There are some.plants that I have learned are easy to mistake what are seeds and what is chaffe...here are two I've worked on lately..

1. Calendula. I always wondered why when I plant a whole packet only a few would sprout. I did a little homework and found out that only the seeds circled in red are seeds..


The second one is stokesia. Pic explains it

Thank you. That's valuable info!

Good stuff Lisa! I've always wondered about Calendulas. They self-sow like mad here, so no need for me to start seedlings. When I save seed, though, I've worried I may be sending a packet of duds.

BTW - The 'Peachie's Pick' (descendants) Stokesia seeds you sent me last year germinated 100%

Echinacea is one that trips people up sometimes. The sideways ridges on some of the seeds are from "thumbnail testing." (Use just enough pressure to feel for a firm, mature seed inside.) The flat/empty/mushy-feeling seeds aren't viable

Thanks Lisa. I've gotten so many pepper seeds that people don't let develop in swaps that I won't trade for them. With veggies it's best to let it get a bit beyond ripe on the vine (you know how we all like our summer squash young - too young for seed inside to be any good). The seed needs to form an embryo - little bump. In nature, the fruit would ripen, rot and fall to the ground, then sprout.

Had mentioned to you chatting but will put it here - sometimes in a heat spell seedheads here dry before forming - so you *think* you have a ready dried seedhead but you have ones that are desiccated dry before fully forming (for those of us with dry summers).

Then, there are some sterile plants. I was so embarrassed one year as I had big round canna seedheads with lots of little black "seeds" inside - Not! Turns out canna have a pea size seed. Although I had lots of pollinators fighting over the canna I did not have viable seed.

I do send seed with some chaff. Not an issue if you don't try to divide up the packet but just dump the whole thing in a milk jug or if you have the climate for it - direct sow. You could easily see the chaff in my Rudbeckia envy pics.

I'm always afraid of sending duds. I did that with zinnia once, sent all the chaff instead of the actual seeds. And those seeds that are microscopic (mint, etc) I don't trade just in case.

Marigolds: mine always seem to be duds. Is there a secret to getting them to produce? I've waited until they're crispy dry on the plant, harvested when they dry but haven't started falling, etc, and always seem to get one or two seeds per flower (if lucky).

Maggie,
Last year I got great pepper seeds from about 3 different people, at least one of which was self-collecting hers (awesome tomatoes too). I had nearly 100% germination, which was good, because a mouse ate up 90% of them just as they started to germinate.

I have a gomphrena seed question. I collected some dried seed heads and found lots of seeds, but they're covered in a fuzzy coating that's really difficult to remove. I got one seed completely cleaned just to see what the bare seed looked like, but I've left the rest fuzz-coated so far. Will the seeds still be viable if saved with the fuzz? Is it okay to offer the fuzz coated seeds for trade? Does anyone know a trick for removing the fuzz?

I don't know a trick for defuzzing but grew them with fuzz and they germinated with no problem.

I have removed the fuzz, but it's a lot of work for no real benefit. There are two "wings" of fuzz that you can open and pull away from the seed in the center, but as Ronnie said, they germinate just fine without doing that.

One of my favorite seeds to receive is Coleus seeds from named vegetative cultivars. They produce few seeds, but I have enjoyed wonderful results. From Danita, I've grown seeds from Mainstreet "Wall Street" twice. The first time I got plants very similar to the original, with some interesting color variations. The second group gave me this surprising one with slightly recurved foliage over the entire plant:



And from another source, seeds from "Sunset Boulevard" yielded these color variants:

You got some really pretty ones Alana!

'Good' Ligularia dentata ('Britt Marie Crawford') in the bottom left...all the rest are 'bad'.

Janine, do you know they are good because they are fatter?

Lalambchop1 said:Janine, do you know they are good because they are fatter?

Yes. I intended to be more thorough but got distracted and posted too soon. Those (good) seeds, though they may look like some of the others, ARE fatter, rounder and heavier than the non-viable ones. The others are flat and light and you can easily tell the difference by touch. Thank you for reminding me to explain myself!

Good reasons for folks to send generous quantities and not further break down packets to share.

I know (and it's on my seed trade profile) that I have chaff in with my seed - only so much time in the day and too rough on the neck and shoulders to pick through every seed to sort them. Because I love to winter sow, I send more than enough that if you just dump my envelope into your milk jug - you'll get plenty of plants. I'll make a note-to-self to put that on hte lable for each person's packet.

This is encouraging! I saved seeds from coleus for the first time this year, hoping for some interesting crosses. I grew Palisandra and Pipeapple Surprise, plus a "rainbow mix" that produced some really pretty plants. I collected the seeds as a mixed batch, but I think there still might be seeds heads left on some of the Palisdandra and Pineapple Surprise plants. I'll check and see if I can get any seeds off of those and list them individually.

poisondartfrog said:One of my favorite seeds to receive is Coleus seeds from named vegetative cultivars. They produce few seeds, but I have enjoyed wonderful results. From Danita, I've grown seeds from Mainstreet "Wall Street" twice. The first time I got plants very similar to the original, with some interesting color variations. The second group gave me this surprising one with slightly recurved foliage over the entire plant:



And from another source, seeds from "Sunset Boulevard" yielded these color variants:

Very interesting seed read https://www.gardenmyths.com/st.... Bottom line is don't store in freezer, don't store in fridge, don't store in plastic bags - seed continues to mature (if not in fridge) and lose moisture (thus no plastic).

AFTER they are dried, they can safely be stored in the fridge or freezer (as stated in the article). I typically keep seeds in paper or on paper plates or bowls until dried, then clean and store in plastic in an unheated, dry closet. I DO keep certain ones in the fridge and a neighbor of mine has stored dried bean/squash/tomato seeds for years in his freezer with excellent results.
Edited to add: This is a general guideline. Like the article states, some research may be necessary in order to successfully store certain types of seeds.

Does anyone know a good source of small paper envelopes to store the seeds in?

Leslie I think Amazon had the best prices.

Thanks!