Seedling Progress Report. 2.28.2021

 The seeding mat was a bit too warm, with a brief period up to 100F earlier this week.  For most of the seeds, it does not seem to have hurt them and many are germinating earlier than expected.  Not all are growing yet.  So far, most of the tomatoes, the basil, and French marigolds are growing.  The marigolds were first.  The basil and marigolds were seeds I saved from my plants last fall, and the marigolds were from volunteer plant, so now 3rd generation in my garden.

Basil seedlings.  There are a "typical" basil - not one of the fancy big leaf or Thai varieties.  Last fall I cut off the seed heads, and stored them upside down in a brown paper bag in my home office.  Last week, I crushed the dry seed heads in my hands, transferred to a bowl, used my fingers to separate the chaff.  it was very easy to get a large amount of seed, and the process smelled very nice, like basil.

Tomato Seedlings.  Only two have not germinated yet, one of the Moskovic and the home saved volunteer yellow cherry tomato.

Marigold Seedlings - not pictured but similar to the tomato seedlings.  I still have the original plant, blooming in the sunroom.  It's a nice, reddish brown color with orange edges and centers, only about 9 inches tall after a year.

 

Plus, some of the earlier seedlings are doing very well so far.  First, the shallot seedlings are growing nicely.  Germination was poor, but the plants that did grow are doing well.  I also have a shallot bulb that I planted in the garden last fall.  It will be interesting to compare how they do.

 This container has peppers, on left is Banana pepper and with the reddish-leaf apple seedling is Thai pepper.  Those will get separated when I repot the apple plant.

More seedlings under LED lights.

 

 

Celery seedlings.  I planted them too thickly.  The seeds are tiny and I didn't know how good the germination would be.  I thinned them to a few per cell.  Probably thin to one or two per cell, later.

There are also storage onion seedlings and some of the peppers, eggplants, and apples, on the top shelf under the sunroom top window.

Saving Poppy Seeds. 8.11.2020

 These are Shirley poppies.  It's interesting how many seeds one can collect from the pods, even though the pods seem small.  I'll continue saving them, since the honeybees like them so much and there aren't as many other bee forage plants blooming now.

Saving Seeds. Taiwan Sugar Snow Pea. 7.28.2020

This Spring I planted some old Taiwan Sugar snow pea seeds that I saved about 6 or so years ago.  About 2/3 of them germinated and grew. They were earlier and the plants were smaller, about 4 to 5 feet, compared to the Oregon Spring ones that I grew, about 6 to 7 feet tall.  It was hard to find new seeds of these online, so I saved seeds again.   Some are brown with crispy shells, which I think is how they should be.  Some are green and larger pea, but the shell is brown.  I think those need  a longer drying time.

These are the dried and drying snowpea pods.  I think the ones that are not fully dry will be OK once they are dried out. 7.28.2020

These are the shelled snowpea seeds.  I will let them dry some more then store them in an envelope.  7.28.2020

Saving Chinese Bean Seeds. 10.4.16

Shelled Bean Seeds.  10.4.16

Red Variegated Beans.  10.4.16

 This year I decided to resurrect the Chinese pole beans (ChangChun Beans) that Ning grew around 10 years ago, and the seeds were older than that.  The actual green beans are pictured

Chinese Green Bean Pole Beans from 8.28.16

below.  I know the seed packets were at least 10 years old.  I located a post from when we grew these in 2008, and as I recall, the seeds were not fresh even then.  I have never seen beans like these anywhere, so I am interested in preserving the seeds and possibly, passing them on to other gardeners.

There won't be more seeds where these came from, so the goal was to see if I could grow some from the ancient packets, and if they grow, save the seeds for next year.

I do also have an envelope with about 25 seeds from last year, that I can combine with these if I find them.

The beans were fairly diverse.  There were 5 distinct, types, with 4 pictured here.  There was a pale green wide pod, with red speckles and stripes, a dark green wide pod with black speckles and stripes, a green wide pod, and a green narrow pod.

Shelling these, the pale/red speckled pod corresponded to a white bean seed with red speckles; the dark/black speckeled pod corresponded to white beans with black speckles, and some that were solid black.  The all green pods had all-red beans, and the narrow / round green beans had white seeds.

I think the two red types in the photo are just variations of the same type.

It's been raining, and some of the pods are mildewed, while some remain green.  I've harvested about 2/3 of the remaining pods.  These are allowing to dry more, inside the house.  Then they will go into envelopes and possibly other container, and saved.  We can see next year if they are viable, and if they reproduce true to type.  It's possible some will hybridize because different types were near one another, in some cases intertwined.  They may require a few years of isolation to purify the strains.

Dried Bean Pods.  10.4.16

Now that these have grown through an entire cycle, from seed to plant to seed, I'm optimistic that the ChangChun beans will be with us for some time.

Walking Around. 8.18.16

Single French marigold selected for seed saving.  8.18.16

Walking around,  but not a lot.  Temps above 100 F by afternoon.  I can handle the am cooler temps, but not the afternoon.
Photos are via I-pad, I didn't have camera card for the better camera today.

