When a tomato or pepper plant produces well, there’s always an urge to collect seeds and try to repeat success next summer. The process of saving seeds can be as easy as collecting and drying pepper seeds, and safely packaging them for next year. Or it can be a bit more complicated if you want to save tomato seeds, which require fermentation to remove their germination … [Read more...] about Saving tomato and pepper seed
seeds
How to test for seed viability
Even though seeds seem suspended in time and are dry enough to rattle around in their envelopes, they contain living tissues, and have a finite number of years to remain viable. The dilemma is, how many years will seeds remain able to germinate, and how to know the percentage of germination to expect in each seed packet. In basic terms, seeds contain a respirating plant … [Read more...] about How to test for seed viability
Dwarf tomato seeds
I’m getting picky about the tomatoes I grow. But wouldn’t you know it — in the hundreds of tomatoes in seed catalogues, it’s not easy to find exactly what I’m after. I hope you won’t abandon me when I say I want to grow tomatoes for ornamental display. Of course, I’ll use the fruits and enjoy them, but I want the plants for containers, combined with flowering summer annuals … [Read more...] about Dwarf tomato seeds
Starting primroses from seed
There’s no need to shrink from the mere thought of starting primroses from seed. It might seem mysterious and excessively scientific, requiring the defeat of inbred germination inhibitors, necessary freeze and warmth cycles, and exposure to light or complete darkness — too complicated and fidgety to attempt. Except, of course, you could learn the methods and do it; and be able … [Read more...] about Starting primroses from seed
Winterizing woody plants
When we're on the verge of hard frost in the garden, decisions need to be made about how to protect plants. Some gardeners make it a policy not to grow anything that isn’t comfortably frost-resistant in their gardens, and they have no worries about winter’s lowest temperatures. Then there are the risk takers, gardeners who grow plants at the edge of their hardiness zone (myself … [Read more...] about Winterizing woody plants
