by Silva Payne

Created on: May 09, 2009   Last Updated: May 15, 2010

After the first year of tending your garden, it should be possible to restock in the subsequent years from seeds that you have managed to collect and store from your plants. This is an inexpensive way of maintaining your borders and vegetable garden, and could even generate a little money in future plant sales. Each plant produces between one and a million seeds, depending on the variety, so keep what you need and sell or swap the rest.

The best time to collect plant seeds is in the morning on a clear, dry day just after the dew has lifted. It is better to collect the seeds from just one variety of plant at a time, so that you can be sure that you do not get several very similar seeds mixed up. Arm yourself with some small envelopes (the little brown ones often used for wage packets are an ideal size), or some small paper bags like the ones penny sweets used to be sold in.

You will also need a pen and some way of sealing the bag or envelope, and a box or basket to put your seed packets in. You should not store seeds in plastic bags or any other container that is not porous. The seeds need to be able to continue drying naturally and keeping them in plastic may cause them to sweat and turn moldy.

Select the plants you wish to harvest from, and write on two or three bags the name of the plant, the date including the year, and what colour the flowers were. While many plants will not grow true from collected seed (that is, they will not produce the same colour flowers as the parent plant), it is always worth making a note of the flower colour and planting out the seedlings as if they will be true. You may find over time that some colours never reproduce true and others do. If the colour selection is not important you can store all the seeds from several of the same plant variety in the same packet and have a "pot luck" mix the following year.

Once you have all the seeds you require, you should leave the packets open for at least 24 hours in a cool, dry place so that the seeds can dry out. After one or two days, the packets can be loosely sealed, by either folding over the top of the packet a couple of times, or with a paper clip or small piece of tape. When the packets are sealed, it is a good idea to store them indoors, away from the garden shed or greenhouse and the possibility of getting wet. Arranging them alphabetically, or as either flower or vegetable, will make the process of finding the right seeds again the following year much simpler.

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