Saving seeds from the plants you grow

Saving seeds from your current harvest to plant and germinate yourself next year is a good practice. It reduces cost and in most cases the seed will 'breed true' meaning it will produce a plant with the same characteristics as the mother/father plant.

To save seeds simply let one select fruit or vegetable stay on the vine until it is past over-ripe. Harvest the fruit and air-dry the seeds you find in a cool, dark place until they are dry then store in a light-proof, moisture-proof container until ready to plant.

Be aware though that if you are growing different varieties of the same plant they may cross breed resulting in a plant with characteristics of both varieties.

Now, how do you know if a plant will 'breed true'? Not all will, resulting in some wild and probably useless variations or what you might consider to be a 'throw-back'.

If the plant you save seeds from is pure bred, meaning not a hybrid, (check the seed package) and you are not growing any other same plant varieties the resultant seed will breed true.

This is pretty much guaranteed due to the fact that pure bred strains are highly inbred where there are no 'strange' dominant characteristics that will show up - they have been bred out.

If you are dealing with a hybrid variety you are taking a chance but, most likely, you will get a duplicate of what you gathered the seeds from.

It is still worth saving the seeds and planting them - even if, by chance, you get some wild variation, it might actually be superior to the parent...but don't count on it.

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