The lowest number “for viable seeds”, which is just one plant in the case of some self-pollinating plants like cowpeas, may be geared toward seed-savers who are mostly focused on saving money through not buying seeds as often. However, until the book arrives in my mailbox, I am going to hazard a guess, since they seem pretty self-explanatory. ![]() This means that I do not have full explanation of the three categories. I found this information in a huge excerpt of the text online. This is where I need to tell you that I have not read the whole book. The planting suggestions for seed-saving are these: Number of plants to grow for genetic preservationįor example, cowpeas (AKA Southern peas, such as black-eyed peas) are primarily self-pollinating each one flower contains everything it needs to make one pod of peas.Number of plants to grow for variety maintenance.Number of plants to grow for viable seeds.The book offers three categories for how many plants of each crop to grow for seed-saving. Most sources do not explain exactly how the minimum number is chosen, but I found a source that offers options, and a “why” for each option: the book The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Seed Saving, edited by Lee Buttala and Shanyn Siegel. Which number is right? How many plants should I grow for seed saving? That seems like a pretty big range, and for gardeners working with small spaces, the difference in space taken up by one okra plant versus twenty plants can be critical. Another source suggested that 6 is a minimum number, and still another suggested that 10-20 is the recommended number. I have done some checking around, in various sources both online and in libraries, to find solid recommendations for how many plants should be grown for the crops I want to save seeds from.ĭifferent resources recommend different numbers of plants for seed saving for each crop.Īs an example, for okra, I have seen that one (1) is the minimum number of plants to grow for seed saving. The difficult part here is the “but not all”. The book also includes, for some crops but not all, how many plants should be grown to get good seeds. how far apart different varieties of one crop should be kept, to keep from “crossing”.Some of the information it contains, for a wide range of crops, includes Most of what I know is from a really great book about seed saving, Seed to Seed, by Suzanne Ashworth, that provides excellent and helpful information. If you, like me, are planning to save seeds from the garden this year, you might also (like me) be wondering how many plants for each crop it will take, to get good seeds.
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