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PunkRotten
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Saving seeds from store bought produce and fruit?

Hello,


Does anyone here ever keep seeds from store bought produce and fruit? I have some orange and cherry seeds I saved. But I have been tempted to keep seeds from peppers and some other fruit seeds. Anything wrong with this? Would it be inferior quality or anything? Thx

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!potatoes!
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main risk is not knowing what you'll get when you germinate them - most grocery-store varieties are hybrids, and won't breed true, so the fruit of the offspring won't necessarily be much like the parent. that's true of all the things you mention.

germinating cherry seeds can be a pain, too.

other than that, if you're just experimenting to see what will happen and don't have much invested in the idea, it can't hurt. you never know, you might find a new variety you like.

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Sage Hermit
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I save cantaloupe, green and red pepper, avocado and have grown garlic and sweet potato all from grocery bought stuff. :o

greenstubbs
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Yea, I've saved some. Can't remember what but with everything I've grown, I can honestly say I've never had a problem with anything. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Like I say, it's the grand experiment!

Bobberman
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Big yellow peppers from store grew good! I got seeds from a tomato called Ugly tomato at giant eagle last year and they came out nice and taste good! The one I got from the store had little taste like most store tomatoes!

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rainbowgardener
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I am growing bell peppers from seed I saved last year - it was probably peppers from the local farm market not the grocery store, but I don't think it makes a big difference.

Nature's Babe
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I bought a punnet of mixed Jersey C.I. Heritage tomatoes for 99p I ate some and saved seeds from all the different types, they all grew very well.what a bargain!
I have also grown peppers that way and melons, and cape gooseberries.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. :D

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shadylane
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[quote="!potatoes!"]main risk is not knowing what you'll get when you germinate them - most grocery-store varieties are hybrids, and won't breed true, so the fruit of the offspring won't necessarily be much like the parent. that's true of all the things you mention.

I must agree what has been said: I have noticed when germinating hybrid seeds from store bought produce or from a seed company, one can see good results the first year or two, after that using the same seed year after year from the produce you will soon notice problems, such as no fruit production only foliage growth, or freakish plant growth, along with it's freakish production.
Heirloom is best seed usage for same results year after year.

equitationgirl
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Hey...according to a book I have by a guy named Joel Rapp titled Mr. Mother Earth's most rewarding houseplants the following can be done:all citrus (orange, lemon, line, grapefruit) I can tell you from experience they need about 60F to sprout and will take between 4-6 weeks, and they will grow fairly quickly. I have lemon, grapefruit and orange trees I have all done from seed,,,but a word of caution citrus has typically long and thivk thorns on the new growth that is designed to keep deer and other munchers away so be careful when you handle them....the thorns are not like on a rose bush for example maybe one every 5" of growth or so, but they are easily 3" long and about an inch thick each,,,,but to the others: Mangos, tamarind, papayas, kiwi, guava,passion fruit, persimmons,loquats and if you want an instant plant, next time you get a pineapple take the top, twist it off and stick the top in soil. it will root within 3 weeks and then you have a lovely new plant. Also as we all know you can also do the pit of an avocado with toothpicks and water. Good luck...anna

Bobberman
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Spegetti squash may sound like alot for one dollar per pound but the seeds inside are worth more that the squash itself. That holds true for all the squash and pumpkins that the store sells! You would pay in seed packs about $10 for the seeds inside a spegetty squash if no more! Just dry them and plant them! Grab a couple of the strange looking pumpkins during holloween and get something special that the seeds would cost you plenty in seed packs. I looked at the warted pumpkin and estimated that the seeds inside were worth $50 if bought in packs since they only give you like 4 seeds for $2.
Last edited by Bobberman on Sun Feb 03, 2013 11:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Gary350
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I use a lot of grocery store seeds in my garden, melons, potatoes, squash, peppers, garlic, sweet potatoes.

I save seeds from my garden, tomatoes, okra, beans, corn, peppers.

imafan26
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Remember that what is sold at the market was bred for the market, to look good and ship well. The seeds from the market even if they grow may or may not thrive where you live. Also some produce especially things like garlic may be treated to prevent sprouting in the store so may not sprout for you. Garlic comes in hard neck and soft neck varieties and are better suited for different climates. The growers do not label produce that has been treated to prevent drying or sprouting. Organic produce should not be treated though.

That being said I regularly use garlic, shallots, ginger from the market to start at home. There are very few places that ship bulbs to Hawaii. I replant my ginger that I grow, but sometimes it rains too much and the rhizomes rot and I have to start new. I've started sweet potatoes, araimo, taro, NZ spinach, passion fruit, squash, watercress, and some beans all from market produce. I even get my cover crop. alfalfa, from sprouting seed, and it is cheaper too. Farmers' markets and Chinatown are the best places to get fresh produce.

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Lucius_Junius
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Well, I saw a butternut squash in the supermarket last night and bought it with this thread in mind...

