help cleaning small seed

I've collected various native plant seed lately, but how do I separate the chaff (the fluffy stuff that makes them fly away!) from very small seeds. I tried shaking them in a baggie for a long time, that didn't do it. I tried rubbing the seeds on a rough surface, that didn't do it either. What's the trick? Thanks, John

John, if it's just the fluffy stuff that makes them fly away, you can leave it on the seed.
If there is other chaff, you can try different seeves. They are a great help for me.
Or, try to blow away gently the chaff. I use a make-up brush to remove the chaff.

I think some of us new people could really use some advice and TNT methods of cleaning seeds!!

Help!

My motherlanguage is not english, so can you explain me what is TNT?
And just ask what you want to know about cleaning seeds. Different seeds need different handling.

TNT is just a short cut for tried and true.

For instance,I have been sorting my saved seeds for planting and possibly sharing, but I know they want seeds that are very clean.I was going through with tweezers to remove unwanted material.Is there an easier way to do this? Is there some equipment or another way that would make it easier?
Thats the kind of things that would be helpful.

Since I clean at least 300 different types of seeds each year, in the meanwhile I found out what works best for me.
Well, the most useful equipment for me are my sieves/strainers. I have about 10 different ones, so I can handle all types of seed. Almost 90% of my seeds are completely clean using the sieves. But in spite of having so many sieves/strainers, it does happen the seeds are still within some chaff. In that case I try to gently blow away the remainings, or turn the seeds around on a plate and brush the chaff away again and again. That takes some time.
And there are always some seeds who have about the same size and weight as the chaff. In that case it's impossible (well at least for me) to get them really clean. Achillea is one of the seeds that I can't clean very good. But on the other hand that's not a real problem with such tiny seeds. It makes it easier to sow them a bit apart from each other.
Sieves and strainers are sometimes rather expensive. Well, at least here in Belgium, but I bought them in a second hand shop or on the market or asked friends and family if they had one left over. It does not matter whether they are made of plastic or metal. Just the size of the holes is important, they must vary from very tiny to really big.
Hope this helps you a bit.

are there any special types or are they like normal kitchen types of strainers?

Thanks for your info.

try using a couple of embroidery hoops with reg. fiberglass screening for some of the seeds and netting from a fabric store for others. The netting comes in a variety of hole sizes and can be washed and used over and over. I find the screening is really useful for the smaller seeds.

They are all the normal kitchten types.

I use kitchen strainers too, different sizes for different size seeds. I don't even try to remove all chaff, just some to be able to see the seeds. I always tell traders that my seeds will contain chaff. If they want only pure seeds, they can look elsewhere for their seeds. I think it's silly to spend so much time on removing chaff since it has no effect on germination or growth of seedlings.

Karen

Karen, you are right, it doesn't effect germination. But I'm also selling my seeds, so I must clean them well.
Seeds that I sow my self, I just clean a bit, like you.

Yes, I guess you'd have to clean them well to sell the seeds. To me that would be like slow torture though. I really hate the whole seed routine- collecting, drying the mess all over the house, cleaning and bagging, and labeling them.

Karen

this is good info. Thanks.

I have purchased from JonnaSudenius and all of her seeds are incredibly clean.

I'm so glad someone posted this question, as now I've got a few ideas for some in expensive screens.

I'm going to the fabric store while I'm off next week during shut down from work and pick up some embroidery hoops and get several different size netting and cut out circles and place in between the embroidery hoops and see if that doesn't help. If it does, I'll be back to post pictures.... as I'm so tried of using tweezers...LOL

Janet

I use an empty spice bottle that I washed and dried. I have a spice bottle with smaller holes in it. The thing that is nice is that cap is plastic and I can take it off to put my seeds and chaff into and then when I put the cap back on and shake into a paperplate - most of the chaff stays in the bottle and the seeds shake out into my paperplate. This is not 100% as there is a little bit of chaff in with the seeds.

Carolyn,what a good idea!

I stopped by a restaurant supply store the other day to purchase a deep fry basket to use as a soil sifter and came across the item in the picture below. Basically it's an 8 oz measuring cup with three interchangeable lids of variable sifting hole sizes. I thought, "I bet this would work great for cleaning seeds". Haven't tried it yet, but can't see why it wouldn't work. It cost $5 and maybe I could have made something similar for less or no money, but my impulsiveness got the best of me!

Here's a picture of the "soil sifter" (aka deep fry basket). I suppose this could also be used to clean large pieces of plant matter in the process of cleaning large amounts of small seeds. It's about a foot in diameter and the mesh openings are 1/2". I also have one with mesh openings of 1/4". Again from a restaurant supply store and they also cost about $5 each.

rockgardner

5.00 bucks you can't beat that, I wish I had a place close by to pick one up myself... that should do the trick and it is great that it has 3 different lids.

Janet

check out this thread for more info on cleaning seed. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1068933/

I too use sieves to clean my own seeds but can anyone tell me if nemesia seeds need the outer covering(the white envelope)taken off. many thanks to you for sharing your skills.Juna

Try WASHING your seeds!

Most viable seeds (except very tiny ones) will sink in water. Usually the chaff floats, as do the duds, so you can pour off the stuff floating on the surface and get rid of dirt, chaff, and bad seeds.

Like JonnaSudenius, I clean seeds for a living. It's even more important to separate the good seeds from the dead ones, so I float test most everything. The nice fat seeds on the bottom of the jar are alive and well, as well as clean.

Use clear glass jars filled with clean water. Add your seeds and a drop of liquid soap to break the surface tension, or many seeds will just sit on top. Then watch the good seeds sink. Pour off the floating chaff, rinse a couple of times, then dump the clean seeds onto a coffee filter or paper plate to dry.

Very satisfying!

MSCdirect.com sells wire cloth in any mesh size you want, for $4 -$8 per 12"x12" square. Check out the stainless steel "bolting cloth" and "after weaving" cloth.

Search for "wire cloth". I think the page numbers were 1809 and 1810.

Rick Corey

I have 3 plastic tops that fit quart jars that were meant for sprouting seed to eat. I use just the lids since they are different sizes and gently shake. I also have a plastic 8" fine-hole kitchen strainer that fits on a bowl. I sift over newspaper to catch all the seeds then carefully pour them into a sack. I like the washing idea which I may try with a few seeds.

Here is what I believe about "thistle down type seeds": I think once the seed is mature and dry, it will fall off the down piece. I know that's how thistles work in nature because sometimes when I pick them up, the seed is missing. I'm sure every little seed is different.