It may seem like rushing the season, but any good gardener always plans ahead. If you're considering collecting any seed at the end of the season from any flowers that you'll be planting, now's the time - when you're starting the seed - to remember what they look like.
If they're seeds I've worked with for many seasons, then by now I recognize them when collecting in the fall. But if they're seeds of plants that are new to me, then I've also learned by now that it's impossible to commit to memory what they looked like fresh from the packet. Enter: the camera! So I take pics of them before seeding. Pour out a few on a white background and - Snap!. Instant memory.
Another helpful lesson I've learned to jog my memory is to snap pics of seedlings as they emerge. (Both cotyledon stage and first-true leaf stage.) Ever have volunteers come back the next season and you don't know what the heck they are? Weed? Seedling of a new & expensive seed you purchased last year? Go try and remember what it looked like and run inside to your computer or rifle through books and magazines to find what you've spotted outside!!!! Yeah, right! Not impossible, but I much prefer to look at my own little collection of seedling i.d. photos.
Maybe this might seem a bit anal to some. But it helps me out bunches! And these days I can use all the help in the garden I can get.
I just read another post from you on the angelina flower, and thought, I bet she has her thinking cap on. HaHa
I found a lone seed in the botton of the container I keep seed in. Don't know what it is, but it sprouted in two days. Now you know I had to plant that lone seed out of curiousty. It has first true leaves. Still don't know what it is. HaHa Guess in a couple months I will. Oh MY!
I need to take pictures of every thing! I better get busy!
Glad to talk to you!
Posts: 4572 | Location: MARYLAND zone 6 | Registered: May 23, 2003
It's been a bad day for me, I woke up angry at the world and it all tumbled downhill from there. It's going to be a looooong week for me!
Anyway, that's a great idea! I kept the remaining seeds in their packets and then put the packets in ziploc bags, but there's no pictures of what I should expect to see when they sprout. I don't have a stack of magazines to thumb through, and I probably won't, I'm not a magazine reader. I like the idea of keeping my own records of what my seeds look like.
You should have seen me planting my little seeds, I should have recorded myself for all of you... it would have been entertaining! Who knew lettuce seeds were so tiny? I think I ended up putting a few in each peat pot cuz I couldn't pick up just one! The same with the oregano seeds! I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that! I have two varieties of tomatoes, roma and better boy, the seeds look identical, how do you tell those apart before you plant them?
Elizabeth
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. ~Margaret Atwood
Posts: 154 | Location: Zone 9B - The OC | Registered: October 21, 2005
You may be having a bad day, but your post cheered me up and I wish I could have heard you grumble at the small seeds!
Been there done that a million years ago.
And guess what, the older you get the tinier they get, cuz you can't see as well! HaHa
So you grumble louder.
You should have heard me when I was making my carrot tapes. My hubby wanted to know if I needed football stadium lights set out over the table! My answer: Why Aren't they installed yet! Good Heavens!
Thanks for making me smile!
Posts: 4572 | Location: MARYLAND zone 6 | Registered: May 23, 2003
Originally posted by hotmamatigger: It's been a bad day for me, I woke up angry at the world and it all tumbled downhill from there. It's going to be a looooong week for me!
Maybe it's just for today, Elizabeth. Don't set yourself up for the whole week. Just one bad day, that's all. Everyone has them.
quote:
You should have seen me planting my little seeds, I should have recorded myself for all of you... it would have been entertaining!
You'd better believe we're proud of you. Welcome to the joys of it all!
quote:
I have two varieties of tomatoes, roma and better boy, the seeds look identical, how do you tell those apart before you plant them?
Elizabeth
Label the pots or write the name of them on a popsicle stick and stick it in the soil (if there's room).
Good vibes coming to you from here for the rest of the week!!!
Connie Checking my emails from now on~find me at connieczajkowski at yahoo.ca
Label the pots or write the name of them on a popsicle stick and stick it in the soil (if there's room).
Good vibes coming to you from here for the rest of the week!!!
Yeah, I did that, but Gardenz was talking about identifing the seeds before they're planted! If all my tomato seeds look the same out of the tomato, and I don't label them, there would be a problem. I know this will be one thing I am going to be very anal about come harvest and seed gathering... those little buggers are going to be labeled promptly!
Thanks to all of you for your postive thoughts and warm vibes! It's already getting a little better watching Star Wars with DH and cuddling on the couch til Heroes starts... maybe I can milk this for some chocolate ice cream!
Elizabeth
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. ~Margaret Atwood
Posts: 154 | Location: Zone 9B - The OC | Registered: October 21, 2005
Which has more calories: Pinot NOir or Chocolate ice cream? I bet they don't go well together...
Elizabeth, I hear you loud and clear. I now refer to those days as "The Troll is in the house."
I can say don't get hung up too much on identifying seeds BEFORE you've actually sowed them, but I might just be spitting into the wind, methinks?? Once the fruit is on the plant, you'll know what is what.
Now sweetpeas - when you're harvesting seed and all 2 million buggers are the same little dried tan caterpillars, THAT'S when marking the bloomin' flower stems with the variety would've come in handy
~Ever notice how God needed a rest after making Woman?
Posts: 157 | Location: Zone 10 - San Diego | Registered: May 12, 2003
Actually I was more referring to flower seeds. And not remembering the variety or color, but as hotmamadigger said, what the actual seed itself looks like.
Veggies...well, a pepper seed is a pepper seed or a tomato seed is a tomato seed. No mistaking it. The only real identification w/those are the variety. That, of course, is only done as you guys mentioned - when you seed it and when you plant it out to make sure the label/tag is in place.
Being able to remember exactly what a seed of a new flower looks like when you're trying to find and collect it in the fall is another story. That's where having a photo of the seed comes in handy. Either one you've taken or one from a book or at least, online. Then you know what you're looking for. Last year I seeded & grew Angelonias (as mentioned in another thread) and when I went to harvest the seed from them in November, I couldn't discern what I was looking for. All seeds aren't as easy to identify as, say, celosia or marigold or cosmos or zinnia. This year I've ordered more Angelonia seed and this year I'm taking a picture of the little buggers before I sow them!
Originally posted by gardenz: Actually I was more referring to flower seeds. And not remembering the variety or color, but as hotmamadigger said, what the actual seed itself looks like.
You all crack me up... it's Hot Mama Tigger, as in the bouncy guy from Winnie the Pooh. This is the second time today I've been called "Digger"! If only my childhood friends who gave me the Tigger nickname could see this now!
Elizabeth
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. ~Margaret Atwood
Posts: 154 | Location: Zone 9B - The OC | Registered: October 21, 2005
I'm sorry hotmamaTIGGER!! I just hope I don't misspell as badly the names of any of my seeds this year.
Awhile back there was a small thread that ran about how my username was misprounced (as opposed to misspelling like I did yours). I never realized it but for years apparently folks had been thinking of my name as Garden "Z" (garden-"zee"). Once I mentioned that the correct pronunciation was "gar-DENZ", every time someone made a post to me they made a point to rub it in by typing in bold and in all caps the "DENZ" part.
