Kelson Explains Seed Saving 101

SEELEY LAKE – More than 50 garden enthusiasts gathered in the Seeley Lake Community Hall April 1 to hear Robin Kelson of The Good Seed Company of Whitefish, Mont. speak about selecting, saving and sharing seeds. The presentation was jointly sponsored by Clearwater Resource Council and the Blackfoot Valley and Seeley Swan gardening groups.

Kelson organized her seed selecting presentation around three main questions: 1) Are these seeds true-to-type? 2) Will the plant resulting from this seed self-pollinate or cross-pollinate? 3) What do the answers to those two questions mean about how a garden should be organized?

First the gardener must distinguish between true-to-type, hybrid and genetically modified organism (GMO) seeds. True-to-type seeds, often labeled heritage, heirloom or open-pollinated, have not been mixed with other varieties. These are the seeds that need to be saved.

Hybrid seeds are the result of years of controlled breeding for a specific characteristic. For instance, a plant that has been bred for sweeter taste might be cross pollinated with a plant bred for frost resistance. Often designated F1 on the package, this pairing will produce sweet, frost resistance fruit. However, the seeds they produce will be genetically unstable and fruit grown from them may be sweet but not frost resistant, or frost resistant but not sweet, or both, or neither.

GMO plants are ones injected with DNA of non-plant origin to produce some desirable characteristic, most commonly pesticide resistance. Kelson said GMOs are produced for large-scale, commercial farmers, not packaged for backyard gardeners. However gardeners who collect seeds from store-bought vegetables such as tomatoes or peppers, may inadvertently be saving GMO seeds.

Though Kelson said such seeds will grow true-to-type, she added, “Pesticide resistance means that it allows the grower to spray quite a lot of pesticide and not have to worry about it killing the plant that is producing the vegetable that you are going to buy and then eat. My personal recommendation is to not buy the GMO vegetable because you would be ingesting the pesticide that gets sprayed on that plant’s fruit.”

Having answered Kelson’s first question by determining to start with heritage seeds, the gardener next faces the issue of pollination. Will the plant grown from the seed be a “selfer” (i.e., self-pollinating) or “promiscuous” (cross pollinating).

After first providing a quick botany refresher in flower parts and the pollination process, Kelson said selfer vegetables – beans, peas, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant – are the easiest for beginning seed savers to collect because the male stamen and the female pistil are close to one another. Self-pollination normally occurs before foreign pollen can be introduced.

When the goal of seed saving is to end up with heritage seeds, promiscuous plants present a challenge. Bees, insects and even the winds spread pollen from one plant to another. Though such outside intervention is necessary for some plants to propagate, it can result in unwanted hybridization.

To ensure a true-to-type seed from certain vegetables such as squash, which produce separate male and female flowers on the same vine, hand pollination can be performed. This entails using a collection device such as a Q-tip to gather the pollen from the male flower and transfer it to the sticky stigma of the female flower. The female flower is then taped shut, so bees can no longer reach the stamen.

Kelson said an important thing to consider is what part of the plant will be eaten. If the leaf or stem will be eaten before the plant blooms, for instance with lettuce, then cross pollination is not a concern. Collecting lettuce seeds merely entails allowing the plant to “bolt,” i.e., remain in the ground until it produces flowers and then seeds.

However some plants, such as cauliflower or cabbage take more than one season to produce seed. The first year is one of vegetative growth. Then the plant must be maintained over the winter and replanted to attain sexual maturity and seed production. Kelson emphasized this more complex process is for advanced seed savers to tackle.

Closely related to the issues of self or cross pollination is Kelson’s third question concerning garden planning. The gardener needs to consider which plants will be growing next to each other. She said when planting to restrict cross pollination, those hard to pronounce Latin genus and species names come in handy. Kelson provided the example of Cucurbita, which is the genus name for all gourds and squashes. But pumpkins and zucchinis add the species name pepo, while butternut squash is classified as Cucurbita moschata.

The general rule of thumb is members of different species in the same genus will not cross pollinate with each other. This means a gardener could safely plant pumpkins next to butternuts and not have to worry about cross pollination. But planting the pumpkin next to the zucchini might result in a pumpkin/zucchini hybrid and therefore no heritage seeds could be harvested from it.

Isolation distance is the term used when considering how far apart to grow different varieties of plants of the same species, taking into consideration whether their likely pollinator flies, crawls or is airborne.

Another method of mitigating cross pollination is to provide something more enticing for the bees and insects, such as a row of particularly tempting flowers. Length of growing season and climate conditions need to be considered also, especially in situations where bolting is desired.

Kelson also spoke about inbreeding. She said if the gardener continues to use seeds of the same strain year after year, quality declines.

She said the solution is easy: “Every couple of years share some of your seeds with a neighbor who grew the same variety in a different yard under different conditions. Mix those seeds together and then when you plant that mix of seeds you’ll be reintroducing genetic variation back into your population.”

Another option Kelson mentioned was the newly opened Flathead Seed Saving Library. Seed packets can be signed out like library books. The borrower plants the seeds, harvests and enjoys the vegetables and saves some of the seeds to return to the Seed Library. The hope is that eventually the library will hold a reservoir of seeds that grow well in this area.

In closing, Kelson mentioned that though her presentation focused on vegetables, herbs and flowers are also easy crops for beginning seed savers. Cross pollination is less of a concern, especially with flowers where the worst outcome would be a combination of colors.