Shrivelled Seeds, Hybrid Seeds

Hmmm - well, this is my first year trying any of this gardening stuff and I collected many, many seeds from my morning glories (started from seed), my dwarf sunflowers (started from seed), and my babe's moss roses (bought as a starter plant.

My questions ... the seeds I collected from both my morning glories AND sunflowers look more shrivelled / less robust than those I have bought from other sources. What is up with that? They just look kinda dry and flat while the purchased ones (from other gardeners, some) look plumper, more robust. *sigh*

Finally, the moss rose seeds - they look fine - but they came from an F1 Hybrid (sundial tropical mix) ... am I correct in remembering this means the colors won't necessarily come true to the parent?

Whew - thanks! Y'all are a wealth of knowledge.

Judith
Orinda, CA Zone 9

PS - I was wondering in my little town on the weekend, walking my dogs, and found myself collecting little seed pods from pansies planted along the walks ... I think I might be an official gardener now!

Judith - it sounds like your shriveled seeds aren't any good. Maybe they were collected before they matured? Or an insect got to them?... You might want to split a couple open to see what's going on inside them.

You're right about the moss roses. Chances are they won't come true from seed.

Agree with poppysue. Your moss roses (portulaca) might be very interesting anyway, mine self-seed year after year, many have reverted to a lemony-yellow with red-flared center.

before you toss them you might try sprouting a few in a damp paper towel. I usually try to sprout a few every year to see if I need to buy new seeds or if last years seeds will germinate. Put your damp paper towel in a plastic bag and keep it in a warm place for a couple of days and check to see if there is any growth shown. If not put it away again for a couple more days and check again. When ever your paper towel needs more humidity then you can add a few drops of water to it. Some plants can take a long time to sprout so it might be nice for you to know how long the average germination takes for that particular plant. I have found some shriveled seeds that grew quite well for me and others that were not viable.

Good luck.

Thanks. :o) See - I told y'all that you're a wealth of knowledge. Some of the MG seeds started sprouting in the pods, so I planted them and they are under lights in the garage until spring magically reappears ... I will do some germination tests and see what I can figure out.

My plants went to seed really late in the season (per my opinion!) - and not until we had quite a lot of rain. The sunflowers were getting mildew before they had well-developed seeds.

I may well have harvested the MG seeds before they reached maturity. Impatience, which I've been (rightly) accused of before!!

Thanks again!
:o) Judith

What? You mean you get anxious about getting your seeds picked before they get frozen? Why I never heard of that idea before. (shuffling my feet)

As I said before, good luck!