A horticultural columnist has advised garden and greenhouse enthusiasts they can save cash by collecting seeds for next season.
Jane Ford of the Fort Wayne News Sentinel stated growers often waste cash on buying new stocks of the same varieties each year.
She added people can struggle to source the same seeds in consecutive years and suggested putting aside your own can help overcome this problem.
“By saving seed, you can have that mass planting and enough seeds left over to share with friends and neighbours,” the article stated. “This is the time of year to begin that process.”
Hybrid plants may not produce seeds and those that do can be unreliable, the report explained.
It advised gardeners to leave some pods on the plant until they are ready to burst, before picking them off carefully and leaving them to dry.
They should then be stored in paper envelopes, labelled and stored away for next season.
In other news, a new website – known as thegardengeek.com – has launched providing an online community for growers.