Planting with intent to save seeds...

[mothergoose]

Now, I have mostly heirloom seeds that are being used for the garden this year. I would like to save seed from as much as possible.
What can I plant and save seeds from that will not cross-polinate?

I know there are 3 different genus families of squash, you can plant one from each family and not have cross-polination, what I am not sure of is which are in each family etc.

Are there other plants that you can't plant together? like watermelon and pumpkins etc..

Any does and don'ts for herbs? Should I only plant one variety of basil etc. if I want to save seeds?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Christie

 

[digitS']

Someone posted a real good seed saving guide from the Seed Savers but I keep changing computers and don't know where that's gotten to.

Here's something from Fedco on seed saving and whether certain vegetables are self-pollinating or not and isolation distances, etc. Fedco is a good outfit.

Squash and pumpkins are cucurbits, a genus partly made up of 3 species:

C. maxima, hubbard and buttercup
C. moschata, butternut
C. pepo, acorn squash, patty pan,
summer squash, spaghetti squash, and most pumpkins

You may want to grow 3 winter squash varieties: a buttercup, a butternut and an acorn.

If you want to have summer squash and pumpkins - that gets problematic for seed saving. Gourds are also sometimes C. pepo or C. maxima. At the least, you will have to take measures to keep them from crossing with each other and with the acorn.

Melons won't cross with squash or cucumbers, as best as I understand. But, they will each cross within their species.

Only a few herbs are annuals and/or propagated by seed. I sure grow a lot of basil but I don't know how easily it crosses. As much as the bees like the flowers . . . .

:bee

Steve

 

[mothergoose]

Thanks Steve.
I am going to do some research and see what I can figure out.
Christie

 

[Bettacreek]

I've been putting some thought to this. I have 7 varieties of peppers that I do NOT want crossing, but do not have the space to assure that they won't. So, I wonder if I could bag some of the flowers, starting when they're just a bud, then manually pollinate them, and cover them again so that nothing else can bring in "bad" pollen. I would only need to pollinate a few flowers of each type to be sure that I have enough seeds. You would, of course, have to be very diligent with it, and you'd have to make sure that you keep the seeds seperate from the randomly pollinated ones.

 

[patandchickens]

So, I wonder if I could bag some of the flowers, starting when they're just a bud, then manually pollinate them, and cover them again so that nothing else can bring in "bad" pollen. I would only need to pollinate a few flowers of each type to be sure that I have enough seeds. You would, of course, have to be very diligent with it, and you'd have to make sure that you keep the seeds seperate from the randomly pollinated ones.

Yes, that is the easiest way to do it. And, just tie a piece of yarn or flagging tape around the stem that you bagged-and-hand-pollinated, so you can remember which one to save seeds from rather than eating

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[mothergoose]

This shows how much I don't know, but...

how do you hand polinate?

When can you remove the bag and just have the limb marked with yarn/flagging tape?

This works for any type of plant?

Thanks,
Christie

 

[journey11]

I use a very soft bristled artist paint brush for transferring pollen and just pretend to be a bee. :bee

You can take the bag off once the fruit begins to visibly set.

I don't know about all plants/flowers, but most... Some things like summer squash have both male and female flowers. Hybrids wouldn't do you any good because they won't breed true and seedless varieties would be pointless as well.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

In China, they had killed all their bees with pesticides etc. . . So they have to hand pollinate for their fruit (like pears) and they use a feather. It was a very interesting show, if we don't get a hold on the colony collapse disorder in our honey bees we could be doing this.

My poor chickens will be running around naked because I will be dusting all my garden with their feathers. :happy_flower

How many different peppers do you need to keep to save seeds. I would like to have a health supply of seeds. And this would be way better then trying to plant 500 ft apart.

 

[Bettacreek]

Awesome! I like the yarn idea. Makes it MUCH easier than trying to remember dozens of them. I would actually never remember, to be honest, lol. The feather idea is awesome. I could just cut the side parts off of a feather and leave just the stuff on the tip to make it easier to fit into smaller spaces. I have plenty of feathers laying around from the goofy quail.

 

[Bettacreek]

How many different peppers do you need to keep to save seeds. I would like to have a health supply of seeds. And this would be way better then trying to plant 500 ft apart.

Good question. I know that my ornamentals give me 20+ seeds per pepper. Plus, trying to remember (I'm not very good at that) the last time that I "butchered" a bell, I think they have a good amount. But, it's always better to be safe than sorry, and at least quadruple however many you think you'll need. Then if something happens to any of them, you still have back-ups. PLUS, you'll have more pure pollen to choose from, and plenty of seeds to trade later. Personally, I'll probably bring an ornamental plant of each variety into the house for manual pollination. There're just too damn many peppers to try to keep track of everything. :/