinated plants you need to be sure they haven't been compromised or contaminated by another, similar plant.

With a focus on collecting open-pollinated plant seeds, the next thing to know is how the plant produces seeds. Annual, biennial, and perennial plants will all provide seeds, but not all in the same way.

Annual plants complete their life cycles in one year. They grow from seed, mature, flower, set seed, and die. Many of our garden plants fall into this category: tomatoes, peppers, squash, peas, beans, cucumbers, lettuce, basil, dill, cilantro. You'll be able to collect these seeds the same year you plant.

Biennial plants have a two-year life cycle. They grow from seed, mature, lie dormant in winter, grow, flower, set seed, and die. Many of the biennial plants we grow in the vegetable garden are harvested before they produce seeds:  parsley, carrots, beets, onions, and parsnips will only seed when left in the ground for a full year. Flowering plants like Black-eyed Susan, Foxglove, Forget-Me-Nots, Sweet William, and some Hollyhocks are biennials. You have to wait a year to harvest seeds from these plants

Parsnips setting seed in their 2nd year

Perennial plants live longer than two years. They grow from seed and mature, but may take a few years before they flower and set seeds. Once they do, they can be expected to flower virtually every year. In the vegetable garden, asparagus, artichoke, and rhubarb are the ones most gardeners know (I treat horseradish as a perennial too, leaving it to return each year and harvesting as needed). The number of perennial flowering plants is too numerous to list.

Plants flower and produce fruit after pollination. The fruit may be large and edible or small and almost imperceptible. In many perennial flowers the fruit isn't much more than an enlargement at the base of the flower where the ovary is. Some fruit may be pods with the seeds inside. Some may be husks. Some may connect to feathers or parachutes. Most of the fruit we eat has seeds inside (with the exception of strawberries); in some the seeds are edible (pomegranate) and in others they may be toxic (peaches).

Regardless of how big the fruit or how big the seed, the process of saving seeds is basic. You remove the seeds from the fruit, allow them to dry, place them in a clean container, label them, and store them in a cool, dry location. Some seeds will only remain viable for one year while others remain viable for centuries; it all depends on the plant.

Many seeds need exposure to cold temperatures before germination, also known as vernalization. If the seed you're saving is from a perennial that can handle cold, hard winters, it probably needs to be stored in temperatures below 50F degrees (10C) for a period of time. Usually, four to six weeks in a refrigerator is enough. I store my seeds in an unheated garage or shed through the winter.

I'll cover the procedures of how to collect and save specific seeds from a variety of plants in my next article.

While I save many seeds and grow much of my garden from them, I'm not advocating that you take business away from nurseries and seed companies.

In exchange for the opportunity to begin growing a new heirloom plant from a seed that a seed company provides, I'm more than willing to let them sell me hybrid seeds that I can't reproduce. There are also many heirloom plants that don't do well in my garden, but I don't know that until I've tried. The price of that seed is written off as a failed experiment.

If I can save seeds from a plant I've grown successfully and reproduce it in the future at no additional cost, I will. But this represents just one aspect of gardening costs. I'm continually on the lookout for new plants to try in my garden. Some are heirlooms and some are hybrids. Some are seeds and some are plants. Each year I try new things. While I didn't buy any seeds this year, I did buy a number of plants.

Saving seeds spotlights the ability of the gardener to find a specific plant that can be grown year after year with continued success in an individual garden. In my garden, only dill, cilantro, beans, and pumpkins are plants that I grow every year from saved seeds. This year I've also collected seeds from cucumbers, radishes, leeks, parsnips, shallots, beets, peas, vetch, and spinach. Some of those may return for years to come and some may fade away.

I'll continue saving seeds and sowing them in an effort to find plants that provide me what I want, whether it be fruit, flowers, or some other result. It would be great to find another plant like the green beans that I've come to love so much for the many years of pickled green beans they produced.

Saving plant seeds doesn't take much effort, but can pay huge dividends. Join me in my next article to find out more about it.

Compare Seed Packets

Not all seeds and seed mixes are equal, but some are more equal that others. When it comes time to make a seed purchase, take a few minutes to analyze the seeds and make an informed decision. Spoiler alert: there's math involved.

For a demonstration, I purchased three different sizes of wildflower seed mixes from local garden centers. The flowers that result after sowing are very similar in the different mixes so for our purposes they're the same blend. But even for seed mixes that are alike, packet quantity and prices can vary dramatically.

