Can someone tell me exactly how to collect Nasturtiums?

I would like to know precisly how to collect Nasturtium seeds.

Hi, The seeds need to stay on the plant as long as possibe. The seeds need to be a little brown when picking. I have collected seeds when they turned a cream color. I did this because of a hard freeze coming. After you collect them, spread them out on something in a single layer. O use a paper plate.
Hope this helps. If you need more info, google the question.

cindy K

Thank you!!!
That is pretty much what I did, but I waited until the seeds fell off, then dried for 2 weeks. 2 baggies of them germinated in storage, then got mouldy because I had not noticed.LOL!

~Daniel

I let the husk get a bit dry on the plant, sorta tannish looking, clip off onto a paper plate and let them sit on top of the fridge or the TV--warm and dry. I did that with pansy and viola pods too but learned to put them in a deep container as they tend to burst open suddenly and the seeds go all over the place:lol:

Thanks! I will be using both systems next year.

~Daniel

I have a mass production method if you have more than one or two plants:

I pulled the plants in late September & hung them by the roots under an open shed for about a month. It was amazing- they stayed alive & kept blooming that way for a long time! When it seemed that they were pretty dead, (and dropping some seeds) after a few weeks, I took 'em down, eased them into paper bags, & shook them really hard. That worked pretty well, though I did have to separate the seeds from spent blooms & such by rolling them back & forth and scooping the junk out. But since I had 6 big plants, it was better'n snipping/pulling each seed!

I then spread the seeds in a single layer in an open cardboard box and left them to cure in the shed for a while, and moved them into the unheated garage when it got really cold. They're still out there, and still not completely dried! But they're getting there. I won't bag or jar them until they're totally hard & shriveled.

I'm assuming that I'll get better germanation rates with this cold cure method, but since this is the first round, I don't know for sure.

But I'm so psyched, next spring I won't be spending big bucks for a handful of seed! Nasturtiums do cross, (and I had a few different kinds) but I expect that the first generation won't be too whacky.

Sounds good! I grow at least 100 plants a year, so I will have more than enough to distribute through the 3 methods.