Saving thyme seeds

How do you sort thyme seed? They are so small I can barely tell them from the chaff dust. Any suggestions for separating would be appreciated. Thanks

It may be too late, but one way to make it easier is to try to "shake" seeds free, not rub them. If they are very ripe and dry, they MIGHT fall out if just shaken inside a big paper bag or box.

If you never break up the dry plant parts, you won't have much chaff to separate out. Shake very gently and check to see how many seeds you got. If you got enough, you're all done. ave some chaff for when you run low on seeds, labeling the "chaff" with date and variety.

You can save chaff + seeds for your own use, and save the few well-cleaned seeds for trading. Try germinating a pinch of mixed chaff + seeds to see how many viable seeds there are - how easy is thyme to germinate on a coffee filter in a baggie?

On a very dry day, you might get chaff to stick to a plastic bowl via static electricity. If the seeds hold less static, and will pour out of the bowl, that might help remove some of the chaff. Keep wiping the chaff away form the bowl with a dry paper towel, then a cloth that maximizes the static cling (experiment).

One post in one of the threads below described how to use an inflated balloon as a static-cling gadget for cleaning seeds.

P.S. If seeds "float" and static-cling to the inside of a Ziploc baggie, wipe the OUTside of the baggie with a dryer cloth. Somehow that kills the cling inside the baggie.

If you make your own seed sieves from hardware cloth, you can buy 30 mesh, 60 mesh, almost any size you want. However, seed sizes from a single plant vary, and hard-rubbed chaff is ALL sizes. Sieves can reject chaff that is larger than your largest seeds, or smaller than your smallest seeds, but it can't remove chaff the SAME size as your seeds.

Anyway, as you labor to priduce SOME clean seeds, be sure to save all the "chaff". I think that you'll find lots of viable seeds in that chaff. At least discard the "chaffiest" portions on top of some soil you don;t plan to weed right away. Expect germination!

Katlian described how to build great seed sieves using hardware cloth and PVC fittings. I tried it, and it works great.

http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/Katlian/10997/
My version of her idea:
https://allthingsplants.com/ideas/view/RickCorey/648/Seed-Cleaning-Sieves/

Other seed-cleaning threads:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/803116/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/761803/

P.P.S. Always get seeds as dry as possible before storing. In humid areas, you may need a desiccant and a tightly sealing container to get them below 50% RH. They hibernate deeper the drier you get them, down to around 15% RH. Seeds stay viable longest if dried all the way down to 15%-30% equilibrium RH.

The length of time that seeds stay viable approximately doubles for every 10% reduction in their equilibrium relative humidity. (From a Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Technical Information Sheet.)

https://allthingsplants.com/ideas/view/RickCorey/1568/Dry-Saved-Seeds-in-Paper-Envelopes/

https://allthingsplants.com/ideas/view/RickCorey/649/Silica-Gel-for-Dry-Seed-Storage/

many links:

Post-harvest handling of seed collections
http://www.kew.org/ucm/groups/public/documents/document/ppco...


Some more links:

Kew Millennium Seed Bank Project, long-term seed storage containers:
http://www.kew.org/ucm/groups/public/documents/document/ppco...

Kew: theory of desiccants and RH
http://www.kew.org/ucm/groups/public/documents/document/ppco...

Many Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Technical Information Sheets about collecting and storing seeds, written by Millennium Seed Bank staff.
http://www.kew.org/science-research-data/kew-in-depth/msbp/p...


"Giving Seeds What They Need In Storage": http://www.hillgardens.com/storeseeds.htm
http://permaculture.org.au/2012/07/07/share-the-love-seed-sa...
http://www.cog.ca/documents/SeedsofDiversitySU06.pdf
http://www.seedsave.org/issi/904/beginner.html

WOW! Thanks Rick. I had noticed static on the plastic surface I was using to sort the seed. Used it to my advantage. Will have to try the balloon theory next time. I did throw the left over chaff in a clean area of the garden so will see how much thyme I have growing there soon. There is more seed in the garden that I can play with. Thanks again.

Cool, great!

>> There is more seed in the garden that I can play with.

I think that's the very best to clean seed. HAVE so much available that you can afford to just skim off the easiest 10-20%, and leave the rest with the chaff just in case you do want more later.

P.S. "Seed libraries" are springing up where people donate excess seeds. Then others come along and "check out" some of your seeds, and return the same variety multiplied at the end of the season. That way, natural selection encourages traits for resistance to local pests and diseases, and adaptation to local climate.

"Seed Library" Locator:
http://www.seedlibrarian.com/

Wow, that was some long and informative post Rick -- thanks for the effort!

Thanks, Robin!

Whatever works best for each person is best for that person!

I keep meaning to build something from a cereal-box and a small computer fan. Hopefully I could find a speed and geometry that would blow chaff away, but not seeds.

Or something including a Van de Graff generator!

Lol Rick...but, I just invested is sieves. I can't even think of upgrading until I feel all my outmoded equipment has paid for itself.

Of course, your cereal box and old computer fan will be much better price point if I wait. New technology is always inflated due to R&D.

>> New technology is always inflated due to R&D.

True! The early adapters pay for the research AND for manufacturing improvements. You'd do best to wait for China to rip off my second or third model.

(I also use mesh sieves. I bought hardware cloth (wire mesh) from MSC Direct, and cut circles to fit PVC DWV Sewer & Drain Adapters.

http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/Katlian/10997/

Other DG seed-cleaning threads:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/803116/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/761803/

Lol, yes China, they've probably already hacked the plans in your head...er, thread.

Oooh, I like the PVC link, they'll be a great interim gimmick whilst waiting for China to begin pumping. Thanks!

I love those PVC-gadget-seives that Katlien described. I use mine a lot.

I wish I had a small, stiff paintbrush or acid brush for bruyshing seeds out of the cracks and crevices.

P.S. I bought a PVC cap to go under the whole stack and catch seeds or chaff that filter through the smallest mesh in the stack.

I purchased a stainless steel one before I even thought about making one. Mine has 3 different size mesh lids and seems to suit my purpose well. I can't remember how much it was but the price was really good on sale (yeah, I know that's relative). A good price to me is directly associated with feeling I've got a good deal as opposed to making something.

Yours look very functional. You may not need a small brush if you use adhesive to bond your mesh to the PVC.

Gluing the screens down WOULD help avoid the "seed-sticking" problem.

I swap the screens in and out ... really I should buy a few more of the PVC fittings so I could glue down one screen in each fitting.

But I re-use the coarse mesh like 1/4" or 1/10" as supports for flimsy hardware cloth (30 or 60 mesh) and window screening (usually 24 mesh).

Using the larger mesh as support is a really good idea, kudos for brain functionality.

I'm sure I read it somewhere first, but thank you.

"Let no one else's work evade your eyes -
just plagiarize, plagiarize!

... but always to call it "research"!

Lol...;)