When do I harvest the seeds

I know this is crazy, but.... If the blooms have died on the flower. Do I take the seed pods then, or do I have to wait until it is totally dried out. I'm afraid I'm taking them too soon, cause they are arent' totally dried and brown.

I would wait til the seed pod is dry.

I read in someones post that if they are taken sooner, then may not be viable.
But i also think it depends on the plant too. But i leave mine til Fall.

though i'm sure someone with a lot of seed experience will answer.

HECK -- you have seed pods already... i dont even have flowers yet.

As long as the stem to the pod is green, it's safe to assume that the seeds are still maturing. When the stem yellows, not much else is going to happen but actual drying. If the seeds are tiny, or if they are attached to a fluffy parachute type thing, you might want to bag the seed head with the foot of a nylon. (if anyone actually has any, anymore)

what kind of plant is it? We might be able to tell you the color of the mature seeds. Seeds will change color from immature to ripe.

Some are some really different looking marigolds, white, and I want to save them, just didn't want to look at dried up blooms for 2 or 3 months. Figured there is a middle in there somewhere. still have other pretty blooms, but not take those before they are ready.

I've been trying to get dianthuis, not that anyone needs anymore of them., just wanted to see if I could.

The sunflowers are the ones I'm most interested in. I have some that the blooms are dried up and don't want to leavae the ugly things on there, so thought maybe I could take off sooner. Also, do any of you know if you pinch off sunflowers like other stuff to make it fuller?

Don't try to save every seed from every flower. You'll go nuts in the process. Save the seeds from a couple dozen blooms at the most. Dead head the rest. you'll have plenty of seeds, and you can keep your flowers looking neater. Also, it will prolong the bloom season to dead head most of your flowers. Annuals will sense that their reproductive purpose is complete and quit blooming if very many blooms are left on the plant.

If the white marigold is an hybrid, chances are, the offspring won't be like the parent.

Sunflower blooms need to be pretty dry. After they have turned yellow, take the whole head off and let them dry some more. Some sunflowers will get fuller when pinched.

Thank you very much Melody for bringing me down to earth, I don't know why I think no seed should go to waste, and if there is anything I need, it is 1,000,000 marigolds. When you deadhead do you pinch off the blooming flower too. Sometimes, even if I"m deadheading they pop out before I know it.

So, I shouldn't have blooms at all right now, just let them get bigger and better?

"Dead-heading" means to pinch off the whole flower after the flower is past it's prime. I snap the whole flower off and dispose of them. Just leave your seed flowers on the plant. Take everything else off. Keep only 2 or 3 seed heads per plant.

To make your marigolds look bushier and fuller, take the stem off all the way down to just above the first leaf on the flower stalk. You will get new growth from the leaf axils and two blooming stems will form. To make them grow bushier before they bloom, pinch out the growing tips. This will make the plant grow more tips. I usually pinch the tips out a couple of times before I let them bloom. I know it's hard to wait, but you'll be rewarded later in the season.

>>I don't know why I think no seed should go to waste,

Lorraine ... i'm the same way. thank heaves for seed swaps.... gave most of them away.

That's kind of what I"ve been doing, pinching before they bloom?

Here is a picture of a sunflower I brought in today and a marigold. Maybe that will tell you if I'm crazy. No, wait, we already know that. Maybe it will tell you if I am crazier.

Well, Tc, you'd think we'd learn when we have two gallon ziplocks full of one seeds LOL Specially marigold, which no one wants. However this year I have some heirlooms, so who knows

Both of those look a bit green. you'll have some viable seeds, but you'll have some that are not also. For seed saving let them get a bit rattier looking.

Thanks Melody for all the help. I need to find a book, seeds for dummies!!! You've been very patient!!

I've been in your shoes.

LOL It just drives me crazy not knowing anything for sure.!!!

Most of my information is from personal experience, I have books, but they came much later in my gardening career. When I first started saving seeds, I didn't even know that there WERE books!

I do happen to come from a large extended family that gardened in many capacities. I learned how to recognize a seed instinctively well before I was a teenager. I could tear apart most blossoms and find the seeds before I was out of grade school.

There will come a time that you will just 'know' what to save. Trust me, you'll get there before very long.

Most lessons are better remembered when you experience them yourself.

This is true, you can run that movie in your mind of what you did!!!

I guess the rule for letting your stem turn yellow also applies to Flowering Maple? What color will the seeds turn? I was getting ready to post a question about how to collect seeds from Flowering Maple. I hear they are hard to germinate.

Just brought home one of my favorite flowers; a 6 foot tall Oriental Poppy. Girl at nursery said to let some of the black seeds fall into same pot and plant the others in small pots and I will have more poppies than I will ever need for an apartment balcony. This will be a first for me; propogating from seeds. Photo attached.


BTW, I am a new subscriber from Vancouver, BC, Canada. What planting zone am I in? I thought it was 8a but I see some Texas entries list 8a.

Thanx.

I deadhead annuals this early in the season. In late summer, I let seedheads mature for seeds. This keeps them blooming. As mentioned above, if you keep letting the plants set seeds, the blooming will halt.

Canada hardiness zones: http://www.planthardiness.gc.ca/

Karen

Oh, good idea. Never thought of that.

Welcome to DG Lorradan. Lots of BCers on the Canadian forum who can hone in on your zone for you. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/tradeeh/all/

I have the hardest time deadheading cause I want to get those seeds. lol
But I know I have to ,so I grin and bear it.!!

Sometimes, I cheat and let 2 or 3 plants set seeds to satisfy my "must have seeds" complex

You'll get over that phase Lorraine, we all go through it.

Lorradan, Welcome to DG.
Have you looked at PNW forum, we are your zone, we tend to get a little crazy sometimes, but we have fun. Please take a peek, We don't bite LOL
I lurk alot, And trying to learn about saving seeds, I just harvest some Hellbours seeds, so proud, Ha Ha. My good friend on DH who is in England ( also same zone) told me how. And now I want to try all my plants that I really want to keep to make more. I have a GH full of seeds from many DGers that I have shared sed with. Way to much fun.
Please join us
Tills
^_^

The start of summer