For the previous 14 years, Anupama Desai has been rising seasonal greens and accumulating seeds of the produce grown at house. She shares 10 straightforward tricks to retailer seeds in summer time to have the ability to sow within the subsequent season.
A number of city gardeners decide to avoid wasting seeds because it permits them to domesticate vegetables and fruit of constant high quality within the subsequent season and naturally, get monetary savings and turn out to be self-reliant.
Surat-based house gardener Anupama Desai says, “Typically it turns into very tough for us to know the standard, age, or if there may be any sort of chemical coating on seeds obtainable available in the market. As soon as bought, you can not return them. So it’s higher to retailer seeds out of your backyard, as there is no such thing as a compromise on their well being.”
For the previous 14 years, she has been rising seasonal greens and has been accumulating seeds of many of the produce grown at house. “Consider me, storing seeds at house makes your gardening work very straightforward. It doesn’t require a whole lot of effort,” provides the 56-year-old gardener.
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In dialog with The Higher India, Anupama shares 10 straightforward tricks to retailer seeds in summer time to have the ability to sow them within the subsequent season.
- You possibly can retailer seeds of watermelon, muskmelon, galka (sponge gourd), pumpkin, valor papdi (subject beans), and kakdi (Armenian cucumber), and so forth on this season (Might-end).
- Each watermelon and muskmelon are fruit crops and may simply be grown on terraces. After cleansing the seeds, allow them to dry on tissue paper.
- Let the greens like cucumber, ridge gourd, bottle gourd, okra, and several types of beans dry on the plant as a substitute of plucking them.
- Wait till greens dry up and alter their color to brown. You possibly can scoop out the seeds at that stage.
- Keep away from storing seeds from the greens purchased available in the market as farmers harvest pre-mature produce. “Even if you wish to retailer seeds from the market greens, ensure that the greens are fully ripened. For example, a ripened karela (bitter gourd) is purple in color and its seed can be utilized to retailer.”
- After scooping out seeds, maintain them in a clear and hermetic plastic or glass container.
- Retailer seeds within the fridge at a continuing temperature. Don’t deep freeze them. You can too retailer them in a matka (earthen pot) as nicely.
- Add charcoal powder contained in the container to guard seeds from insect assaults.
- You possibly can retailer seeds for a 12 months. “There’s a explicit age until the seeds are fertile, just like human beings. After a 12 months, its gene will turn out to be weak and result in low fruiting or no plant progress in any respect,” she says.
- Within the case of watermelon and muskmelon, sow the saved seeds within the first week of December to get fruits in March. Sow different summer time crops like kakdi in winter. Greens like karela may be harvested throughout Might and sown 45 days previous to monsoon to get fruiting.
Edited by Pranita Bhat. All pictures: Anupama Desai.
