Sometimes you have a plant that does incredibly well in your yard.  Other time you pick up a plant that you like the look of, but have no idea what it is.  This happened to Liz and I a few months back when we started planting the back yard after the summer heat broke.  We have a pact that we will not plant flowers before October 1st due to the pounding the plants take in those last few dog days of summer.  As you can imagine, we are pretty excited to load up on plant when October arrives and we hit the local nursery the first weekend in October.  There we found this

wonderful specimen that was not labeled but had incredible flowers.  So we loaded up a few in different colors and planted them in some 20 inch terracotta pots that we keep on our back porch.

To say they have gone nut would be an understatement – blooming well right through the mild winter and weathering a couple nights of frost.  So for us, these are certainly keepers, but we have yet to see them back in the nursery.  So I have been harvesting the seeds from what I now know is Nicotiana or Flowering Tobacco.  Who would have guessed…

The Process of Harvesting Seeds

There is nothing all that magical about gathering seeds from your plants. You just need to know what to do and not do, and take your time.  In fact, we have been gathering seeds off the Nicotiana plants for the better part of a month.  Here’s how it works:

1. First, if you are a zealous dead-header, you are literally throwing away your seeds.  Slow down with the dead heading and let the seed pods develop.  With our plants, we tend to start thinking about seeds as we reach the end of the growing season.  If the flowers are starting to slow, it might be the time to cut back on the dead-heading.
2. Once the flowers die off, typically the seed pods will form behind where the flower bud was.  These seed pods need some time to develop so you are best to just leave them alone at this point.
3. Seed pods are ready when they turn brown or are starting to open.  It’s important to monitor them closely or you might loose the seeds to birds or spilling out onto the ground. The latter is not too bad since they very well may germinate the next year if conditions are right.
4. Pluck the seed pods from the plant carefully ensuring you don’t spill the seeds or tear off too much of the plant.  All seeds are different, but the usual approach is to break open the pods and pour the contents into a small envelop.  I like vellum or glassine envelopes from Xpedex.  They are small enough for the seeds to not get lost in, and semi translucent so you can see where the seeds are.  Pour the seeds in the envelop and seal them up.
5. If the seeds are still moist, you most likely picked them too soon. In this case, place the seeds in a paper envelop until they are completely dry. Keep seeds in a dark, dry, cool place until it’s time to plant next year.
6. The last step is to label the seeds.  This may seem so obvious, but proper information is often left off the seed packets.  Besides the variety of the plant, you should include a harvest date, and I like to include any special instructions on the envelop like, “plant in late summer indoors, blooms well all winter. Prefers sun and ample water.”

Experiment with your plants and gather their seeds. You may find that you can sustain many years of gardening without ever setting foot in your local nursery. Not that this is likely, but it’s a nice thought that you can recycle the plants that bring color and joy to your yard.

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Starting plants from seeds is not for those individuals that expect instant gratification. In fact, it can be a couple weeks before you see any noticeable change, and several more before you have anything that resembles a plant you might find at your local nursery.   However, the benefits far outweigh the slow start.

Cost of Seeds vs. Seedlings

My wife and I recently purchased several packs of seeds that range from $2 – $4 and contain anywhere from 50 – 200 seeds. If we were able to find the same plants in 6-pack seedlings, we would have paid between $150 and $600 assuming $2.97 per 6-pack (your mileage may vary.)  Sure there are other expenses to plant the seeds, but you would be hard pressed to spend another $20 on planting supplies.  So planting your garden from seeds will save you between $128 and $578 depending of course on the seed count and cost – but that’s a pretty compelling reason to use seeds right there.

Seed varieties far outstrip seedling selection

Let say you are looking for tomato plants and you go to your local home center because it’s close and open extended hours.  You might find several of the more common varieties – better boys, early girls, yellow pear (if you’re luck), sweet 100s, etc.  If you venture to a local nursery you may also discover other varieties like Ace or Brandywine.  But the choices from seed are much greater that it may make your head spin. In fact, most seed catalogs offer hundreds if not thousands of tomatoes that you can start from seed.  Varieties with names like Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra,  or creme sausage, and range in color from the traditional tomato red, to black, purple, pink and yellow.  And, if you add the striped varieties, the options are endless.  Just think of how a yellow tomato would look in your next salad or topping that juicy burger.

The options are not limited to tomatoes when you plant your garden from seeds.  There are literally hundreds of choices with any plant or vegetable that you are trying to grow.  This is of particular benefit if you are in a climate that presents a challenge to grow in.  Don’t think for a second that the home center is looking out for what will grow well in your yard.  With seeds, you can try many varieties and determine what will grow best in your climate, soil type, etc.

At the risk of sounding corny , there is something rewarding about growing from seed.  Maybe it taking something that looks small and lifeless and with a small amount of work, transforming it into a living breathing plant. It’s even more rewarding if that plant produces fruit or vegetables of some sort and you are able to sit down one evening to an meal that you grew.

Yeah, yeah, all plants come from seeds (unless you take cuttings which is a different article,) but I believe that a seed that germinates in the micro climate of your yard, in your soil, with your shade, and watering habits, has a better chance of surviving that a plant forced to life inside some hydroponic greenhouse system looks more like a science lab than a garden.  When was the last time you picked up a wonderful specimen of a plant that could’t look any healthier until you stuck it in the ground.  Maybe you blamed you planting technique, I know I blame mine, but part of me thinks it has to do with the shock a plant feels those first few days and nights.  Since seeds grow up in your hood, they tend to do better because they develop according to what they need to live there.

Planting a garden from seeds

Steps/Process

Tools and Supplies

The nice thing about planting from seed is there there are not may tools or supplies you need.  Like anything, you can spend a lot of money on it, but I would encourage you to spend as little as possible until you are ready to get serious about seeds.  There are really three three things you need to plant from seed (besides the seeds of course):

You can get these ingredients in the garden section of your neighborhood garden center.   You can substitute loam or perlite and add some sand to the mix to keep the mix draining well and loose.   One of the most critical steps is to sterilize the seed starting mix. This will kill off any pests, eggs/larvae, bacteria, weed seeds and fungi that you can’t see with the naked eye. To do this, layer the seed planting mix in a baking pan and add one cup of water for each gallon of soil. Set the oven for 200 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for two hours. Cool and let the soil stand for 24 hours before using.

I know it seems like a lot of work, but you will benefit in the end. There is nothing more frustrating than starting a fresh batch of seeds, reaching the point of germination, and loosing the whole batch to some soil born disease.  Starting with quality mix is the best way to go.  If you like, there are several brands of seed starting mix that is commercially available and well suited for this.

1. Water – Good old fashion H20 is all you need to get the seeds rocking and bursting into a new plant that is ready for the garden.  The key here is to keep the seeds evenly moist throughout the germination process.  So if the seeds say germinates in 10-14 days, you will need to keep the seed mix moist for two weeks or until all the seeds sprout.  Then, you can start backing off on the water as the plant start to gain in size.
   

Easy to start from Seed

So far, we have had great luck with:

Summary

In all, seeds offer the best cost benefit with the most variety.  Sure you have to wait for the seeds to germinate, but at least you get the satisfaction of knowing you started the from seed.  And for a fraction of the cost, you can plant many more variety of seeds that you ever could with seedlings.  We hope you find this planting guide helpful as you set out to tackle your own garden.

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