Saving seeds from store bought produce and fruit?

[Lucius_Junius]

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

[Bobberman]

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

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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]

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]

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]

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?

[Ozark Lady]

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...

[Ozark Lady]

Oops double posted.

[Happy Days]

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

[LindaD]

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!

[Sweetcheeks]

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.