Harvesting seeds from plants

Harvesting seeds from plants is not difficult, but certain varieties require special approaches. The easiest plants to harvest and save seeds from are tomatoes, beans, peas, lettuce, marigold, and calendula. You can view these videos here from our Easy Seed Saving series.

For more, go to our How to Save Seeds page, which features more videos to learn how to save seeds of medium and advanced levels of difficulty. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to view them all!

Once you’ve tackled harvesting seeds from the easiest plant types, try the intermediate and advanced ones! Soon you will be teaching others how to grow and harvest seeds from their gardens, too.

Some plants do not grow easily from seed. These types often reproduce better from other parts of the plant, like cuttings from branches or divided parts from bulbs, corms, or rhizomes.

Other plants are more difficult, like hybrid varieties that will not reproduce “true to type” after a few generations. Some plants easily cross-pollinate with plants from related families, like squashes, cucumbers, and melons.

We discuss these basics of Botany at the page How to Grow and have more videos at the page How to Save. Review a set of guidelines from Seed Savers Exchange to learn how to harvest seeds from other plant types not covered here.

Storing seeds properly after harvesting

Storing seeds properly is just as important as harvesting them. If seeds are not stored correctly, they can become overheated, crushed or broken, damaged or eaten by insects and rodents, or succumb to mold. Any of this will result in seeds that don’t sprout. Good seed storage requires dark and dry storage spaces, cool (or even cold) temperatures, and careful packaging in sealed containers to protect seeds from humidity, heat, sunlight, and pests. 

For more guidance, browse the catalog of educational films on seed production by DIYseeds.org on our How to Save Seeds page where you’ll find beautiful and inspiring instruction on basic Botany, pollination, and how to cultivate, harvest, and store a variety of seed types for seed preservation.

Cilantro harvest

Young gardeners always find the most efficient and fun way to separate seeds from stalks!

Learn our guidelines for seed storage from this short video called "3 Secrets to Seed Keeping.”

Learn how to store seeds for home use by following guidelines from Seed Savers Exchange’s short video webinar or on their page showing “How to Store Seeds.”