A sampling of seed mixes

A 7 gram wildflower mix packet cost about $2 US (30 cents per gram), a 113 gram packet cost about $5 (4.5 cents per gram) and  a 640 gram bag cost about $10 (1.5 cents per gram). That's quite a difference in cost effectiveness and at first glance, the big bag is clearly the best deal.

Closer analysis shows less of a difference. On the back of the seed packets or bags you'll find a label that lists the specific seeds contained and the composition of the mix. While the 640 gram bag lists an impressive array of flowers, it also shows that 95.89% of the mix is inert matter, walnut hulls. Only 4.11% of the seed mix is actually seeds. The actual flower seed weight is 30 grams. That makes the cost for those seeds about 33 cents per gram.

Walnuts are listed on the label

That's a surprise. The smallest packet, which seemed to be the most expensive, is now less costly. It's 30 cents versus 33 cents per gram, a 10 percent difference.

The 113 gram packet reveals that there is 81.25% inert material and only 21 grams of actual seed in the box. That makes the cost of those seeds about 24 cents per gram. The middle size packet is about one-fourth as expensive as the other two.

This may be the best deal

So why is there such a disparity in price? Why are there three different sizes in the first place? And what's with the inert matter?

For the most part it comes down to how we gardeners sow our seeds. The seed distributors have designed the seed packets to match the needs of the consumer. A problem arises in that many of the consumer gardeners don't know what their needs really are.

I'm here to help. Let's start by comparing the two larger sizes, with inert matter in the mixes. The middle size, the one that is obviously the best relative price, says that it will "plant" 50 to 75 square feet. The largest bag, the most expensive, says it will "cover" up to 1000 square feet. What?!

The largest bag has just 50 percent more seed but will cover up to 2000 percent more space?! At first glance that doesn't make much sense. But that's where the walnut hulls come into play. The bits of walnut act as little spacers to make sowing more effective. Believe it or not, fewer seeds can actually cover a larger area when you add fillers to the mix.

Have you sown individual seeds in a furrow or over open soil? Ever notice that the seeds tend to clump together? You get a couple seeds side by side in one spot, maybe three or four close together some place else, and unevenly spaced seeds everywhere. It's usually not a big deal because we know that thinning out the little seedlings is part of gardening. After the seeds sprout we go back and pluck out the seedlings that are too close to others so that they are more evenly spaced. Sure, it's a waste of seed, but that's the way gardeners do it.

When you have inert matter in a seed mix and sow the same way, now there's a better chance that when the little bits hit the soil and they clump together a part of the mass will be seed and part will be the inert matter. The higher the percentage of inert matter, the higher the possibility that individual seeds will be separate from each other. The middle-size seed packet has fewer seeds and less filler than the big bag, but when you sow the seed mix it will separate in a similar way.

A visual inspection of the mixes shows a difference in the size of the inert matter. The big bag, with larger distribution capability, has much larger chunks of walnut hulls than the middle box which appears to have little pieces of corn cob. Similar size piles of the mixes shows a distribution of many more seeds when the inert matter is small. The bag with big chunks of walnut hulls actually had comparatively few seeds in a pile.

Bigger filler means fewer seeds in a pile

So the big pieces of filler separate the seeds better and when you sow the mix you can expect wide distribution of the seeds. The big bag of seeds is designed to "cover" a very large area, in this case up to 1000 square feet. The bag itself has a built-in plastic baffle to help spread the seeds even more effectively. For a large space you can swing the bag, spread the seed, and expect that you'll have flowers pop up throughout the area. An actual count of of the flowers that germinate will show that you'll only have about 50 percent more than in the smaller area that the middle box is designed to "plant", the same difference as the total seed quantity.

Let's get back to the small packet that is 100 percent seed. The distribution of the seed is only as good as your fingers can control. Theoretically, the seed can cover up to 250 square feet; it's about a quarter of the actual seed count of the big bag that can do 1000 square feet. Try as I might, I don't think I can take a handful of small seeds and evenly spread it over such a large zone.

I might be able to get closer to 25 square feet; the pure seed is about one-third the amount as the middle-size mix and that's one-third the coverage to "plant" the 75 square feet on the label. Looking at the number of seeds in the packet, I think it's a pretty good estimate of the seed coverage. However, I'd be lucky to not dump all the seed in one clump on the soil.

