Seed Saving: Learn How to Save Seeds from Vegetables!

Seed saving is not just a practical skill. It’s an art that has been passed down for years, preserving all of the unique vegetable varieties that we have today!

Saving seeds allows you to keep a growing collection of unique seeds from around the world that you add to every year! How much fun is that?!

Seed Saving

The fact is, seed saving does require some knowledge!

To successfully save seeds, you need to know which plants to save seeds from, how many plants to grow for seed to prevent inbreeding, and how plants are pollinated.

You need to know how to get seeds from a biennial. You should also know which plants can cross with each other and how to prevent unwanted crosses!

Some seeds require special techniques such as fermenting before they are stored for winter.

Heirlooms, Hybrids and Seed Patents

Do you know what the little “F1” and “OP” abbreviations stand for in seed catalogs?

“OP” stands for open pollinated, meaning that the variety should breed true when you save seeds from it.

“F1” means that the variety is a hybrid. Hybrid vegetables are generally vigorous and productive in the garden, but aren’t so great for saving seeds from, because they usually won’t breed true.

If you save seeds from a hybrid, you might get some seeds that look like one grandparent variety, some that look like another, and some that don’t look like anything you’ve ever seen before!

Heirloom varieties are plants that have been passed down for generations. They often have rich histories and even richer flavors! Heirlooms are generally open pollinated, so they will breed true. Heirlooms are great to save seeds from!

How Plants are Pollinated

Garden vegetables can be self-pollinating, meaning they don’t require a pollinator. These plants are probably the easiest to save seeds from because they rarely cross with other varieties, and you can save seeds from just a few plants.

Some self-pollinated plants include lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas.

Many garden vegetables are insect-pollinated. Insect pollinated plants usually require at least 5-20 plants to save seed from, and will often cross with other varieties or related plants growing as far as a mile away!

Insect-pollinated vegetables include squash, melons, cucumbers, carrots, parsnips, onions, broccoli, cabbage, kale and celery, among others.

Still other vegetables are pollinated by wind. These varieties have been known to cross with other plants growing as far as 5 miles away!

How to Prevent Unwanted Crosses

Did you know that cabbage, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, collards and kohlrabi are all the same species and can cross with each other? Crazy, huh?

And maybe you have seen a pumpkizinni in the garden – an accidental cross between a pumpkin and a zucchini. Many summer and winter squash varieties are from the same species and will readily cross with each other.

Special hand pollination or caging techniques can be used to prevent unwanted crossing.

Because of their large flowers, squash are especially easy to hand pollinate by with a technique called taping. Male and female flowers are taped shut before they open to keep insects out. The next morning they are hand pollinated and the female flower is taped shut again.