I am a relatively new gardener and the first thing I have to trade are annual zinnia seeds. Now, while I was cutting them my husband asked what the heck I was going to do with so many and I said that I would trade. I said I needed to clean them and he said why? Just send them in the pods. I said I thought that it wasn’t proper to send “uncleaned” seeds. Also, don’t the seeds heads need to be broken up so that they remain dry or something?
Lastly would you like some annual zinnia seeds? Cleaned or uncleaned?!! :)
Susan McCoy
Plant trade etiquette question??
Why not also post this on the Seed Saving Forum, you'll probably get a quicker response.
Judy
I'm with your husband. I have tons of zinnas heads from my garden and the last thing I want to do is separate the seeds from the petal.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind removing the petal/seed from the head, I just don't want to sit around breaking the petals off all those seeds. I won't even be cleaning them from my stash zinna seeds.
I think it's best to clean them. They're fairly easy to clean and you can do it while you watch TV. It's also important to leave the heads on the plant as long as possible so that the seeds mature. Too many times I've received fresh cut flowers as seeds. So what I got was fresh cut flowers, NO seeds. The seeds form after the flowers die on the plant, and then the seeds must mature before you gather them. When you clean your seeds, you'll be able to see which are mature and which aren't. The mature ones will "click" when you drop them on the table.
NancyAnn
Oh thanks! I will post on the seed forum. whoops!
Nancy Ann, Thanks for the info. These flowers were way gone when I pulled them up and cut the seeds heads off. But now I'm thinking that I shoud at least clean a bunch of them and see if they appear viable.
:)
Susan
Most of the time you'll find seeds being traded that has been cleaned. But you also have to keep in mind that some things are hard to clean, are usually sowed w/ chaff(e?) and some times people send out mass trades so they don't get time, etc.
But yes, having seed cleaned and ready for sowing is always nice! I'm afraid I'm guilty of sending uncleaned seed in the past.
Any who, welcome to our family here at DG!
Hi Susan, and welcome to the world of gardening! Zinnia seeds are wonderful to save.
I usually clean the seeds I save for several reasons:
1) They cure faster
2) They take up less space in the frig and when shipping
3) They germinate better and are easier to sow
4) Occasionally there are insects hiding in the pods that will devour the seeds in storage if not detected and removed.
As stressed above, be sure the seeds are matured before harvesting. I often wait until the first pods are starting to split on a plant and then gather them as they each reach that stage of maturity. Of course, some plants (like hellebores) will spill all their seeds overnight, so it is a good idea to bag them with fine netting before they reach that point. With time, you will know a lot more.
Susan (Toxi)
Oh yes, I see what you mean about the bugs!! I had them all laid out on newspaper on top of my dryew so that they could dry out and there were lots and lots of bugs on my window! :) Learning here!
Susan McCoy