This year I have grown my own beans and peas (Broad, Runner & French beans). From the last of the beans I decided to keep them to plant next year. Will this work & do I have to do anything with them? At the moment I have put them into resealable plastic bags. Is this OK or do I have to dry them out or anything. Also, if this is possible, does it work with all peas & beans?
I have managed to grow runners for the last couple of years by saving seed. But i do dry them first before storing them, atm I have runner seeds drying on kitchen paper in the conservatory and only bag them up when really dry, am trying cucumber seeds also this year, have been quite successful with chilli and tomato seeds too. :)
Runners and Broad beans will cross if people are growing other varieties close by. French won't [usually].
If they aren't dry and are in plastic they will go mouldy. So get them into a tray and spread them out to dry until you can't make a fingernail/tooth mark in them. Then, you can put them into bags.
Yes dry off first in a cool dry place on trays - then I keep mine in paper sachets, I find they keep better. I usually gather envelopes from junk mail (free reply type) and use those!
Good seed saving information is available from Real Seeds and often pointed to on this forum.
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/seedsavinginfo.html
I'm all along with everyone who says to dry them first, then store them in used paper envelopes and honestly I've found that they keep not just for 1 yr but for 2+ yrs until I decide to renew my seed supply! This is for runners/all varieties, french and peas including mange-tout, btw.
The drying out in the open air is essential, tho, (perhaps trays in a cool room in your house?) before storing in paper (not polythene, which will make them sweat and go mouldy).
After that, you're ready to go next year, and marvel at the rake-up the seed companies make on their packets. ;)
The seeds last for years as long as they're dried properly, and kept dry. I dry them in hessian bags, placed where the air can circulate around them. I also collect bags of dessicant and use them when I'm in doubt; they're easly dried again in a low oven. Watch out for runners hybridising. My broadies have already done so, but I'm going to mix in some more varieties and see what I end up with! No reason not to do the same with runners.
Thanks for all your answers, they have helped me a lot.
Robert, can you tell me what you mean by runners hybridising. Also, how do you mix varieties.
One more thing, what are bags of dessicant?
These questions may seem to be simple things, but I'm fairly new to this growing game.
Thanks again
You get bags of dessicant - usually silica gel - with electronic goods, to avoid damp while they're in storage. It absorbs water, so if your seeds are in a tin with some of that, preferably after it's been in the oven, they'll be really dry.
Runner beans are outbreeders; they're fertilised by pollen from another flower. So if you grow two varieties together, the genetics get mixed up, and you have a hybrid with characteristics from each parent. Other veg - French beans, for instance - are inbreeders where the flowers pollinate themselves. So you can grow several varieties right next to each other, and they don't cross.
Broad beans are another outbreeder. Last year I grew both Aquadulce Claudia and Red Epicure, well apart. They weren't far enough apart though, since this year the Red Epicure produced about 50% green seeds, when they're supposed to be red. Next year I'll grow the red seeds alongside Cosso Violetto, another one with coloured seeds, but with no resistance to blackfly, and Crimson Flowered. That will then give me beans with inherited characteristics from all four. I can then select the ones I like to save seed from, and over several generations, I should hopefully end up with coloured seeds, red flowers, good taste and hardiness.
Thanks Robert, I think I understand now. I don't think I'll ever just toss those 'little bags' away again.