KEEP your variety TRUE to TYPE:
mind CROSS-POLLINATION!
So, you have got a Premium, Rare variety of a plant,
free of Mass Produce Nutritional Degradation ( organic for at least 5 generations )
and/or possessing some outstanding, unique abiliteies
(e.g. Extremophile Tomato enduring heat up to +48C)
That is a Valuable Asset, which can now be handed over for generations!
It is a very good decision to collect your plant's future seeds for raising new ones,
because every plant with time adapts to your very own specific gardening micro-climate.
Sort of breeding your own micro-variety.
Now we are facing the question of
KEEPING THE SEED TRUE TO TYPE.
First of all, try to keep to ways of cultivation as organic as you can -
remember – Repeated use of chemical fertilizers and sprays
leads to significantly inferior quality of seeds and future plants!
(the already mentioned phenomenon of Nutritional Degradation).
Secondly, follow Rule of Thumb "Middle of the Middle" -
collect seeds from Middle of the harvest, not the first or the last ones,
and, if applicable, from the centre of the fruit rather than from it's edges.
The third, and Very important point to keep in mind, is
CROSS-POLLINATION.
Just like us, people,
no matter how different plants of the same species may look,
they are capable allright of Cross-Pollination.
The offspring inherits roughly half of the genes of each parent.
So, for example, if we grow Premium Purely organic tomatoes
next to Supermarket-sourced ones,
(even if you are growing them organically, too, their genes are far inferior!)
- there is a high chance of your Premiums getting cross-pollinated
and the seeds collected may carry up to 50% of supermarket genes!
For same-looking varieties
(say, red Premium tomatoes and Red supermarket ones)
this may not even be noticable to the naked eye,
yet the Nutritional Density of the new plants
propagated from those crossed seeds
will be dramatically lower.
Obviously, for Exotic – Looking varieties, like
Blueberry Tomatoes or Purple carrots,
the "wrong" genes will spoil the looks.
WHAT TO DO?
The Practical answer is – SPACING !
Rule of thumb is,
every 1mtr apart between varieties
lowers chances of Cross-Pollination by 20%.
You never get completely cross-pollintion-proof,
because nothing prevents some bug to go sit on "Supermarket" blooms, collect pollen,
and then go sit on your premiums and fertillize them with this pollen.
BUT – if your plants are 5-7 meters apart, the chances are infinitely lower.
Another rule of thumb,
always collect seeds from Best-Looking, AND – Most Typical-looking fruits,
without any strange spots, shapes, sizes and other abnormalities.
(Of course if you are trying to breed a new variety, then it's fine to mix them and match them,
but here we are focusing on the question on keeping the variety pure the way you initially started with).
Of course a very good idea is to
time the blooming of your premiums the way
that no other closely-related species are blooming in your garden at that time.
But not everyone has enough time or space for that.
However, the very important GOOD NEWS about cross-pollination is that
it can only occur if both varieties BLOOM at the SAME TIME !
If one has already set fruit, your are safe – it's too late for cross-pollination!
One of the conclusions we can derive from this Good News is-
that we can simply be the first pollinators!
Gently shake the flowers of your Premium plant
as soon as they open -
this is usually enough for pollination to occur.
Or use a fine painting brush and transfer pollen to stigma.
Once you have done that, that's it, you are safe –
pollination WILL definitely occur in the shortest time
and the flower will be insensitive to other pollen.
You can mark the developing fruit and collect seeds from it.
So the next question is -
HOW DO I KNOW WHICH VARIETIES CROSS-POLLINATE?
Well, it is obvious that varieties with the same name,
such as "Tomatoes", "Carrots", "Dill" etc can cross-pollinate.
However, there are a lot less obvious cases, such as:
Dill cross-pollinates Carrots;
Cucumbers cross-pollinate with Squash (e.g.Zucchinis) etc.
To find out, simply key in the GENERAL VARIETY names
and the word "Cross Polinate" into google search.
If cross-pollination is possible, you will get articles on that in the first page of results.
It is important to do this search for the names of the plants that :
1)you are planning to plant within 5 mtrs from each other and
2)which might bloom simultaneously
The word "GENERAL" Variety is important:
For example, you are planning to plant
Blueberry Tomatoes and Royal Chantenay carrots next to each other.
For the search, you would key in:
"Tomatoes Carrots Cross Pollinate"
If we key in the names that are too specific,
we can get a false negative.
we can get a false negative.
Some other points to
keep in mind to receive best seed :
1) Let the fruit OVER-RIPEN on the Plant.
The fruit you plan to collect seeds from should be WAY over past it's prime for you to eat!
For tomatoes, they should give off sour smell when they are ready.
Small red eggplants are best simply left on the bush until the fruit fully dries out, there will only be seeds left inside of a dry shell. Takes months, but we find that seeds are the strongest and fully-developed then, plus you do not have to dig in the decomposing flesh to fetch them.
2) Where applicable (e.g. Tomatoes, Cucumbers) – let the fruits go sour,
this is the nature's way of killing off any fungus/parasites and leaving your seed clean!
Tomatoes might give off white foam and distinct sour smell – that is a perfect time to collect seed!
3) When collecting seed, do wear old cothes, it's a messy job!
When opening juicy fruit, like tomatoes, gently break the skin with a sharp knife (just a pinch) -
to make sure the seeds go in the right direction, not all over your face:)
4) NEVER CUT the fruit!
You may use your knife to go through the skin to the seed layers (middle of fruit),
but if you cut it in half / pieces, you are more likely to loose the best middle seeds!
Once cut through the outer layer of skin, break it off with hands (in gloves, least all this stuff gets under your nails and stays there looking black),
use a toothpick if needed to remove the seeds from the flesh.
5) NEVER USE FOOD PROCESSORS
or other centrifuge-based devices to separate seed from flesh!
This process damages the embrio in the seed!
6) And remeber -
20 seeds is more than enough to start your new generation !
We propagate them by 3 at a time, and usually get 2 extra seedlings,
which can be donated to local school, kindergarten, nursery etc.
Or eaten. Just make sure it's not tomatoes – they are poisonous all over except fruits:)
7) Unwanted seedlings, if they grow close together, should be
cut off with scissors,not pulled out –
this ensures the developing roots of the ones you want to keep are safe.
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