Morning Glory seeds - when are they ripe?

This is my first year growing morning glories and I would like to save some seed. What color is the seed when it is ready. I opened up a seed pod and seeds were white. Is that the color they should be? The pod was brown. Thanks. Cindy


Never mind everyone, got my answer from another post on this site. Thanks.

This message was edited Sep 22, 2004 6:27 PM

No, most morning glory seeds should be black. There are exceptions - moonflowers are white or tan, for example. You should wait for the seed pod to be brown AND the stem leading to it will be brown or yellow (not green). The 'flanges' at the top of the seed pod should be brown and should be sticking out away from the pod not still curled up around it. The pod should crush EASILY in your fingers - if it doesn't , leave it - the seeds are not ready yet. The seeds should be black.

Good luck!

Onalee

I don't have any pics of morning glory seeds ready to pick, but here is a moonvine pod that is ready . . .
Note the brown stem, the brown 'flanges' that are sticking out, the point on the end of the pod is brown and it will crunch very easily between your fingers. . .

This message was edited Oct 3, 2004 8:53 PM

Thanks onalee, I have moonflower also and this will help me determine when they are ripe. I did harvest some morning glory where the pod is as you described and I am getting both black seeds and a caramel colored seed. I wonder if that is the seed of the lighter colored ones. They are a mix of blue, fuschia, light pink and an almost white flower.

Cindy

Hey onalee, I took a pic of the two colors of seeds. The light brown ones were definitely in ripe pods as the stem was all withered and pods opened easily. Notice they are a slight bit larger than the black seeds.

Cindy

Hi Cindy - I've never seen morning glory seeds that light in color - even on white flowers. Do they seem to be hard or are they soft? If they're soft, then they are definately not ready yet, but if they seem to be as hard as the black ones, then maybe it's just the type of morning glory (I'm certainly not an expert on all morning glories!). To be safe, you may want to store the light ones separate from the dark ones - make sure you dry them well in the sun and I always store mine in something breatheable - like a paper envelope, not plastic bags (although many people do store them in plastic bags, I just was always taught to use something where they can breathe in case there is some moisture in there it can escape and not rot them).

I have gotten rotten seeds from ripe pods - even sometimes 2 or 3 seeds will be good and black and others in the same pod will be soft and white or light brown. I think this has to do with them getting wet in the rain and then the side to the sun dried out and the seeds were fine, but the side to the vine didn't . So make sure the light colored seeds are nice and hard not soft and mushy.

Maybe someone else has had some experience with light colored morning glory seeds?

Good luck!

Onalee

Thanks for the info Onalee. No the seeds are quite hard and I do store in the little paper seed packets that I print up from Dave's.

Well, hopefully then they are good - just nothing I've seen before (which isn't any great surprise :-)

good luck with them!

Onalee

Hi! Just to add my 2 cents...we have some morning glories that come up on their own every year. Most of them are white with purple strokes through them, but amongst them are some all-white flowered ones. I collected some seeds several weeks ago and when I sat down to clean them I noticed that there are some white ones amongst the black ones. They were all from dried brown pods and the seeds are quite hard and dried...every one in the pod was white, not just one or two. So I traced, best as I could, back to which vine it might be, and to the best of my ability I think I've determined that the pure white morning glories produced white seeds. The vines are all tangled in with each other so it's difficult to say with 100% certainty, but I'm pretty sure I have white Morning Glory seeds. Unfortunately, I don't know what variety either type is, as the previous owners probably had sown them there. But...they're nice! :)

Thanks Greenthumb. Mine were a mix also, all planted together, so it is hard to determine which seeds belonged to which plants. I believe these white seeds are from the white flowers also. I appreciate your comments.

Mine are a mix also and I grow pearly gates in the mix...that could be the ticket.

Thanks Witch. I agree. Cindy