Im trying to separate some zinnia seed from waste and I need to know if the seeds are on the bottom of the petals or only on the core part (flower center, Usually yellow or brown.)
CLOSED: Seeds vs chaff?
I have a similar issue, saved the whole dry flower head and am trying to figure out what is what.
Cobwebz, Im sure there is someone on DG that can help us with this. This place is awesome. Cam
google zinnia seeds harvesting, there is a bunch of info.
This message was edited Feb 12, 2011 4:51 PM
This message was edited Feb 12, 2011 4:52 PM
I was just gonna say....what Webz said. :) On my "old" computer I used to have a website that was totally dedicated to what seeds from flowers looked like. See if I can find it.
Just found it. It's called the seed site
seedsite.com
Thanks, mellen, that's what I need. I looked on Google about zinnia seed harvesting but one says petals and one says the other and none of the articles had closeups enough to see. The seedsite.com is no longer there.
The seed site:
http://theseedsite.co.uk/
Don
The picture on the Left shows a dried head of a marigold but Zinnias do the same thing. I've pulled some seeds off of it. The picture on the right shows where the reproductive parts of a zinnia are and where the seeds are formed.
Hope this helps.
I always have the same issue with Zinn seeds.... most of the folks do not mind getting chaff with the seeds. I believe I had one or two threads on this topic that include images. I may or may not still have the images on my PC, i delete them every now and then.
Ah... here is one image.
I think this is where I was confused on which was the seed... turns out they both are, even though they are different shapes.
I have a different Zinnia... Red Spider, and those seeds are much narrower. I'll have to see if i can find that image too.
Here is the question for me. When I have the whole seed head in front of me, the petals are still attached to the center head. They have not dried and fallen off. In the center head are things shaped like Zinnia seeds that are attached to the petals and there are those that are not attached to the petals that look like Zinnia seeds. Are they ALL Zinnia seeds or not? If not, which ones are the real Zinnia seeds?
I think it's hard to tell until you pull it apart. I've seen some that did not develop, they were more flat and did not have that "bump" in the seed. I've seen some that were white-ish and not brown or black -- I think those also would be duds.
I have found that if the head is still "fresh" - meaning not completely dried... I usually did not get a lot of good seeds off of those.. .more duds than anything.
the two types of seeds in the image above... those will be good seeds.
Sometimes ya just don't know until you rip apart the head.
Zinns always give me fits...
Thanks, tcs. I have torn it apart and noticed that some things in there look like fake seeds, with no goody inside. I'll do my best and I guess if I happen to throw away some good seeds in the process, no harm, no foul, since there are so many seeds to the head anyway. Thanks to all of you for your help. Cam
that is true about ZInns... lots of seeds.
happy hunting, '
Terese
found the other image i was looking for... 2 different zinnias, with the seeds looking quite different from each other.
the Spider Zinn seeds are very narrow...
Thank you soooo much for your diligence. That's the best pic Ive seen of Zinnia seeds. Really helpful. Cam
They look like Indian arrow heads, don't they?
yes, some of them do.