Drying seeds may seem like a useless, tedious task. After all, why should you waste your time drying seeds when you can pick up a pack for less than a buck?

The truth is, there are a few answers to this question. First, if you have an extremely fruitful, hardy plant why wouldn’t you want to reproduce it next year? Drying and saving the seeds will increase the odds of making this happen. Furthermore, it’s fast, easy, saves you money and reduces your carbon footprint.

Drying the Seeds

There are a few ways to dry your seeds: on the plant, air drying after you have removed the seeds from the plant or fermentation. All of these methods are easy and effective. It really just comes down to what type seed you are drying.

Air drying is best for most vegetable varieties. It involves waiting for the plant to fully ripen, removing the seeds and letting them air dry on a paper towel. Be sure to wash the seeds thoroughly before you lay them out on the towel.

Drying the seeds on the plant is most effective for plants such as corn or peas. Simply let the seeds dry and fall off the plant, as they naturally would.

The last method is fermentation. This is primarily for tomato seeds due to the thick gel that surrounds the seeds. Simply scoop out the seeds into a jar and fill it 3/4th full of water. After 3-4 days you will notice some of the seeds have sunk to the bottom, these are to good seeds. The seeds that have floated to the top are dead seeds. Carefully scoop out the dead seeds and discard them. Spread the good seeds out on a paper towel to dry.

As you can see, drying seeds...

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Garden Mandy