For Melody or Other Seed Experts...

Thanks for your pepper seed saving pointers a couple days ago. Now, I have the same question regarding my Clemson Spineless okra. I have one pod that slipped by me when it should have been harvested. It's a monster now, on the biggest plant in the patch. It seems to be destined to become next year's seed source.

So, what do I do?

Let it dry on the plant. I've got a whole row looking like a field full of Samurai swords. When they are dry and brown, the seeds will rattle. I carefully split them open along the ribs and use the pods in crafts. They made a spectacular Christmas wreath when sprayed silver and poked into a Styrofoam form.

As long as you only had the one cultivar, there should be little chance of cross pollination. I can grow 2 at a time by picking the blooms off of one while the other ones open. Tag the resulting pods, and repeat the process in reverse for the other one.

Thanks, Melody.

When I was a kid (ooooh, that was a long time ago!) we always had a big garden, but Dad was the kind of guy who bought his tomato and pepper plants at the green house and ordered each year's seed out of Burpee's. In my new found addiction to gardening, seed saving seems like a fun and rewarding segment, and I like the idea of getting next year's plants for free!

One follow up question, approximately how many seeds will one pod yield? I may "sacrifice" a few more pods if I need to.

Depending on the cultivar, 20-30 is normal, but to maintain genetic diversity and not inbreed, I'd save the pods from at least 6 different plants and mix the seeds together. (I do quite a few more than that)

Got it. Thanks.