The local BigLots was getting rid of seeds packaged for 2006 for 10 cents a pack - so I bought several different types of basils. Do you think they will be OK for next spring? Other than "dry and cool", anything special I should do about storing them?
Thanks!
Longevity of basil seeds
They should be fine. I store mine at room temperature -- dry & cool, as you said.
Even if germination rates drop a bit, you'll still get plenty of plants!
Thanks - I figured that for less than a buck's worth of seed, it'd be worth the gamble, but I figured I'd try and hedge my bets anyway and store them well :-)
My haul included:
your basic sweet
lettuce leaf
anise
dwarf greek
genovese
bush spicy globe
sweet dani (lemon) - I searched and searched for a second packet, but couldn't fine one
You can probably hit me up this winter for more lemon basil.... I'm hoping to collect seeds from a bunch of my basils next month, but it'll take me a while to get around to dechaffing etc after they dry.
Thanks for your generous offer. How do you collect the seeds? I let one lettuce leaf from this years batch flower just to see what the flowers looked like. Everything else got pinched back pretty regularly and didn't get a chance to bloom, so it should be pretty pure. I'd like to try collecting the seeds just to see how and maybe next year I'll raise some segregated just for seed saving. Thanks much for all your info!
LOL, I'm not sure how segregated my basil seeds really will be, although I did my best to let them bloom at different times!
If you don't cut the flower stalks off, the blooms will drop, and then the stalks will turn brown. The seeds are inside the little bumpy bits that had the flowers on them. When they're crispy-dry, you can strip those bits off the stems and rub them between your fingers. You'll recognize the dark round little basil seeds! The chaff can be screened out or fluffed and blown away from the seeds -- everyone ends up with their own favorite method for this! Let them dry (on a paper plate works well) for a couple more weeks to be sure there's no moisture in them, especially if you store them like I do in a plastic baggie (some people use paper packets).
Oh, and if you liked the flavor of your lettuce leaf basil, I'd be happy to trade for some seeds.... :-)
critter - the lettuce leaf basil was Ok, a little on the bland and a tiny bit bitter - but I am gardening in the desert, so some heat (107*F) and water stress may have accounted for the very slightly bitter taste. It's a ruffled leaf, and not as big leafed as I imagined, but again, that may be due to the way it was grown out. I have drip in the veggie beds now, but didn't at the beginning of summer, and everything suffered.
I will DMail you when I get the seed pods dried and can send some of the original seed and some of the harvested and maybe you can test them out. The flower petals are falling, and I can see the "bumpy bits", but everything is still looking perky-green. Funny how I've fought to get green to this desert and now I'm anxiously waiting for something to turn brown!
LOL!
I have some seeds of a lettuce leaf variety to try next year also, so we will see how they do. I'm hoping for good seed production on my favorite Italian Genovese type (seeds were brought back from Italy by a good friend)... not as large a leaf as the lettuce leaf basil, but the leaves are fairly big, and the flavor just knocks your socks off!