How To Save Sunflower Seeds Hack

On an entry title When I collect Purple Coneflower Seeds I blogged about the problems faced when trying to collect seeds from plants when birds are present. In the comments section another garden blogger and I discussed using cheesecloth to cover some seed heads to protect them from hungry birds.

When trying to save sunflower seeds from hungry birds it is a good idea to allow them to eat some and use different measures to protect a few heads so you have seeds to trade or sow in the spring. Wrapping the sunflower head after the seeds have set with cheesecloth is a good idea but you can also use nylon stockings that are pretty cheap or even free if you have women in your home. The material stretches and with one piece you can cover numerous seed heads in your garden and keep the birds from eating your seeds. I like to save the twist ties that come with garbage bags or loaves of bread from the grocery store to use around the garden. In this instance I used my supply of twist ties to close any openings in the nylon stockings and assure a tight fit.

Another garden hack that gardeners have been using for a long time is attaching strips of mylar balloons and old CDs to plants and trees. The theory behind using these in the garden is that birds and other garden critters are scared off my the reflective surfaces and movement. Some gardeners swear by this while others report that they have no effect or after a while the birds become accustomed to the movement and reflective qualities of the CDs and mylar strips. When trying to save sunflower seeds from birds or other garden critters your success rate may depend on how well you can combine humane and natural methods like these.

Removing Purple ConeFlower Seeds Hack

On my main gardening blog I posted an entry titled When I Collect Purple Coneflower Seeds that has a photo of what a ripe Purple Coneflower seed head looks like. On another of my gardening blogs I posted an image to help identify the Purple Coneflower Seeds. If you are looking for help in identifying the seeds of a Purple Coneflower or want to know when it is time to collect the seeds look over those two entries on my gardening blogs.

Once you've learned how to identify a ripe seed head and you remove it from your Purple Coneflower plant you'll notice that the seed head is very hard and sharp. The easiest way to remove the seeds from the seed head is to break the cone by crushing it in your hand. I don't recommend you do this with your bare hands to avoid injury- make sure to wear gloves to do this. I find standard gardening gloves aren't thick enough to keep the spiky head from puncturing your skin so I use standard leather work gloves.

Another way to remove the seeds without injuring yourself is to collect the seed heads after you've had some rain or soaking the seed heads overnight in plain water. When the seed heads are wet you can easily pull the head apart and let the seeds and chaff fall on a paper plate or sheet of newspaper. Make sure to spread them out and let them dry for a couple of days so your seeds don't get moldy if you use these methods.

Coneflowers are easy garden perennials to start from seed. You can sow them directly in your garden or start them in a seed starter you make out of a plastic soda bottle. Your Purple Coneflowers will bloom the year after they germinate.

Amaryllis Seeds-Update

This weekend my seed pod on my Amaryllis split open and I was able to collect the seeds. As you can see from the photos the seeds are very thin almost paper like and dark. Amaryllis seeds always remind me of Hosta seeds and from my experience they're very easy to germinate.

If you're interested in propagating your Amaryllis or pollinating your Amaryllis you can see this entry on Amaryllis pollination here in the Garden Hacker blog. I don't know what I'm going to do with so many Amaryllis seedlings but I'm sure I'll find room for them somewhere.

Here's a video I made showing you how to pot an Amaryllis Bulb.



and one showing you how to pollinate an Amaryllis flower.

You can also visit my Amaryllis Bulbs blog where the content is exclusively about growing Amaryllis bulbs. 

Seed Scarification Hack-Sandpaper

If you're starting from seed and need to scarify several seeds using sandpaper can save you some time and hassle. Sometimes the seeds are too small to hold each one while you nick the seed coat or sometimes you have a lot of seeds you need to get started for planting in your garden.

Aside from the seeds all you need is just need a really rough piece of sandpaper to do this. You simply place your seeds on your piece of sandpaper like in the image and then place a second piece on top to cover your seeds.

Place one or both of your hands flat on the top piece of sandpaper and move your hands in a circle going clockwise then do it counter clockwise while pressing down. Repeat the circular motion going in both direction until you notice that you've nicked the outer seed coat sufficiently.

This is a quick and easy way to get many seeds ready for soaking in warm water, if you're not inclined to do nick them all one at a time.

If you're thinking of starting from seed consider starting them in a Ghetto Greenhouse or using the Baggie Method if you don't have the space to create a greenhouses from soda bottles. They're both easy and inexpensive methods methods of starting your own plants from seeds.

Photographing Seeds-Hack A Light Diffuser

This time of the year can be a little boring if you're strictly an outdoors gardener. If you don't have the benefit of having a houseplant collection to keep you occupied you're probably scrounging around looking for gardening related things to do. I found myself looking for a new project recently and decided that I wanted to take my seed cataloging to a new level. So I pulled out a couple of seeds and started snapping photos. I soon discovered that I wasn't happy with the deep shadows created by the sun and I don't have a home studio where I can manipulate things like a photography lighting set-up. But I do could something similar and pretty cheap.

So I found an opaque takeout container in the fridge, a sheet of white paper and some of my seeds. And of course a digital camera, I'm using a Sony Cybershot DSCW50 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and created my own light diffuser.

I cut a crude opening on the bottom of the container where I could fit the camera lens through. I suppose you could remove the entire bottom if you wanted to but I just made an opening so the lens would fit through and I could rest the camera on it and use the timer to minimize camera shake.

The settings I used were:
Macro
ISO: 200
Metering mode: Spot
White Balance: Cloudy
Focus: Center AF
Those settings, a long with a little tweaking in Photoshop, created the pure white background that you see here and is common of catalog photography. Because the Macro mode on this camera is pretty good I had to go in and patch up the cracks and crevices in the seed coat in this Castor Bean seed that I couldn't see with the naked eye. Click the seed photo for a larger view.

