Columnists
Email
Print
Starting garden from seed needn't be difficult
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: August 15, 2009
This week I turn my attention to your letters and the subject of seeds. Several questions have come in about the saving and planting of seeds.
I have often said that real gardeners start from seed. A little knowledge and a great deal of attentiveness are all you need.
Dear David: I would like to know how to plant cone-flower seeds. I have tried it numerous times with no success. When and how should they be planted? -- Wanda Turner
Dear Wanda: Coneflowers, or echinacea, are popular perennials. They grow to about 3 feet tall, have rough-textured foliage and bear daisy-like flowers with slightly recessed petals. This North American prairie native has lavender purple petals and a stiff cone in the center with hints of deep orange. Many new varieties of coneflowers have been developed in colors ranging from pale yellow to deep orange and many shades of purple. None of these can be raised from seed. Only the original native and its white variant called White Swan will come true to their parents' traits. Coneflower seeds benefit from being stratified, meaning they need to be exposed to a period of moist cold. Gardeners can simulate this period of winter by placing their seed in a zip-lock bag of barely moist sand and placing it in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator for two months. At the end of this period, sow the seed, sand and all. Germination should follow within a few weeks.
Dear David: I understand that Oak Hollow Lake will have a fall flower or seed swap. Do you know the date and time? -- Ray Welch
Dear Ray: Information about the fall plant swap can be found on the Web site www.gardenweb.com. Select Forums, select Exchanges and select Carolina Garden Exchange. At this point a plant swap to be held at Panera Bread on Route 68 at Penny Road in High Point is scheduled for Oct. 3. The seed swap is a winter event and the Web site keeps gardeners posted about the scheduled date. Swap-minded members may also be interested in joining the Seed Savers Exchange, a membership organization devoted to the preservation of heirloom vegetable, herb and flower seeds. Members receive a catalog with over 13,000 varieties of seed listed from fellow members. See www.seedsavers
.org for more information. Forsyth County Master Gardeners are having a plant swap at 11 a.m. on Sept. 26 at the Extension building, 1450 Fairchild Drive here in Winston Salem.
Dear David: I am just getting around to reading when vegetables are ready for harvest. I was wondering if you are going to write about the best time to save seeds to plant next year. I would like to save seeds for lettuce, beans, tomatoes and herbs. But I'm afraid if I wait too long the birds will get them, and if I pick them too early they will not be mature enough to sprout. -- Sue Dupor
Dear Sue: The plants you list are among the easiest to save as seed. You must ensure that different varieties that you have planted in your garden are separated by the proper distance to avoid cross pollination. Beans can get by with a minimal separation; tomatoes need 100 feet and lettuce at least 20 feet. The plants must not be F1 Hybrids or they will not breed true from seed. Beans should be left to dry in the pod. Once the pods are dry and crisp, the seeds can be harvested and stored. Lettuce ripens seed heads much like dandelions, with little parachute like apparatus on their ends. If you wait too long, they will blow away. Harvest them as the seed heads become white and cottony.
Tomatoes are a little more complicated. Harvest the ripe fruit. Then split them to reveal the seed in a gel-like covering. This gel contains seed-germination inhibitors. Place this in a jar with a little water and a loose-fitting lid. Mold will begin to form on the gel. Let this mold grow for three days then fill the jar with water and let it settle. The viable seed will sink, and the pulp and gel will float, enabling it to be poured off the top. Keep filling the jar, pouring off the scum, and letting the contents settle until the water is almost clear. Pour the remaining viable seed into a sieve and wash the remaining debris off. Empty the seed onto a paper towel and let dry completely before storing, usually a few days.
Most herbs will not require separation and are easily harvested once the seed appears brown and dry. This is true of dill, coriander, parsley, basil and other annual herbs. Most perennial herbs such as lavender, thyme and rosemary are more easily propagated by cuttings. Birds may gather annual herb seed, but they are unlikely to fool with any of your vegetable seeds. There is usually enough to accommodate us all.
■ If you have a gardening question or story idea, write to David Bare in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27101-3159, or send e-mail to his attention to gardening@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
