This year I'm collecting far more seeds than in the past. I have too many small bowls and plates of them, and wonder how long I have to leave them out to dry before they can be safely put in glassine envelopes in the fridge. Surprisingly, I couldn't find the answer in a search. These are mostly smaller seeds of columbine, dianthus, dwarf delphinium, clematis and armeria, and some a bit larger such as cranesbill. And do I have to leave them longer in the damp rainy weather we've been having?
Any info much appreciated!!!
How much seed drying time before storage?
I always put the harvested seeds in paper bags en place them (open) in a sunny room to dry for about 2 weeks, before putting them in glassine envelopes.
Jonna
Thanks Jonna. I only have the very large size paper grocery bags, but I guess I can cut them up and make smaller ones - or see if they sell them around here. Definitely better than using all my small bowls.
Did you see the source I found for the organza seed catcher bags on Ebay? I thought it was quite a bargain.
Seems we have different problems with the size of paper bags. Here I can buy 100 small paperbags for about a dollar.
People in Belgium use to take their bread for lunch in these bags. The paper grocery bags are very hard to find here. Everething here is packed in plastic bags.
The paper grocery bags are great for collecting seeds of plants with long stalks, like Salvia and Verbascum. I cut off the stalks gently when the seeds get ripe, leave it in these big bags for a few days, shake them and than put the seeds in the smaller bags to really get dry.
I've seen your source of seed catcher bags, but shippingcosts to Belgium are extremely high.
I found a source in Europe, offering leftovers for about 18 cents a bag. Not so cheap as yours, but the shippingcosts are very low.
Jonna, I found some of the "sandwich size" or lunch size paper bags this afternoon. I guess since I haven't used them since my mother used to pack my school lunch 40+ years ago, I just hadn't noticed that they still sell them. ($2 per 100).
Most stores here are switching to plastic bags as well, but a few still use paper, which is a good thing since we're required to use them for recycling our paper and cardboard.
I'm surprised that shipping to Belgium would be so much, since I imagine the organza bags are very lightweight.
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