Acquiring Knowledge and keeping Records
Keeping a record of exactly where a plant grows, when it flowers and produces
seed, as well as a map of where you will be planting it later are all of
equal importance and simply stated there is no substitute for good habits
in planning and keeping your records up to date.
It should be emphasized that the importance of keeping records should extend to
both success and failure. We should all be happy to only make new mistakes
instead of the same old ones over and over again, and finding out where
you went wrong will be far easer if you wrote everything down when it was
happening rather then attempting to recall just where that seed came from
two years ago and how you stored it.
Seeds
Familiarity with the phenology, the life cycle of the plant
you collect seed from, is important because it is necessary to know when
flowering, seed formation and seed maturity will occur.
Understanding dispersal mechanisms of the species and the effects of
environmental changes, such as bird migration, insects, encroachment and
the weather, is also helpful.
Experience, time and your own records are the most important factors
to consider when collecting seeds. First, observe the plants; watch and
record the life and growth cycle of each species. This is important because
it is the best way to find out when plants typically bloom and when the
seeds are generally ready for collection as well as planting. Also, it will help to
understand the most important part of seed collection, timing.
Timing of harvest is important because if seeds are collected too early, the
seeds will be immature and have low seed viability. If seeds are collected
too late, they can dehisce quickly and be lost.
Seeds that are collected
after dispersal are usually of low quality and are potentially costly and
time consuming to clean. Other aspects to consider are that seeds seldom
ripen uniformly over the same flower stalk. Prolonged flowering and different
stages of seed maturity limit uniform seed collection so your collecting
should take place over as long a time period as possible. Lengthy observation
and experience are the best resource - until you have it your self, dragging
someone with you with lots of previous experience is always the best way to
determine when particular seed species should be collected.
No matter what kind of native seeds you intend to collect,
you must keep a constant watch on the plants involved.
Even though a plant may produce flowers there is no guarantee that you will
be able to collect the seeds. Some plants may not produce seeds due to
poor pollination. Steady rains, unseasonable temperatures, and strong winds
can affect the activity of bees and other insects that pollinate natives.
Wildlife such as squirrels, mice, voles, chipmunks, insects and birds are
all waiting to collect tasty seed using their own methods as well.
Ants are especially problematic when it comes to collecting seeds
and if especially troublesome, it may be necessary to wrap the green seed pods
in tiny cheesecloth bags while the seeds ripen on the plants.
If the seeds you are collecting come from a plant that has seeds that ripen in
pods they should be collected just as the pods are beginning to open and
just before they fall to the ground. When seeds are on the ground, the
likelihood of disease and insect infestation is greatly increased.
Also some seeds loose viability (ability to germinate) soon after they are
ripe and should not be collected from the ground.
Collecting the entire pod
is usually the best method because this allows the seed to continue ripening
in the pod as it dries. Plants that dehisce (break open and dispel seeds)
can be contained by placing a paper sack over the seed head and closing the
open end with a twist tie. Exposure to light and air will allow seed ripening
as the bag collects the seed. This method allows for collection once at the
end of seed maturation. Care should be taken as it is not beyond the character
of some birds, squirrels and insects to find that your bags contain some tasty treats!
Assuming you outsmart the critters, you still must check the plants frequently
for maturity.
As a general rule, most seeds start to ripen when the pods or capsules
change color or when the seed heads start to open.
Seeds that are mature are often dark in color, firm and dry. Fleshy seeds
often turn color as they mature and become ripe. These seeds should be collected
as they are changing color.
Berries or fleshy fruits should be collected when they are obviously ripe.
Some seeds
are ripe when the seeds are still green, but a careful touch with a finger
will loosen them.
While timing your seed collection should be based primarily on
observation and good record keeping, other means of determining seed maturity exist.
Using the moisture content of the seeds is possible.
Immature seeds have a moisture content of approximately 60%;
whereas mature seeds has a moisture content closer to 10%.
There are some high-tech methods to help with this from the Karl Fischer
reagent test which must be performed by a chemist, to electronic sensors and infrared balances.
Seed maturity-moisture content curves have been determined for a number of
species and can be used as a guide to collecting seeds.
The basic concept of seed maturity increasing as moisture content decreases
can be used as helpful guide.
For our purposes we use the bite test.
The bite test: This tried and true low-tech method is to simply take a seed and
carefully bite it, if it feels rubbery the moisture content is too high and
you need to collect at a later date.
Experimenting with germination tests is also helpful in determining at what
stage seeds can be collected. But this is beyond the purview of this workshop.
Wildflowers that produce many seed heads or capsules on a single stalk like Penstemon will ripen their seeds over a period of weeks.
You can pick the ripe ones every day, or you can cut off the entire stalks
when the first few seed heads or capsules are fully ripe.
Seeds should be collected when they are thoroughly dry, if possible.
Moisture from rain or dew can ruin seeds very quickly.
Exercises
- Pods. California poppies have a long blooming period, so at any given time
from spring to fall, you may find seed pods in various states of maturity.
Pick a variety and open them up to observe the development of the seeds.
Do some pop open when you handle them? Determine which pods are at the appropriate stage
for collecting. How would you describe them?
- Bite Test. Gather a variety of seeds at various states of maturity and
practice the bite test. You can try it on your California poppy seeds of the
previous exercise, but the seeds are very small and hard to handle.
Start with seeds where you are fairly confident of their level of maturity
to get the feeling, then experiment with others where you are not sure.
Be sure to avoid seeds of poisonous plants, such as
- poison hemlock and other members of the carrot family,
- oleander,
- members of the nightshade family,
- cotoneaster,
- cocklebur,
- california buckeye,
- mistletoe.
References
The content of the page was last modified
2008-05-06