Saving Seed questions

[Urban_Garden]

I am saving Yellow Pear heirloom seeds but I noticed something about the seeds that I am saving, they are slightly darker than the seeds in the pack. Does this mean the seeds are dead?

[TZ -OH6]

No, sometimes they will get black while still in the fruit and generally still germinate, other times they get stained a bit while fermenting.

[Urban_Garden]

Thank you very much!

[garden5]

To make sure they are still good, dry them out and then plant a test-batch and look at the germination ratio. If you get 7 out of 10 or better, you're doing pretty good.