I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing with all the photographs I'll be taking but perhaps I'll be using them to create a seed identification database or try to sell them as stock photos to companies that sell seeds. But you can do something similar to catalog all of your seeds, take photos of your plants, flowers or leaves. It doesn't have to be just gardening related you can use this technique to create professional looking photos of just about anything; maybe you sell jewelry or trinkets through your web site or blog or maybe you have an ebay store where you need to show photos of your merchandise.

If your looking for more tips for taking better photos of you garden read this blog entry.

Citrus Hack: Free Plants From Your Grocer

Another seed starting method that can compliment or be used in place of the Ghetto Greenhouse is the "Baggie Method" if you don't have the space or desire to make seed starters out of plastic soda bottles. This method also saves you money because you don't need soil right away to start and when time comes to transplant your seedlings you can put them in an appropriate size pot. You only need a plastic sandwich bag, some seeds and a paper towel.






The kinds of seeds you can start with this method is really only limited by the variety in your collection or what you can find for sale. In this example I started citrus seeds from a citrus I got from the grocery store.






Once I was done eating this particular citrus I saved the seeds and soaked them for a day or so in a glass of water. When I was ready to sow them using the baggie method I laid them out on a napkin and moistened the napkin with a spray bottle. You want to moisten and not soak your paper napkin to avoid having your seeds get moldy. It's imperative if you're going to start citrus seeds that you sow them immediately because the longer you wait the less your germination ratio will be.







Once I had soaked my citrus seeds overnight and set them on the paper towel which I moistened I folded the napkin in half and set it inside the plastic sandwich bag which I sealed. Then I found a very warm spot for them in my bedroom. Since it's winter I take advantage of the heater we have running and place my seed baggies near a vent. The warmth from the heating vent helps with germination especially in the middle of winter when temps aren't really optimal for seed starting.



After a few days days I checked on my seeds and found that some had started to germinate. Once they get big enough I pot them up into little pots and let them continue to grow until they're big enough to re-pot again. Citrus like a lot of light if they're going to be grown indoors and whenever possible should be allowed to spend Spring and Summer outside.

At this point I should tell you that it will be a number of years before your citrus tree gets big enough for it to flower and fruit. But if you're a patient person or just growing for the fun of it that shouldn't be a problem for you. You can use this method to start a whole collection of citrus trees from seed to grow in your home or yard. Next time you're in the grocery store look for Key Limes, Calamondin Oranges, Kumquats, Mandarins and give them a try. If your store doesn't have a large variety of citrus available check out some of the ethnic grocery stores in your areas and discover a whole new world of fruits and veggies.

If you're not interested in growing citrus from seeds then you can use this method to start any kind of seeds that you are interested in. But I'd suggest sticking with larger seeds because they'll be easier to pick out and transplant into pots when they've sprouted. If you find that your bag retains a lot of moisture while you're waiting for your seeds to sprout open it for a few hours a day and let a little of the excess moisture evaporate.

Greenhouse Hack

Gardening can be an expensive hobby and if you look often times the gardens we admire the most are lush and full of plants that are maintained by people other than the actual owner. The average gardener may not have the time or resources to achieve the same look. And for the person wanting to start a garden a visit to costly garden centers can often be disappointing when the realization of how much money is involved in gardening. The alternative is to visit big box stores where prices are cheaper but selection and plant size that is driven by volume, again leaves the would-be gardener feeling uninspired.

So how do you achieve the same look without the bourgeois greenhouse or environmentally draining set-up of grow lights? You start your own plants from seeds using various things you may already have around your house. Here's what you need: an empty 2 liter plastic bottle, potting soil, a handful of seeds and a tool for making holes. I find that Miracle- Gro potting soil works fine for me, other people don't like it for starting seeds. Use your favorite brand but whatever you do don't skimp on the soil. If you use those 99 cent bags you find in Walmart, Walgreens or similar stores it may harden and you'll end up with a brick. That's fine if you want to build a patio or raised bed, but not so good for seed starting.

Take your 2 liter bottle that you've cut in half and make several drainage holes in the bottom of the bottle.

Fill the bottom with about 4-5 inches of soil. Read the seed preparation directions on your packet of seeds and sow them and water them in. You can water from the top or set the "pot" you just made in a saucer of water and allow it to absorb water. Take the top half of the bottle and replace it. What you have now is a seed starting greenhouse like the kind of available in stores. But it didn't cost you between 12-20 dollars. It should look something like this

I use this method to start seeds that require Stratification (cold treatment) I prepare all of my Ghetto Greenhouses and sow the seeds and set them outside for the winter and allow them to be exposed to the elements. When the weather starts to warm up and the snow melts I keep an eye on the containers and water when necessary. The clear bottles make this easy and when the seedlings emerge I just plant them out either into the ground or into pots. I can fit five of these into a plastic milk crate that I stack in a corner of my back yard. Here's what it looks like inside in the spring.

You can use this method to start all kinds of seeds. When the weather outside warms up you can start your tender plants, like annuals and tropicals. You can also adapt this method and make your Ghetto Greenhouse out of things you may have around your house. As a kid my grandfather used coffee cans, in school we used empty milk boxes and larger orange juice boxes. You can use take out containers, the salad containers you get nowadays in fast food restaurants. If you have empty pots you can cover them with plastic wrap or used sandwich bags. You can sow your seeds in Styrofoam/plastic cups and set them inside a plastic tote. Just make sure you have drainage holes and some opening(s) for ventilation, a few holes in the top of your container will still trap enough humidity. If you don't have a yard, try your deck or a bright windowsill.