Pure seed is harder to sow evenly

So now we get down to the terminology on the seed packets and how we intend to sow the seed. The big seed mix bag will "cover" up to 1000 square feet. That means that you can spread the mix and expect that you'll get a fairly even distribution of flowers separated over a large area. You've "covered" that space with the seed and inert matter mix, but haven't filled it with plants.

The middle mix will "plant" up to 75 square feet. Again you'll get even distribution of separated flowers, but you can expect that they'll grow closer together. This may be what you want if you're looking for a space to be filled by plants.

The small packet of pure seed gives you the greatest control over how thick your planting becomes. There is no guidance on the label for expected coverage, it's up to you. If you want well-spaced plants you can try and broadcast the seed over a large area. If you want plants close to each other you can sow in a small space and thin seedlings as needed.

Three sizes of seed mix means three different ways to sow and three different outcomes of flower spacing. Comparing these three packets, you pay more for the privilege of covering a large area or to have control over sowing a smaller area. The best price, the middle size, may actually be the best deal also. For a gardener looking to sow an average size bed of 50 to 75 square feet, that mix should provide even seed distribution and effectively fill the bed with plants.

For a smaller bed it makes sense to buy the smaller packet and try to get even distribution by hand. For a very large area it makes sense to pay more for the ability to evenly distribute the seed.

It comes down to you and what you want to do with the seed. Before you make your seed purchase based on cost alone, take a look at labels and compare them. Find the seed packet that most closely matches how you sow and your desired outcome. In the long run you'll probably save yourself time, effort, and money.

Not all seeds and seed mixes are equal, but some are more equal that others. When it comes time to make a seed purchase, take a few minutes to analyze the seeds and make an informed decision. Spoiler alert: there's math involved.

For a demonstration, I purchased three different sizes of wildflower seed mixes from local garden centers. The flowers that result after sowing are very similar in the different mixes so for our purposes they're the same blend. But even for seed mixes that are alike, packet quantity and prices can vary dramatically.

A sampling of seed mixes

A 7 gram wildflower mix packet cost about $2 US (30 cents per gram), a 113 gram packet cost about $5 (4.5 cents per gram) and  a 640 gram bag cost about $10 (1.5 cents per gram). That's quite a difference in cost effectiveness and at first glance, the big bag is clearly the best deal.

Closer analysis shows less of a difference. On the back of the seed packets or bags you'll find a label that lists the specific seeds contained and the composition of the mix. While the 640 gram bag lists an impressive array of flowers, it also shows that 95.89% of the mix is inert matter, walnut hulls. Only 4.11% of the seed mix is actually seeds. The actual flower seed weight is 30 grams. That makes the cost for those seeds about 33 cents per gram.

Walnuts are listed on the label

That's a surprise. The smallest packet, which seemed to be the most expensive, is now less costly. It's 30 cents versus 33 cents per gram, a 10 percent difference.

The 113 gram packet reveals that there is 81.25% inert material and only 21 grams of actual seed in the box. That makes the cost of those seeds about 24 cents per gram. The middle size packet is about one-fourth as expensive as the other two.

This may be the best deal

So why is there such a disparity in price? Why are there three different sizes in the first place? And what's with the inert matter?

For the most part it comes down to how we gardeners sow our seeds. The seed distributors have designed the seed packets to match the needs of the consumer. A problem arises in that many of the consumer gardeners don't know what their needs really are.

I'm here to help. Let's start by comparing the two larger sizes, with inert matter in the mixes. The middle size, the one that is obviously the best relative price, says that it will "plant" 50 to 75 square feet. The largest bag, the most expensive, says it will "cover" up to 1000 square feet. What?!

The largest bag has just 50 percent more seed but will cover up to 2000 percent more space?! At first glance that doesn't make much sense. But that's where the walnut hulls come into play. The bits of walnut act as little spacers to make sowing more effective. Believe it or not, fewer seeds can actually cover a larger area when you add fillers to the mix.

Have you sown individual seeds in a furrow or over open soil? Ever notice that the seeds tend to clump together? You get a couple seeds side by side in one spot, maybe three or four close together some place else, and unevenly spaced seeds everywhere. It's usually not a big deal because we know that thinning out the little seedlings is part of gardening. After the seeds sprout we go back and pluck out the seedlings that are too close to others so that they are more evenly spaced. Sure, it's a waste of seed, but that's the way gardeners do it.

