How to get seeds from Mexican Hat Flowers?

[miagardener]

I have a few mexican hat flower plants and I was wondering how you would get the seeds from them? Are they the little black dots all over the head of the flower or do they develop seeds pods? Also, are spittlebug nymphs common on these plants? Thanks!

[Kisal]

The seeds are on the center part of the flower, which forms the "crown" of the "hat". The seeds should turn dark brown as they ripen.

I suppose they could be spittlebugs, but if you have the nymphs, you'd have adults, as well. The giveaway, of course, would be the globs of "spittle" in which the bugs hide.

The spittlebug nymphs closely resemble aphids, which are a very common pest on Mexican Hat flowers -- and just about every other plant in the world.

You can ID an aphid by the 2 little projections on the back end of its abdomen. They are readily visible in this image, but aphids come in many different colors.

[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Aphid_group2.jpg[/img]

[miagardener]

No, no aphids on my mexican hat flowers, although I'm having some problems with them on my Butterfly Weed, I'm going to try the soapy water trick. I sprayed the little white foamy things with my house and I think it took care of them. As for the seeds.. Do I have to pick the little seeds off of the crown or will they fall off if they dry out in a paper bag? They don't seem to fall off themselves when I dried them in the past. Thanks for the reply.

[Kisal]

I would let the flower pretty much dry on the stem, and then pull off the dried petals and save the little "crowns" in a container of some type. I think I might leave the container open to the air for a week or so ... maybe longer ... to allow the seeds to finish drying.

When they are completely ripened and dried, they should be fairly easy to remove. You might try rubbing them with your thumb, as if you were trying to rub adhesive off of something.

They shouldn't be hard to remove. Remember that, out in nature, without the assistance of humans, the seeds just dry and fall to the ground, all by themselves.

[miagardener]

Okay, I took a dried up flower off of my mexican hat flower plant and rubbed it between my fingers and got a lovely pile of dust / seeds. Now I need to know, what exactly are the seeds? Are they the few little darker pieces that there were only about 8 of (in the right hand circle in the photo) or are the the little lighter pieces which there are many more of circled in the left hand side on the photo? Or do I just throw it all back into the ground? I like to neatly seperate and label and count my seeds. Any answers are appreciated. Thanks!

[img]https://grfkdesign.com/ebay/mhfs.jpg[/img]

[Kisal]

I would just sweep everything together into one pile ... including the large pile of stuff in the background ... and then sprinkle it all around on the ground. That would work even if you're planting in containers. I wouldn't worry about what specifically was the seed part. The chaff (non-seed part) isn't going to prevent the seeds from germinating and growing into healthy plants. If you wish, you can move each seedling into a pot of its own as soon as the first set of true leaves has developed.

It's very possible, though, that you have a goal in mind that I don't understand. Is there a reason why you feel that you need to separate and identify just the seed?

[miagardener]

I'm an extremely organized person and I do a lot of gardening since I have my first backyard in south florida. I also send seed gifts to all of my family and friends so they can grow their own flowers and veggies and herbs. I like to know how many I have. I also run a small business on the side selling full grown flowers, plant starts and seeds. Love living off the earth and sharing all of my beautiful flowers and fruits with others.