I went to the produce stand over the weekend and I was taken by this dragon fruit that they had there. I found out online that it would probably grow in my zone ( 9b ) so I brought one home to save the seeds.

Why Save seeds;

One of the biggest reasons to save your own seeds is because it is more cost efficient and you can continue to grow plants that work well in your zone. In other cases saving seeds is the only way that many heirloom varieties. Saving seeds preserves the genetic diversity of the plant and is the only way that some types of plants have survived at all. Commercial seed businesses have no interest in this. Another reason to save seeds is you might be able to get your hands on something that you’d not had access to otherwise. For instance, I am currently drying out seeds for a Cuban Sweet Pepper that a friend gave me that came from her family in Cuba. In the case of this plant it is a great way to find a plant that I wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere else.

How to save the seeds

Start with a ripe Dragon fruit as you can see the seeds are mixed in with the fruit so I scooped out the insides and put them on a paper plate.The inside of a dragon fruit is similar to a kiwi, in a unripe fruit the seeds wouldn’t be fully formed yet. Also you can tell a ripe Dragon Fruit when the outside is a dark pink. While this method for saving seeds works with several types of fruits and vegetables including Cucumbers and Tomatoes. It is important to note that the vegetable or fruit must be ripe in order to harvest the seeds.

I spent a good 15 minutes straining as much of the fruit part away from the seeds as a could with a coriander

as you can see I wasn’t able to get it all, but as with the gherkin seeds that I have saved in the past I am letting the seeds soak for awhile so that the film layer has a chance to come off in the water or Ferment. In about a week I will strain them again and start them drying out.

The below are all various pepper seeds that I am saving. With pepper seeds I just flake them away from the pepper and set them aside to dry but I do not soak them.

I have actually in the past just taken the butt of a pepper and planted in directly. As you can see several of them sprouted. When this happens just pick the strongest looking ones and pull out the additional ones. I like to think of this part as a survival of the fittest they would not all survive very well if you just let them grow like this so it’s best to thin them out when they are still young and slide right out. I will also add that in some case you don’t need to save the seeds at all, some plants are just better at self seeding. My Mexican Gherkin for instance while it is very easy to save the seeds it’s actually easier to just let the fruits that fall grow into new plants.

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