When you have inert matter in a seed mix and sow the same way, now there's a better chance that when the little bits hit the soil and they clump together a part of the mass will be seed and part will be the inert matter. The higher the percentage of inert matter, the higher the possibility that individual seeds will be separate from each other. The middle-size seed packet has fewer seeds and less filler than the big bag, but when you sow the seed mix it will separate in a similar way.

A visual inspection of the mixes shows a difference in the size of the inert matter. The big bag, with larger distribution capability, has much larger chunks of walnut hulls than the middle box which appears to have little pieces of corn cob. Similar size piles of the mixes shows a distribution of many more seeds when the inert matter is small. The bag with big chunks of walnut hulls actually had comparatively few seeds in a pile.

Bigger filler means fewer seeds in a pile

So the big pieces of filler separate the seeds better and when you sow the mix you can expect wide distribution of the seeds. The big bag of seeds is designed to "cover" a very large area, in this case up to 1000 square feet. The bag itself has a built-in plastic baffle to help spread the seeds even more effectively. For a large space you can swing the bag, spread the seed, and expect that you'll have flowers pop up throughout the area. An actual count of of the flowers that germinate will show that you'll only have about 50 percent more than in the smaller area that the middle box is designed to "plant", the same difference as the total seed quantity.

Let's get back to the small packet that is 100 percent seed. The distribution of the seed is only as good as your fingers can control. Theoretically, the seed can cover up to 250 square feet; it's about a quarter of the actual seed count of the big bag that can do 1000 square feet. Try as I might, I don't think I can take a handful of small seeds and evenly spread it over such a large zone.

I might be able to get closer to 25 square feet; the pure seed is about one-third the amount as the middle-size mix and that's one-third the coverage to "plant" the 75 square feet on the label. Looking at the number of seeds in the packet, I think it's a pretty good estimate of the seed coverage. However, I'd be lucky to not dump all the seed in one clump on the soil.

Pure seed is harder to sow evenly

So now we get down to the terminology on the seed packets and how we intend to sow the seed. The big seed mix bag will "cover" up to 1000 square feet. That means that you can spread the mix and expect that you'll get a fairly even distribution of flowers separated over a large area. You've "covered" that space with the seed and inert matter mix, but haven't filled it with plants.

The middle mix will "plant" up to 75 square feet. Again you'll get even distribution of separated flowers, but you can expect that they'll grow closer together. This may be what you want if you're looking for a space to be filled by plants.

The small packet of pure seed gives you the greatest control over how thick your planting becomes. There is no guidance on the label for expected coverage, it's up to you. If you want well-spaced plants you can try and broadcast the seed over a large area. If you want plants close to each other you can sow in a small space and thin seedlings as needed.

Three sizes of seed mix means three different ways to sow and three different outcomes of flower spacing. Comparing these three packets, you pay more for the privilege of covering a large area or to have control over sowing a smaller area. The best price, the middle size, may actually be the best deal also. For a gardener looking to sow an average size bed of 50 to 75 square feet, that mix should provide even seed distribution and effectively fill the bed with plants.

For a smaller bed it makes sense to buy the smaller packet and try to get even distribution by hand. For a very large area it makes sense to pay more for the ability to evenly distribute the seed.

It comes down to you and what you want to do with the seed. Before you make your seed purchase based on cost alone, take a look at labels and compare them. Find the seed packet that most closely matches how you sow and your desired outcome. In the long run you'll probably save yourself time, effort, and money.

How to Make Seed Balls From Recycled Paper

Making seed balls is a great garden project for gardeners of all ages. A seed ball is a small object that packs seeds together with a growing medium for planting. The concept is accredited to Masanobu Fukuoko, a Japanese farmer and philosopher who developed the basic formula of mixing clay with humus or compost, and seeds. The balls can be sown in a "natural farming" method where soil tilling isn't necessary. The seed balls are thrown or laid on the soil and nature's rains dissolve them to reveal and germinate the seeds.

Last week I wrote about "seed bombs" and how to make them. Seed bombs are essentially seed balls with a sometimes nefarious purpose. The clay and compost balls are tossed into vacant city lots or barren fields and flowers and grasses sprout depending on the seed in the seed bomb.

