Collecting your own seeds?

Smoffi

Greetings..

I have Radishes and Cabbage that have flowered and I am unable to find out exactly how to harvest the seeds in order to grow more next year.

Anyone got any information on this process please?

Lotus-eater

Realseeds have a seed saving page dedicated to giving information about saving seeds.

I know that brassicas aren't really worth it, I presume radish would be under that idea as a brassica as well.

Smoffi

Thanks got alot of reading to do now

RAS

Hi

A lot of brassicas are desparately promicious - cabbage wil cross fertilise with any sprout, broccoli, cauli and whatever flowering within half a mile, so you are unlikely to get anything useful unless you have isolated the flower heads.

They also suffer from inbreeding depression (get really poor if you restrict the number of plants used in the breeding process below about 30).

As long as there are no other flowering radish nearby, that would be worth while.

it is easy and worth saving french beans, peas and tomatoes. Lettuce are easy as well, but grow to triffid proportions before they produce seed.

diluvsdiscounts

I saved alot of my own seeds from last year,tomato,radish,pumpkin,peas,beans it's exactly as productive as buying them in a packet.
With the radish I let a few flower ,then go to seed but once they have gone to seed leave them for a couple of weeks because they go quite big,dry and then use next year.

Lotus-eater

Your pumpkin might be OK while it is growing, but I would wait and see what the fruit looks and tastes like, if you didn't isolate the flowers and pollinate it yourself.

diluvsdiscounts

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Your pumpkin might be OK while it is growing, but I would wait and see what the fruit looks and tastes like, if you didn't isolate the flowers and pollinate it yourself.

I didn't do this whatever it means and to be honest I don't even like pumpkin it was from one of the many DH and DD bought for halloween I thought I would have a go.
Anyway at the moment it looks like it has two growing and if they don't work I've lost nothing.
My chickens also like to get shade underneath the leaves they are huge!!

scarlet74

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Your pumpkin might be OK while it is growing, but I would wait and see what the fruit looks and tastes like, if you didn't isolate the flowers and pollinate it yourself.

That's an interesting point. I heard that if you grow more than one variety of plant (eg three types of squash/ courgette etc) then cross-pollination can occur which leads to odd-tasting hybrids being produced from the seeds next year.

I'm not sure I've quite got that right though...!

Lotus-eater

You've got it exactly right.
http://lancaster.unl.edu/hort/articles/2006/Curbits.shtml

Although from experience, "cross pollination may occur" can be changed to "cross pollination will occur (unless you take steps)"

scarlet74

Thanks, Lotus-eater!

That's got it clear in my mind now. I suppose my beans will be alright after all...

Just read the comment from RAS too - very helpful as well!