Some of the marigold seeds, saved from last year's double flowers, grew out with single flowers.  I've decided I like these better, and want to save them as my own little landrace.  These have a rich, brick-red appearance, with yellow edges.  I don't think they are the same as the Burpee "Cottage Red" variety, which is much redder in photos.  I do have seeds of that variety to grow next year, and signet marigolds, both of which will be kept separate from these singles. There are doubles and oranges nearby, so it may take another year or two to isolate these as my own strain.

Four O'clocks are holding up well to the summer heat.  Some came up from the same roots, for the 3rd year.  They have not been invasive.  My intention is to save seeds from the traditional reds and yelows.

Yellow and red Four O'clocks selected for seed saving.  8.18.16

Seedling rows, Evergreen Bunching Onion and species Echinacea.  8.18.16

 Corn turned out to protect sunflowers from deer, once they grew too big for rabbit tastes.

I planted echinacea seeds a few weeks ago.  These are not a modern hybrid, just bought seed packet labeled "Echinacea Purple Coneflower".  They have germinated.  Rudbeckia seeds have not germinated yet.  Rudbeckia, grown from seeds this Spring, did grow nicely and are blooming.  There are annual and perennial Rudbeckia, and I don't trust the labeling, but maybe these will come back next year.

Sunflower.  8.18.16

Missouri  primrose, Oenothera missouriensis.  8.18.16

Missouri primrose, growing wild.  Very dry tolerant,  and grows in soil that supports almost nothing else.  Maybe I will dig a plant for the perennial border.  Bees don't seem interested in them.

Evergreen bunching onions are doing OK with the heat.  They look delicate but I think they are tough.   They are just a few weeks from planting the seeds.

Rudbeckia, first year from seeds.  8.18.16

Walking Around. 9.17.15

Yellow Single Marigold.  9.19.15

 Random photos.

The heirloom french marigolds had some atypical plants.  A single yellow - the rest were doubles.  And a taller, looser double red.  That one had more marigold fragrance, looks like a reversion to earlier type.  I am saving seeds from both.  I like the difference.

Only 4 seeds from Ning's beans.  Not much to start a self-saved strain but better than zero seeds.\

Squashes ripening and curing now.  The first of many.

Illinois Everbearing Mulberry is a pale green.  Not due to insufficient nitrogen.  It's been that way every year, and in 2 locations.  Other trees nearby are fully green.

The Four Saved Chinese Bean Seeds.  9.17.15

Atypical Large Red French Marigold.  9.17.15

The first Chinese Haws here.    Great to have a start.

This is the Year of the Squashes.  Lots to eat during the winter.

Squashes So Far.  9.17.15

Mulberry Illinois Everbearing.  9.17.15

Chinese Haw Red SUn.  9.17.15

Saving Seeds and Making Hybrids. 7.18.15

Many flowers are setting seeds now.  For ornamentals, there is a choice between, letting them do their own thing, or deadheading to stimulate bloom and allow photosynthetic energy to go to root and stem storage, or let the seeds ripen and save the seeds.

For some plants, it takes intentional pollination.

My plan is to save the following seeds.

Ornamental Alliums - already discussed.  Cutting off dried seed-heads and shaking/rubbing the seeds into a bowl, then save in envelope.

Chives - same as Ornamental Alliums.

Dried El Dorado Peach Seeds.  7.21.15

Peaches - saving seeds from genetic dwarf tree to play with and experiment.  Those are dry in an envelope.  I need to crack them open and stratify some, plant others for nature to do its own stratification.

Peaches - from locally grown RedHaven, also dry in a bowl.  I want to grow one for a peach tree, maybe.  The others are for rootstock.

Apricots - see if I can sprout a couple to use as scion on a plum tree.

 Peacotum - ditto as for apricots.

Marigolds - save yellow and rust red varieties.  They are open pollinated so doubtless have mixed.  I'm not crazy about the more common orange ones, so I won't save those.   If orange dominates yellow or brick red, I could wind up with mostly orange again.

Tigridia Early Seed Pod.  7.21.15

Seed Pods Among Flower Buds on Daylily "Fooled Me"  7.21.15

Tigridia - I've been pollinating each, either self or with other color blooming at the same time.  no rhyme or reason.  I like the yellow/red mix the best.  I should cut off the seed pods for the others, why grow the ones I'm not crazy about.

Chicago Apache Early Seed Pod.  7.21.15

Dayilies.  Cross pollinating Chicago Apache (triploid) with Fooled Me (triploid).  Each gets the pollen from the other.  I am not emasculating them, so there could well be some self pollinating going on.

Also pollinated mystery variety "Vigoro" which has a triploid look, with pollen from Chicago Apache and Fooled me.