For a more aesthetic seed ball, a family gardening project, and a fun gift idea, consider making seed balls from recycled paper. Instead of clay and compost, paper holds the seeds together in the ball.

Heart-shaped seed balls

When water is added to paper it can be pulverized to a pulp. Seed is mixed with the paper pulp and turned into seed balls. These seed balls can be formed into many different shapes and made in many different colors.

To make the pulp you'll need a blender or food processor. I recommend using one that is old and not regularly used for your meals. Inks in the paper will be transferred to the plastic and are hard to clean. I purchased a used food processor from Goodwill for a few dollars. It's now dedicated to the task of making seed balls.

The paper needs to be torn or shredded before adding to the blender. If you pack in a wad of paper and then add water you'll probably burn up the motor pretty quickly. Smaller paper pieces work better.

I began with four full sheets (four pages each) of newspaper and ran the newspaper through my paper shredder. I've also used shredded bills and junk mail to make seed balls. The shredded paper breaks apart easily in the blender when water is added.

Shredded paper before blending

Working in batches, put the torn or shredded paper in the blender and add water. I've found that soaking the paper in a tub of water before adding it to the blender helps it break apart easier. Even if it was soaked beforehand you'll still need to add water to the blender.

We're talking about a lot of water. The four sheets of newspaper required cups and cups of water. I tried measuring to develop a precise recipe but stopped after the first batch. A couple handfuls of shredded paper required more than two cups of water.

The paper needs to turn into a mushy mash. The blades of the blender or food processor will rip the paper into shreds only when it is overly saturated. If you don't use enough water you'll get a clump that just bounces around the blender or stays in one place, not breaking apart. Add more water as the blender is blending until you get the paper thoroughly disintegrated and a mushy pulp develops.

Blended pulp

Remove the pulp and set it in a bowl or put it into a colander to allow some of the water to drip out. Continue blending all your paper and water in small batches until all of it is pulp.

At this point try to remove a good part of the water by pressing the pulp with your hands. Discard the water or save it for another batch. With the pulp very damp, but not dripping water, transfer it to your mixing bowl.

Moist pulp

I added 1/4 cup of wildflower seeds to the entire pulpy mass that four sheets of newspaper produced. Using my hands I kneaded it all together like making bread dough. You want the seeds to be fully mixed into the paper pulp.

Adding seed

When it's all incorporated, takes small pieces of the mix and press them into molds, into cookie cutters, or form them with your hands into balls. I find that using small cookie cutters give you a greater variety of shapes to choose from. Keep adding the pulp and seed mixture until the mold is filled.

Pressing the pulp into the mold

The seed balls will need to dry so removing as much water as you can at this point will accelerate the entire process. Begin by compacting the paper as much as you can to force water out and then soak up the water with paper towels or newspaper. These blotting materials can be turned into more seed balls later on.

Blotting excess water

Gently remove the seed balls from your mold and let them dry for a few days. Removing them allows you to use the mold for the next batch and also give the seed balls exposed surface area for drying. They'll expand slightly in the process.

Silicone molds make removal easier

By using water tinted with a few drops of food coloring you can get seed balls of any color you like. You can also try shredding colored paper and mixing that with water. Varying the shapes and colors provides wonderful gift opportunities.

Tinted seed balls drying

While seed balls made with clay and compost can be thrown on the soil surface and will sprout, seed balls made with recycled paper work best when planted in pots beneath a thin layer of potting soil. The decorative shapes and colors make the planting a fun activity for kids.

Making seed balls with recycled paper works well on many levels. You reuse waste materials while adding fun to planting. It's not as messy as the clay seed balls can be and the finished products look better. The entire project takes just a few minutes and the paper seed balls can be stored for months before giving away or being planted.

If you're looking for a fun gardening project, try making recycled paper seed balls.


For more info, read "How to Make Seed Bombs."

Making seed balls is a great garden project for gardeners of all ages. A seed ball is a small object that packs seeds together with a growing medium for planting. The concept is accredited to Masanobu Fukuoko, a Japanese farmer and philosopher who developed the basic formula of mixing clay with humus or compost, and seeds. The balls can be sown in a "natural farming" method where soil tilling isn't necessary. The seed balls are thrown or laid on the soil and nature's rains dissolve them to reveal and germinate the seeds.

Last week I wrote about "seed bombs" and how to make them. Seed bombs are essentially seed balls with a sometimes nefarious purpose. The clay and compost balls are tossed into vacant city lots or barren fields and flowers and grasses sprout depending on the seed in the seed bomb.

