What you need to know to save seeds
How plants are named scientifically:
FAMILY Genus Species
Common names, varieties or cultivars
e.g. Spinach Amaranthaceae Spinacia Oleracea:
e.g. Onions Allium Cepa
e.g. Garlic Allium Sativum
Note Garlic and Onions can interbreed: Giant Garlic hybrids.
Kingdom: Plantae
Angiosperms
Eudicots
Core eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae,
Subfamily: Chenopodioideae
Genus: Spinacia
Species: Spinacea Oleracea
Distinguish between the kinds of seeds available:
Wild Relatives – Eg. Tulbagia vs Allium (Garlic )
Landraces: Wild garlic types (e.g. the purple vs white garlic). These come directly from wild populations.
Heirlooms: When we breed the landraces into stable phenotypes (that which you see). These are the old varieties that we often find amongst our ancestors.
Open Pollinated varieties: These can breed amongst themselves and children look like parents. Some ore good commercially, others not. When you save your own seeds, this is what you get.
Hybrids: Hybrids are bred in laboratories. Here we cross a mother and father who do not look like each other: this breeding creates high yielding commercial varieties. Most of the seeds you buy are like this. Children do not look like parents and you cannot save these seeds.
GMOs: Genetically Modified Organisms result when we introduce genetic material fronm another plant or animal into a plant. One of the first GMOs was a tomato with fish genes. Certain works that eat tomatoes are allergic to fish, and when they eat these tomatoes they ingest fish genes and then they die. GMOs cannot be saved as they, like hybrids, will not lead to stable phenotypes. There are legal issues when you save these seeds.
CRISPR cas-9: This is an advanced genetic technique that will still bring many new varieties. Here we do not bring new genes into a plant, but we re-mix its old genes to achieve a desired trait and a new phenotype I the form of a fruit, leaf or root or tuber. This can change indigenous varieties into more commercially important varieties.
The dispute about seeds relates to the Intellectual Property in breeding (heirlooms and hybrids). One liberal point of view says the breeder own the seed.
Alternatives point to the use of genetic resources for sustainability: a movement to protect people who freely uses seeds in breeding their own. The point is they should have rights to use these seeds and genes for sustainable development.
Selecting and keeping seeds
Species is what makes any plant unique or distinctive. However plants in the genus can interbreed, and sometimes even outside the Genus.
When you select seeds, you are selecting under the ‘Common names, varieties or cultivars’ and actively changing how these look, grow or produce.
If you want to know more about this, look up ‘Taxonomy’.
Remember seeds form through pollination or mixing between male flowers and female flowers or the genes – or ‘blood’ in the common tongue. This mixes characteristics and creates diversity. This diversity may result in new and better seeds. Breeding means to understand how seeds mix and to select the one’s you want.
Flowers are either male, female or male and female! Some plants carry only male or female flowers, and others carry both, separate male and female flowers. Some carry flowers that are both male and female.
To grow your own seeds, you need to know if your plants carry:
1. male, or
2. female, or
3. male and female on different plants, or
4. male or female flowers on the same plant.
A plant that produces both sexes in one plant is a one house or monoecious species.
A plant that produces sexes in different plants are a two house or dioecious plant.
Male parts in the flower are called stamens, made of filaments and anthers.
Female parts are called pistils, made of stigma (the tip) style and ovary.
The ovary is where the fruit forms, and the objective of pollination is to grow a seed or seeds in the ovary. When the ovary is developed, we will call it the “fruit”.
Pollination is influenced by the origin of the male and female flowers. In flowers that are both male and female, breeding is different than if they were on separate flowers.
Pollination is also possible by:
Wind
Hand
Insects
Self pollination
Isolation
Distance
Time of day, season or year.
Can be changed mechanically
Can be changed by bags, cages. These can be placed on plants on alternate days etc.
Pollination can also be done by hand.
They say your population size should be a minimum 20 for inbreeding plants (they are adapted to small population sizes) and 100 for outbreeding plants (like those who use wind pollination).
Seeds
Seeds must be Removed, Washed, Dried.
Sometimes it is necessary to ferment seeds (often in the rotting fruit) to activate them to be able to grow.
Seeds should be washed if they are to be kept for a long time.
Seeds should be quickly dried after washing so that they do not germinate or rot.
Dry them on a non-stick surface, like a clean plate or glass. Do not dry in the sun.
Seeds often also need to be dry processed and winnowed to get husks, pods, flowers or leaves out of the collection.
Hang them to dry.
Thresh them: break the covers in a pillow-case and shake and crush it inside there to stop it from getting lost.
Winnowing is when you separate the chaff from the corn.
You can also use a sieve.
This is good for cabbage or chomolia.
You can use a bowl and the heavy seeds will sink to the bottom.
You can use the wind or a fan.
Hot Water Treatment
Use a double boiler to heat seeds for a short and limited period. Do not exceed 50°!!
Get good advice before you do this:
Cabbages, broccoli, chomolia and cauliflower: 20 min.
Eggplant, spinach and turnip 25 min.
Celery and pepper seeds 30 min.
Tomato 25 min.
Storage
There should be no moisture or high temperatures. It is good to place them in a jar in a fridge.
Some say silica sachets should be used to dry the jar.
Record keeping
Try to record all the following for every seed that comes in the library. Get a big book that records everything as they come in. Use the last page as an example of the record to keep.
Good Luck!
This guide was compiled by drawing extensively from Ashworth, S, 2002 Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Growers Decorah: Seed Savers Exchange.
The Administration of a Seed Library: a Template
These are the categories of information that you must capture for each seed.
RECORD NO.:
Y-M-D-No.
Type of plant
Genus
Species
Common name, variety, cultivar
Source:
Name
Address Phone no.
Date obtained
Germination %
Date stored
Year last grown
Notes
Days to maturity
Season
Plant characteristics
Days to seed
Days to fruit
Fruit and harvest
Harvest size
Type
Color
Shape
Productivity
Diseases
Flavor
Storage qualities
Markets