Also some others among the diploids.  Pardon Me with Stella De Oro, and with Luxury Lace.  Luxury Lace with Pardon Me.  Selfed the pale yellows.    I don't know if the one sold as Daring Deception is a mutant of that variety, or if in tissue culture it lost its polyploidy and became diploid, or was mislabeled, or is a seedling of Daring Deception that was mistaken as the real thing.  Still, it's the only lavender daylily in the bunch, so I used pollen from both diploids and triploids to see what sets.

No real strategy.  Only one currently with a contrasting eye color, which would be nice to pass on to progeny.

That's a lot of seeds.  It's all experimentation, doesn't matter if they don't grow, or if there is nothing worth while.  I bet some will grow, and there will be something worthwhile.

Gardening for the next era.

This is a concept, I am making up as I go along.  I expect it to evolve.

*
Each gardener has a local climate.  Also local soil, local minerals, local water, local plant diseases and insects.  By growing what grows best locally, the gardener pioneers for himself, and also for future gardeners.  Big companies can't/won't do that.  They grow what looks and does the best in big, regionally centralized commercial nurseries.  Plants that look best in the big box stores and garden centers.   Those may be shipped hundreds of miles.  For farmers, a genetic "bottleneck", is created, eliminating diversity by marketing genetically engineered crops that require commercial chemicals to grow.  

*

Generations of gardeners and farmers in the past saved their seeds.  They created countless varieties of plants and great genetic diversity, and local adaptation.  Genetic diversity created opportunity and flexibility for changed conditions.  Now, with a much smaller number of hybrids (which don't grow true from saved seeds), and genetically engineered plants, that are not legal for gardeners to reproduce, we are increasingly dependent on plants that are not designed for diversity, not locally adapted, not amenable for the individual gardener to develop, probably more susceptible to disease, insects, climate challenges.  The effect is complete dependency on the marketer and chemical company, and at the same time, more risky plants with less future potential, and more dependency on chemical products for the garden.

*

This is not to demonize hybrids.  Many of them are great.  But there is a lot to be said for saving seeds, starting your own plants from ones that do well for you, and sharing them with others.  It's usually easy.  It's very rewarding to see plants that I grew from seeds, that I collected from plants that I grew from seed, that I collected....

*

Then there's trees.  Most nursery-grown trees are grown as cloned grafts from a small number of varieties.  Even forest trees are made via clones of the fast producing varieties.  That makes them more susceptible to disease and climate challenges.  By growing trees from seeds, you provide future generations with more genetic diversity.   You create a buffer against clonal degradation, and propagate varieties that prosper locally.  You grow a tree that is most likely to thrive in your own community.  That tree may impart disease or insect resistance not present in a clone.  In addition, cloned plants, especially grafts, carry viral disease from one generation to the next, but seeds do not proliferate the viral infections.  Virally weakened plants are less vigorous and less productive.  

*

Figs and roses are good examples.  Grafted roses do not live as long, and virally infected roses are more susceptible to weather challenges.  Most figs carry fig mosaic virus, which is thought to make them less productive.  

*

Many trees are easy to grow from seeds.  A young person will live to see the tree mature.  An older person will know that they have given something valuable to future generations.  As a boy, I grew maples, ginkgos, honey locusts, maples, and oaks from seeds.  Even though I don't live in the region where these were started, the last time that I visited, some of those trees were amazing, huge trees.  Shows how old I am.  My grandfather grew peaches from seeds.  More recently, I've grown ginkgos, peaches, cherries, and plums from seeds. 

*

 The 15 year old ginkgo in my back yard is now about 20 feet tall.  That seed came from a tree, grown from seed from my elderly boyhood neighbor, Herman Deege.  He taught me about how gingkos were around in the time of dinosaurs.  Most commercially grown gingko trees are a handful of clones, all male to avoid growing female trees that make stinky, messy fruits.  However, ginkgos are also a food crop.  Americans have not caught onto that yet.  Similar thoughts apply to other tree species - ginkgos happen to be a favorite of mine.

*

I'm planning to use more open pollinated, locally adapted varieties as time passes.  If I see a seed from a tree that is prospering, I might grow it.  I'll continue saving seeds from garden vegetables, and some fruits, that do well for me here.  I don't think I have to spend decades developing varieties.  Much of that has been done.  I just have to be conscious about my choices, and conscious about saving seeds when the opportunity presents.

Saving Seeds

Collected more seeds today. Saved them in regular postal envelopes. My seed box is a small wooden file box that I bought at a yard sale, good fit for the envelopes.

Yellow pod bush beans. These are a tasty bean that grew well this year. I "think" they are open pollinated, and they are the only beans that I grew at the time, so they should grow true.

Daylily seeds. These are some of the results from my hybridizing. I'll have to look up how to grow them. My plan is to find a place to grow them out to bloom, and keep anything I like, throw away hybrids I don't like. No way to know until I see them grow and bloom. Just for fun.

These are "Oriental Snow Pea Sweet Taiwan". Similar for the beans I haven't grown any other pea, so unless they are a hybrid, they should grow true.