For a more aesthetic seed ball, a family gardening project, and a fun gift idea, consider making seed balls from recycled paper. Instead of clay and compost, paper holds the seeds together in the ball.

Heart-shaped seed balls

When water is added to paper it can be pulverized to a pulp. Seed is mixed with the paper pulp and turned into seed balls. These seed balls can be formed into many different shapes and made in many different colors.

To make the pulp you'll need a blender or food processor. I recommend using one that is old and not regularly used for your meals. Inks in the paper will be transferred to the plastic and are hard to clean. I purchased a used food processor from Goodwill for a few dollars. It's now dedicated to the task of making seed balls.

The paper needs to be torn or shredded before adding to the blender. If you pack in a wad of paper and then add water you'll probably burn up the motor pretty quickly. Smaller paper pieces work better.

I began with four full sheets (four pages each) of newspaper and ran the newspaper through my paper shredder. I've also used shredded bills and junk mail to make seed balls. The shredded paper breaks apart easily in the blender when water is added.

Shredded paper before blending

Working in batches, put the torn or shredded paper in the blender and add water. I've found that soaking the paper in a tub of water before adding it to the blender helps it break apart easier. Even if it was soaked beforehand you'll still need to add water to the blender.

We're talking about a lot of water. The four sheets of newspaper required cups and cups of water. I tried measuring to develop a precise recipe but stopped after the first batch. A couple handfuls of shredded paper required more than two cups of water.

The paper needs to turn into a mushy mash. The blades of the blender or food processor will rip the paper into shreds only when it is overly saturated. If you don't use enough water you'll get a clump that just bounces around the blender or stays in one place, not breaking apart. Add more water as the blender is blending until you get the paper thoroughly disintegrated and a mushy pulp develops.

Blended pulp

Remove the pulp and set it in a bowl or put it into a colander to allow some of the water to drip out. Continue blending all your paper and water in small batches until all of it is pulp.

At this point try to remove a good part of the water by pressing the pulp with your hands. Discard the water or save it for another batch. With the pulp very damp, but not dripping water, transfer it to your mixing bowl.

Moist pulp

I added 1/4 cup of wildflower seeds to the entire pulpy mass that four sheets of newspaper produced. Using my hands I kneaded it all together like making bread dough. You want the seeds to be fully mixed into the paper pulp.

Adding seed

When it's all incorporated, takes small pieces of the mix and press them into molds, into cookie cutters, or form them with your hands into balls. I find that using small cookie cutters give you a greater variety of shapes to choose from. Keep adding the pulp and seed mixture until the mold is filled.

Pressing the pulp into the mold

The seed balls will need to dry so removing as much water as you can at this point will accelerate the entire process. Begin by compacting the paper as much as you can to force water out and then soak up the water with paper towels or newspaper. These blotting materials can be turned into more seed balls later on.

Blotting excess water

Gently remove the seed balls from your mold and let them dry for a few days. Removing them allows you to use the mold for the next batch and also give the seed balls exposed surface area for drying. They'll expand slightly in the process.

Silicone molds make removal easier

By using water tinted with a few drops of food coloring you can get seed balls of any color you like. You can also try shredding colored paper and mixing that with water. Varying the shapes and colors provides wonderful gift opportunities.

Tinted seed balls drying

While seed balls made with clay and compost can be thrown on the soil surface and will sprout, seed balls made with recycled paper work best when planted in pots beneath a thin layer of potting soil. The decorative shapes and colors make the planting a fun activity for kids.

Making seed balls with recycled paper works well on many levels. You reuse waste materials while adding fun to planting. It's not as messy as the clay seed balls can be and the finished products look better. The entire project takes just a few minutes and the paper seed balls can be stored for months before giving away or being planted.

If you're looking for a fun gardening project, try making recycled paper seed balls.


For more info, read "How to Make Seed Bombs."

How to Make Seed Bombs

As landscape armaments go, seed bombs are my weapon of choice. A popular tool in guerrilla gardening, they allow seeds to be sown in difficult-to-reach locations like vacant city lots and other barren, urban locations. While popularized on the internet as a method of adding life to blighted areas, seed bombs can also be a fun and interesting way to add plants to home gardens.

