Why do we collect seeds? A lot of plants will self seed, with a bit of help from the wind and birds, the seeds will land and may germinate to make new plants. Collecting seeds and sowing them ourselves, is a more reliable way and a way where we can have the plants exactly where we want them. Seeds can be collected and depending what they are, maybe sown straight away or can be stored for the following year.
For many of our plants, their flowering time is either dwindling or is already over. Once this happens, keep an eye out as most plants will 'go to seed'. For example, my Sweet Peas have been flowering strongly all summer, we have kept cutting the flowers for the house and this has kept them going. But we stop cutting about a month ago to let the seeds come.
A lot of these are now about ready, some are still green but will soon turn brown.
Seeds like these are ready when the pods turn brown. For other plants they may turn black or red and when they look like they are ready to burst their contents, but before they actually do.
Cut off the whole seedpod and place in a paper bag or place somewhere dry, such as a windowsill, so the pods can open. Keep checking. When the pod bursts, collect the dry seeds and clear away any debris. Place the cleaned seeds in an envelope for storage and label. Put somewhere cool and dry until ready to be sown.
There are other seeds that need to be treated differently, this way is for most plants that have these kind of pods.
A good web page with more information on what to do with other kinds of seeds, is the RHS page. Here is the link: http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?PID=675
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