How to prepare peas for seeds
On gardening forums, gardeners often share their impressions of store-bought seeds. It turns out that many are unhappy with them. Either the manufacturer will not report the seeds to the packaging, then they sell them expensively, or the seeds will turn out to be old and do not germinate well. Those who harvest seed on their own are not affected by these problems.
In our article, you will learn how to prepare pea seeds for future crops.
The content of the article
Homemade seeds benefits
What kind self-harvesting of seed has advantages:
- you will be confident in the variety (especially if it is a favorite);
- control of storage conditions;
- the ability to multiply rare varieties;
- significant savings (no need to spend money on the purchase of planting material).
Which variety to choose
When you come to a garden store, your eyes run up with a variety of varieties. And in this variety it is no wonder to get lost.
In order not to get lost in the sea of pea varieties, we suggest growing varieties with good yieldsfrom which you can then collect your grains.
For example:
- Alpha;
- Gloriosa;
- Ambrosia;
- Oscar;
- Vera.
Attention! Just do not harvest peas from pea hybrids (F1). It's wasted work. Hybrids retain their quality characteristics only in one generation. The grains will not give the expected result.
When to collect
The most important question in the preparation of home seed: when to collect peas for seeds. The basic rule is collect the pea pods when they are ripe.
Signs of ripe peas suitable for picking for planting:
- The pods are densely filled with peas from the inside.
- The surface of the pods begins to become covered with a whitish cobweb mesh, and then dry out.
- The lower leaves of the plant begin to dry when the fruits ripen.
If you find these signs, it's time to collect the seed.
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How to collect
The grain harvesting procedure consists of the following stages:
- Collect the pods.
- Peel them by freeing the peas.
- Place seeds for storage.
Important! Select the most beautiful pods for seeds. They will guarantee excellent future yields.
How to dry
How to dry peas for seeds at home? The best option is if the peas are ripe on the bush. If there is no possibility of ripening in the garden, the bushes can be cut with a knife and collected in brooms.
Attention! Do not pull out the roots of the plant from the ground, but dig them up with the top layer of soil. Peas are an excellent green manure, they will enrich the soil with nitrogen.
It's better do not collect seeds or cut bushes for drying in rainy weather or early in the morning after dew... Wet pods will degrade seed quality.
Prepared brooms hung in a dry, dark, well-ventilated place with the tops down... In this position, they dry for 15-20 days.
Important! Remove unripe pods from bushes before drying. High-quality planting material will not work out of them, and they will take away the strength from the bush.
Where and how to store
When the pods are dry, they must be peeled. - remove the peas. It is better to sort the resulting material immediately: remove defective or damaged seeds.
If the peas are not dry enough, it is worth finally drying them (3-5 days)... After all, if you store poorly dried seeds, they can deteriorate.
The main storage rules for dried peas:
- low air humidity;
- tightly closing container;
- the room where the seeds are stored should not be freezing temperatures.Optimal range: 14-16 degrees.
Attention! Subject to the storage conditions, the peas will remain viable for two to three years.
Protecting peas from pests
To protect peas from pests, experienced gardeners are advised to sow white mustard between plants. It repels pests during the growth and ripening of peas in the garden. So all the pods with peas (some of which will later become seeds) will remain clean.
Also a good result is given by pouring into the grooves when planting peas, a pinch of red hot pepper.
Pea seeds can be harmed by a pea weevil... It is a grayish-brown beetle up to 0.5 cm in size. Pea grains are a "winter" house for the larvae of the weevil, which gnaw through the seed coat.
How to keep seeds from pea weevils? First of all, follow the agricultural techniques of growing crops and select varieties that are resistant to weevil damage. Good results are given by early sowing and harvesting.
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Let's sum up
To get a good harvest of peas next year, take care of the planting material in advance and prepare it yourself. We looked at how to properly leave peas for seeds. To do this, it is recommended to choose the strongest and most fruitful plants on the growing bed.
It is desirable that the grains are ripe on the bush. Store seeds in a cool and dry place. If all the conditions are met, the seeds will retain their germination for several years.