My homemade seed bombs

Seed bombs are nothing more than clay and another growing medium like compost or worm castings mixed together with seeds and water. Formed into a ball and dried, they can be tossed anywhere the thrower's arm can reach. Rain or irrigation cause the clay-based ball to dissolve into a blob where the seeds can germinate amid the compost and grow into vibrant plants.

Recipes vary but the most common one found on the web is:

Five parts clay
Three parts compost
One part seed
One to two parts water

My garden already has too much clay and my region is quite arid so I prefer a recipe that has more compost and less clay, closer to a 50-50 mix. Dry clay powder is combined with the compost and seed and water is added. Clay is the binder and as long as you use enough of it to hold the ball together just about any combination will work.

The choice of seed is completely personal. Wildflower mixes are popular but check the specific seed mix to make sure you're not introducing noxious weeds or invasive plants. Lettuce and salad seed mixes are a nice option, as are bombs concentrating on sunflowers or peas and beans.

The biggest problem I encountered in making seed bombs was finding the clay. Dry, powder, ceramic clay is preferred. You'll see "dry, red clay" mentioned often in recipes, but the color really doesn't matter. The problem comes in that few hobby stores and retail stores sell dry clay. Surprisingly, few ceramic supply stores sell it as well. My city of half a million people only has one ceramic outlet that offers it and a 50-pound bag is the smallest size available. For about twenty dollars I thought it was worth the price.

Moist clay can be purchased from nearly all hobby and ceramic stores. You can use this pre-mixed wet clay to make seed bombs but incorporating the compost and seeds thoroughly is more difficult. You also have to be careful because some of the hobby blends are designed to harden permanently when dry and they may not dissolve in the rain as desired. Use the powder if you can find it.

If you're making seed bombs for your own garden and your soil has a propensity for clay, you can use your own soil in the mix. No need to buy clay if you have your own already. I wouldn't recommend using your soil if you plan to share your seed bombs because you may inadvertently transfer your soil problems to another gardener.


Begin by measuring out the ingredients per your recipe. For these photos I used the 5-3-1 ratio mentioned above:  1 1/4 cups clay, 3/4 cup sifted compost, and 1/4 cup wildflower seeds.

The dry ingredients

Mix the dry ingredients completely to get the best and most even distribution of seed. Then add the water. I used two parts or 1/2 cup. Combine well with a spoon or your fingers.

The moist mixture

The easiest thing to do at this point is to roll the mixture into small balls between your hands. This can get messy. The size doesn't matter, though bigger balls will concentrate more seeds in a small area and the plants will have to compete with each other upon germination. This recipe made a baker's dozen of 1 1/2-inch wildflower seed bombs.

Making the balls

I like to flatten the balls to make little disks. The flatter shape helps keep the seed bombs from rolling away down my hilly landscape and  I think a flat piece will dissolve easier and more evenly than a ball when placed on open soil; with our limited rain every drop needs to count and a disk will catch more drops than a sphere. You can press the mixture into a mold if you want a certain shape.

Pressing to make a disk

Place the newly-formed, wet seed bombs in a safe place to dry. You can put them on a sheet of newspaper and it will absorb some of the moisture but I don't find that this accelerates drying much. After two days the seed bombs will be dry and ready to use. There's no need to use an oven. Just let them air dry.

Dry in two days

If you want to practice a little guerrilla gardening, take the seed bombs and toss them where you want new plants. Be aware that trespassing or littering laws may apply if you throw them on public land or property that isn't yours.

I suggest you take the seed bombs and toss them in areas of your own landscape where you want a random growth of new plants. For children, it's a fun game to toss the little marbles around. Left where they land they'll sprout when the water falls, either rain or from your sprinkler.

For a more controlled process the seed bombs become seed balls that can be placed in pots or specific garden rows. Planted just below the soil surface they'll germinate with normal garden watering. Like seed tape the seed balls help you control where your seeds go.

The entire process of making seed bombs is a good one for schools and gardening clubs. Make it a group activity. If you use a light-colored clay, add food coloring to color the balls. Package them and give as gifts. Have a bomb party and let your friends and family help plant a new garden bed.

Have fun with the whole thing. In gardening, bomb doesn't have to mean a dangerous weapon.

As landscape armaments go, seed bombs are my weapon of choice. A popular tool in guerrilla gardening, they allow seeds to be sown in difficult-to-reach locations like vacant city lots and other barren, urban locations. While popularized on the internet as a method of adding life to blighted areas, seed bombs can also be a fun and interesting way to add plants to home gardens.

