Seed collecting part 2
The other type of seed is a “gelatinous seed “. This would be seeds that are surrounded by a jelly like substance that sticks to the seeds. Tomatoes, cucumbers and sometimes melons can be like this. if you’ve ever tried to separate seeds from this sticky gooey mess you understand why what I am going to tell you is such a timesaver and actually improves the germination of your seeds for next spring.
This gel substance is an sprout inhibitor which helps the plant to not sprout inside the plant. Let’s think about it A seed needs dark, warm, moist conditions to germinate so why don’t they germinate inside its fruit? It is because of this gel that it is preserved in. Nature is smart 🤓 she thinks of everything. If you’ve ever tried to separate a seed from the gel it’s a pretty hard task but there’s a pretty easy trick that you can do and also will make the seed more viable. In nature the fruit would drop and rot and this gel would ferment off the seed so that It would not germinate until the following year after it breaks down. If this gel is not allowed to go through The process and be washed off completely it will hinder the seeds from germinating.
Here’s how to save these gelatinous seeds and prepare them for next year to grow. Take your seeds and gel and squeeze them into a juice glass. Add a little water and leave it to sit for a day on your counter. After a day go back, the gel and pulp should have separated and floated to the top of the water. Scrape that off and then rinse your seeds by pouring out the water being careful to leave your seeds in the bottom of the glass, adding more water and letting it sit for just a little while longer skimming the top if anything rises. This process is allowing the natural process of fermentation to take place which is removing the anti-sprout mechanism and preparing the seed to be able to sprout when it is planted. Without doing this and just saving the seeds on a plate their chances decrease because this has not been completely removed. Another fun fact the seeds that rise to the top of the water are not viable seeds so this is a good way to also sort seeds that would have not been good planting seeds.
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