How to Harvest and Store Seeds

Article published at: Oct 1, 2024 Article author: Robin Blood
How to Harvest and Store Seeds
All Blogs

One thing you’ll want to take advantage of this fall are the free seeds sitting in your garden. If you want to learn how to harvest and store your seeds keep reading!

As cooler weather arrives, you will notice some of the flowers in your garden start to dry out. These are the flowers you will want to harvest seeds from, but make sure they are COMPLETELY dry. Make sure you harvest your seeds on a dry day. If it’s raining outside and the seed head is wet, there is a higher chance of it getting moldy.

Let’s look at some of the seed heads in the garden and see if they’re ready to be harvested. 

 

Trait 1

 

 

As you can see in the picture above, the seed head to the left is still bright and fluffy. Therefore, it is still developing. The seed head to the right, however, looks brown and hard to the touch meaning it’s dry and ready to harvest. (Gomphena is shown above)

 

Trait 2

 

 

The seed head to the right is still too green to harvest seeds from. However, the seed head to the left broke apart very easily indicating it is mature. (Scabiosa is shown above)

 

Trait 3

 

 

A pro tip to help decipher whether a flower’s seeds are ready to be harvested or not, especially zinnias, is by looking at the stem. If the stem has began to turn hard and brown, like the stem on the right of this photo, then your seeds are ready to harvest.

 

Pro Tip

 

 

Some flowers need a little extra work to harvest seeds, like celosia. The first thing you want to do is remove the seed heads from the bottom of the stem. Rub them together between your hands to remove the scruff and the black pieces left are your seeds.

 

Storage

It is best to keep your seeds stored in an envelope so there is no chance of condensation getting inside, but a paperbag can work just as well. Keeping your seeds dry is important so they do not germinate or mold before you are ready to plant them. Let your seeds dry for a week before storing them in a cool, dry place. If you are worried about your seeds expiring, storing your seeds in the refrigerator well help them last for years.

 

We hope your loving our blog! Don’t forget to add harvesting seeds to your Fall to-do list so you can plant more flowers in the seasons to come.

Share: