Basically, in nature, the fruit falls to the ground or is eaten and the seeds get pooped out. Then they lay in the ground until spring, when they start growing.
Couldn=92t a person just plant the wet seeds in little pots that are kept outside? Then in the spring, they would grow just like in the wild.
I=92m guessing that it wouldn=92t work, simply because it is not standard practice, but thought I would ask anyway.
Whether it works depends. It depends on your climate, the plant and the viability of the seed.
I live in a climate that gets hard frosts but snow is as rare as rocking horse poop.
In Autumn I frequently strip the seed heads of things and just strew the seeds around the garden to lie there and come up or not as they want to do. I generally don't bother with putting the seeds in anything but I have done it sometimes using old broccoli boxes. My problem is forgetting seeds in pots so I'd rather the seed did its own thing.
Things that grow easily from using this strewing technique are parsley, coriander, basil, calendulas, aquilegia, mustard, silver beet (chard) and probably others that I would recall if I took a walk around my garden.
Other things that grow voluntarily from my cold composting techniques are pumpkins and apple trees and various other squashes.
Thanks. I think I will give this a try next year.
Why fermenting? Straight question.
Does anybody ferment any other plant seeds before drying?
TIA
Persephone
then run them under running water and then dump them out onto a
Tomato seeds straight from the tomato have a slimy coating (think snot like). Leaving them for a few days in water gets rid of the slimyness and then all you have to do is pour them into a kitchen sieve and run a bit of water on them and then dump them onto a bit of kitchen towel wait for the whole bit of towel to dry, roll it up and put it away till tomato seed planting time..
Fermenting is reputed to kill some pathogens. It definitely breaks down the gel sac around each seed, making them much easier to handle once washed and dried. The Seed Saver's Exchange farm in Iowa has a huge German-built machine to extract tomato and other seed (think a Foley on steroids), but they still add water and ferment the tomato seeds for a few days.
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
Having done that, I just spread the seeds out in the sieve and point a small desk fan at it. They dry in a couple of hours.
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
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