Saving seed can be a truly enjoyable – and frugal – way of growing a garden… But there are some things to know. I often see well meaning gardeners suggest saving seed from storebought produce such as tomatoes, green peppers, green beans, squash, etc. While this seems like it would be a really great idea, it isn’t as simple as drying seed and planting it next year. Growing vegetables for saving seed is different than growing vegetables to eat, but they can be done together in the same garden with proper precautions – but the key here is that you should definitely grow them yourself.
Seed saving can seem a little complicated at first once you realize that many plants cross pollinate (resulting in seed that won’t grow true), and as a result, must be isolated during the flowering phase of growth (and in many cases, hand-pollinated by you). Saving seed from some vegetables requires fermentation, saving seed from others requires the vegetable be over-ripened on the vine, and yet other seeds destined for saving should be dried on the vine.
Here are some reasons against saving seed from grocery store purchased produce:
- When you buy grocery store produce, you usually won’t know if the variety is hybrid or open pollinated; hybrid produce will not produce seed that will grow true. That means if you save seed from a hybrid tomato, it will not grow to be just like the one you saved seed from. It may sprout, but never grow fruit, but if it does grow fruit it likely will not be like the fruit you saved it from. You likely may not be able to find out the exact variety that was grown, either.
- Consider also that most of our produce is brought in from far away, and growing conditions are very different all over the country. What grows for one farmer in California, won’t grow well for us here. I learned that the hard way trying to grow garlic from the store. Chances are good that on many things, we won’t even be able to determine the variety. If it is an open pollinated variety, you won’t know if it has been isolated to prevent cross pollination (farmers growing food for the market won’t isolate varieties as a general rule – their end goal is produce, not seed from that produce).
- You want to be selective with what produce you save seed from. You don’t have that option to pick and choose from the best representations a garden has to offer when it comes to vegetables purchased from the store.
- With all of the varieties you could grow, ask yourself if the tomato you bought from the store has the qualities you want in your own garden – is that tomato you want to save seed from really flavorful enough to chance saving seed from? you can grow varieties with more flavor, that (depending on variety) can be saved easily. You can also find other qualities in seeds that are important for you, your growing location, and your preferences. Produce grown commercially is grown to benefit the farmer, whether that may be ripening early, growing thicker skins to withstand shipping, uniform size, resistance or tolerance to certain things – these things may not be as important to us as a home gardener. But, taste and the opportunity to pick color, shape, or other neat options may be.
- You can’t see the plant the produce came from. A key element to saving seed is being able to select produce that is growing true to type, that is growing from a plant that is growing true to type. What you save is what you grow. Without being able to see the parent plant and watch it’s growth and see its characteristics, you may be saving seed from a plant that has qualities you don’t want to encourage.
- For best taste and nutrition, vegetables should stay on the vine as long as possible and harvested at the peak of ripeness – and for the few produce varieties that you can save seed from when they are ripe and ready to eat, you want the same end goal (ripe and fresh off the vine because that is when the seed is mature enough for saving). Produce that was picked before being ripe will not have seeds that are mature and your attempts at seed saving may not be successful, even with heirloom varieties. Any other produce used for seed saving must over-ripen on the vine or even dry on the vine before it’s seed is considered viable and ready to harvest – you’d never find that for sale in a grocery store.
I want to see you succeed at gardening! Seed packs can now be purchased for 25 cents to a buck per pack now, instead of the usual $2+. Set yourself up for success by using methods that have been established as true. If you still want to try saving seed from grocery store produce, by all means, give it a shot! But if you aren’t successful, please don’t let that break your gardening journey. Learn more about seed saving here on this post.