How to Collect and Store Seed

Nasturtium seeds drying
Drying Iris Seed Heads
Seed Envelopes
Collecting your own seed is a great way to increase the number of plants you have for very little cost. By taking a few simple steps you can harvest and store your own seed for later sowing. 

  1. First choose the plants that you will want to collect seed from. Make sure that the plants are healthy and have been growing well
  2. Keep an eye on your selected plants as you will need to collect the seeds when they are ripe and before they get dispersed around your garden
  3. Harvest seeds on a dry day and place them somewhere safe that they can totally dry out
  4. A good way to dry seeds is to place them on a dish or a saucer that has a piece of kitchen paper on it to absorb any moisture
  5. If you want to collect berries they need slightly more work as the pulp needs to be removed. You can do this by passing the berries through a sieve. Once the pulp has been removed leave the seeds to dry
  6. Once the seeds are totally dry they should be placed in a paper envelope. You can buy specially labelled seed envelopes for the purpose or you can use a normal envelope
  7. Label the envelope with the type of seed collected and the date you have collected it
  8. Store your seeds in a cool, dry place that does not have big temperature fluctuations
  9. Your seed will then be ready to sow at the appropriate time 
  10. However not all seeds will look like exactly like the parent plant, you may end up with lots of variations