My homemade seed bombs

Seed bombs are nothing more than clay and another growing medium like compost or worm castings mixed together with seeds and water. Formed into a ball and dried, they can be tossed anywhere the thrower's arm can reach. Rain or irrigation cause the clay-based ball to dissolve into a blob where the seeds can germinate amid the compost and grow into vibrant plants.

Recipes vary but the most common one found on the web is:

Five parts clay
Three parts compost
One part seed
One to two parts water

My garden already has too much clay and my region is quite arid so I prefer a recipe that has more compost and less clay, closer to a 50-50 mix. Dry clay powder is combined with the compost and seed and water is added. Clay is the binder and as long as you use enough of it to hold the ball together just about any combination will work.

The choice of seed is completely personal. Wildflower mixes are popular but check the specific seed mix to make sure you're not introducing noxious weeds or invasive plants. Lettuce and salad seed mixes are a nice option, as are bombs concentrating on sunflowers or peas and beans.

The biggest problem I encountered in making seed bombs was finding the clay. Dry, powder, ceramic clay is preferred. You'll see "dry, red clay" mentioned often in recipes, but the color really doesn't matter. The problem comes in that few hobby stores and retail stores sell dry clay. Surprisingly, few ceramic supply stores sell it as well. My city of half a million people only has one ceramic outlet that offers it and a 50-pound bag is the smallest size available. For about twenty dollars I thought it was worth the price.

Moist clay can be purchased from nearly all hobby and ceramic stores. You can use this pre-mixed wet clay to make seed bombs but incorporating the compost and seeds thoroughly is more difficult. You also have to be careful because some of the hobby blends are designed to harden permanently when dry and they may not dissolve in the rain as desired. Use the powder if you can find it.

If you're making seed bombs for your own garden and your soil has a propensity for clay, you can use your own soil in the mix. No need to buy clay if you have your own already. I wouldn't recommend using your soil if you plan to share your seed bombs because you may inadvertently transfer your soil problems to another gardener.


Begin by measuring out the ingredients per your recipe. For these photos I used the 5-3-1 ratio mentioned above:  1 1/4 cups clay, 3/4 cup sifted compost, and 1/4 cup wildflower seeds.

The dry ingredients

Mix the dry ingredients completely to get the best and most even distribution of seed. Then add the water. I used two parts or 1/2 cup. Combine well with a spoon or your fingers.

The moist mixture

The easiest thing to do at this point is to roll the mixture into small balls between your hands. This can get messy. The size doesn't matter, though bigger balls will concentrate more seeds in a small area and the plants will have to compete with each other upon germination. This recipe made a baker's dozen of 1 1/2-inch wildflower seed bombs.

Making the balls

I like to flatten the balls to make little disks. The flatter shape helps keep the seed bombs from rolling away down my hilly landscape and  I think a flat piece will dissolve easier and more evenly than a ball when placed on open soil; with our limited rain every drop needs to count and a disk will catch more drops than a sphere. You can press the mixture into a mold if you want a certain shape.

Pressing to make a disk

Place the newly-formed, wet seed bombs in a safe place to dry. You can put them on a sheet of newspaper and it will absorb some of the moisture but I don't find that this accelerates drying much. After two days the seed bombs will be dry and ready to use. There's no need to use an oven. Just let them air dry.

Dry in two days

If you want to practice a little guerrilla gardening, take the seed bombs and toss them where you want new plants. Be aware that trespassing or littering laws may apply if you throw them on public land or property that isn't yours.

I suggest you take the seed bombs and toss them in areas of your own landscape where you want a random growth of new plants. For children, it's a fun game to toss the little marbles around. Left where they land they'll sprout when the water falls, either rain or from your sprinkler.

For a more controlled process the seed bombs become seed balls that can be placed in pots or specific garden rows. Planted just below the soil surface they'll germinate with normal garden watering. Like seed tape the seed balls help you control where your seeds go.

The entire process of making seed bombs is a good one for schools and gardening clubs. Make it a group activity. If you use a light-colored clay, add food coloring to color the balls. Package them and give as gifts. Have a bomb party and let your friends and family help plant a new garden bed.

Have fun with the whole thing. In gardening, bomb doesn't have to mean a dangerous weapon.