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BluesJay
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We've got some Spaghetti Squash and Butternut Squash seeds saved to try. Also as an experiment we saved some Persimmon Seeds from our Fuyu tree this year. I'm not sure if they grow them on a different stock or not. We occasionally get a volunteer in a vegetable bed and sometimes let them try and make it. For us Garlic is probably the easiest to save, just have to remember to plant enough to use and plant.

Bobberman
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Most people never think of the dried 15 bean soups as something that has lots of good garden beans in them!Even some of the dry peppers in a sesoning despencer are seeds that will grow! Try to buy a pound of beans to plant for less than $2 when you can get them in most stores even the dollar stores for less the color of the bean is sometimes a give away as to what they are!! Lot of the dried beans are really ones that you can eat just like the green beans you plant! Sacks of bird seed have lots of nice growing sunflowers in them!

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Lucius_Junius
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Bobberman, will all / most of the beans at the store sprout and grow?

Bobberman
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Lucius_Junius wrote:Bobberman, will all / most of the beans at the store sprout and grow?
+++
Most of the time they will sprout unless they are over 3 years old. the 10 bean soup has some nice varities and cost about 10% of what you would pay from a seed company! I would say that all the beans are simply dried so they are not harmed!

imafan26
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I have harvested beans from my garden and had garden bean seeds that sprouted that were 9 years old, so beans keep a long time. As long as the been seeds haven't been sitting around a long time and have been kept cool and dry they should sprout. I've also sprouted millet from bird seed that fell on the ground from the bird feeder.

imafan26
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Chayote can only be sprouted from fruit, the seed can't be dried.

Sweet potatoes can be sprouted and the shoots cut and planted. If you have sweet potato leaves in the market, you could skip that step. Watercress, mung beans, can be sprouted too.

Seeds from citrus can be sprouted but usually not worth while since it takes 5-7 years to bear fruit and the you won't know if it is good or not until then.

Avocados and mangoes sprout from seed, but they have the same problem as citrus, that is why they are usually grafted from a known tree.

You can sprout papaya seed, and plant pineapple tops. They grow very easily.

Thai and Vietnamese restaurants usually have a platter of sprouts and thai basil served with the meal. The basil sprigs will also grow.

gummystar2
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So bobberman.. if I go to Trader Joe's and buy their 16-bean soup mix (all dried beans) I can actually plant those? Should I start them indoors?

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Ozark Lady
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I save a lot of store seeds.

I also save seeds from Farmer's Markets. And I name them as such... mild jalapeno, Farmers Market. If I get them from an individual, I name them after the person.

Sure, some are hybrids and you won't always get the same as what the seed came from, but you can save seeds from the ones that you like, and over time, they will stabilize into something that your taste buds said is good.
Don't save seeds without tasting the fruit!

A friend recently told me of her experience. A neighbor had thrown peach pits in an area, then decided to reclaim the area, that had all kinds of small peach trees growing in it. The tiny plants were just yanked up and handed to her. She planted as many as she could but lost more than she saved.
She did end up with 3 (?) and they have matured to bear fruit.
These peaches are purple. She decided to sample one, and when she bit into it this blood red juice burst forth. It was the most wonderful peach that she has ever tasted. She did the research and apparently it is a throw back to a native peach plant, that was thought lost. I am bugging her to save me some seeds from it. I know that not all the trees will likely produce what she found. But maybe...

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Ozark Lady
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Oops double posted.

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Happy Days
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Now that is an excellent idea. I have a bag of "15-Bean Soup" in there right now. Going to check it out! :mrgreen:

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LindaD
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Hi, I have only saved and germinated green pepper seeds and as they are pretty boring and basic they grew fine in Mississuaga Ont Canada. I think after reading the replies I should go to the organic market and eat/save seeds from something more healthy and yummy! :idea:

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Sweetcheeks
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Ozark Lady wrote:A friend recently told me of her experience. A neighbor had thrown peach pits in an area, then decided to reclaim the area, that had all kinds of small peach trees growing in it. The tiny plants were just yanked up and handed to her. She planted as many as she could but lost more than she saved.
She did end up with 3 (?) and they have matured to bear fruit.
These peaches are purple. She decided to sample one, and when she bit into it this blood red juice burst forth. It was the most wonderful peach that she has ever tasted. She did the research and apparently it is a throw back to a native peach plant, that was thought lost. I am bugging her to save me some seeds from it. I know that not all the trees will likely produce what she found. But maybe...
How awesome is that?! I hope when you receive your seeds that you're able to obtain that prized fruit! My neighbor gave us some peaches a few years ago, and we didn't eat them all, so my boyfriend tossed them in the front "garden bed". The next spring (2010), I was clearing out the bed, and lo and behold! there were 3 tiny peach trees growing. My boyfriend yanked those suckers out before we realized what they were, resulting in 2 broken ones, and one viable one. For the heck of it, I dug a small hole in our yard and stuck the single tiny tree sprout in it. Sadly, a week later, we got TONS of rain, resulting in freakish floods, and it totally drowned my little peach tree. :cry:



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