datura pods............can they collected while green?

i have a bunch of pods. can i collect them while green? and if not and a freeze occurs will the seeds still be viable? it is getting late in the year and these pods have been there for a month and just getting bigger but no sign of turning brown. thanks.

I snipped the thorny pods off my dats before the pods had fully dried. I just kept the seedpods uncovered til they split on their own. The seeds were viable.

Jan

I have mine in the greenhouse. We have had a few frosts then it went mild so its started flowering again.

I'm not worried about light frosts. Only hard ones that knock all the leaves off. You can harvest green but less will be viable.

Think of them as premature babies. Some make it some unfortunatly don't. The older they are the better developed.

Mike

thanks to everyone. there is someone in canada who wants some of these so i will keep waiting. barb

The frost got my triple yellows. I cut them off and brought them in. In hindsight, I should have opened the pods right then, but I didn't, thinking they would dry and turn brown. They didn't. I opened one, just to check, and the inside was all mush, it had rotted. They were all like that.
blpender

Depends on just how close to maturity they are...if they are mature seed heads and just haven't turned brown and split open, then you've got a pretty good chance. The 'greener' they are, the fewer viable seeds will be inside...and they will rot like blpender said. The more moisture that the heads are holding the chances of success goes down dramatically. Opening up an inmature seed pod will stop the ripening process at that moment...chances are slim if you do that. Best case, if frost threatens and it's going to be colder than a sheet or blanket will take care of, is to cut the stalk, with a few leaves attached, and put it in a bucket of water. You can then move it outside during the day...(in a protected area) and possibly get another week or so of maturity in your seeds.

so far so good. temps have dropped to low 40's and the seed pods grow on. thanks to everyone for the information.

If you just have frost and not a freeze, the cold temps usually don't last more than a few hours in the wee hours....throw a blanket over the plant at night if they call for frost, and you should be good to go till about 28/29 degrees.

Hi all! Even tho Dats are an annual in my zone 5 it does reseed and grows the next year if it is left outside with the seedpods intact so as far as frost/cold "killing" the seed...Same thing with my Abutilon/Flowering Maples, if the seedpods are left alone, they will reseed and regrow. Sometimes the easiest it is the harder we try...LOL!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

(...same thing with morning glories. I started with seed 10 years ago and, since then, they've come back EVERY year from reseeding even tho I do clean up the vines and as many of the seedpods that I can)

This message was edited Nov 22, 2006 9:34 AM

hey girl. WHAT KIND OF ABUTILON DO YOU HAVE? not meaning to change the subject but............

also, jan, i am not so much wanting these seeds for myself but am wanting to send some to canada.

Freezing won't hurt mature seeds...like was posted above, they do overwinter and sprout in spring...it's just the immature ones that get ruined. Getting them to a point where they can be harvested is the tricky thing if you haven't any mature pods.

not a one is a shade less green now than they were a month ago. they are getting bigger. a few months back i decided to get rid of some of the green pods as the shrub is just loaded. more have grown and some are almost as big as a baseball.

one pod has turned a sort of brown and is still soft. BUT IT HAS SPLIT OPEN ALL THE WAY. are the seeds ready now?

I'd cut that pod off and bring it inside. Generally, if a seed pod splits, it's ready.

I'd let it dry a bit more and then peel it open and let the seeds out. Let them dry on a paper plate for a week or two so you don't get mold on them when bagged up.

thank you melody. i did bring it in and the seeds are drying now. the freeze comes today. brrrrrrrrr!

Yeah...it's 66 right this minute and we're forecast for about 2" of snow by 1am...with the high being only about 31 tomorrow...yech!

well you are warmer than we are. it's in the 30's right now and falling. they are predicting ice and/or snow. the good thing is that by sat. it's back in the 50's. and i am so aggravated that my plants have to die for 2 days of cold. lol. i wish i had a very large blanket to throw over my property until it passes.

hey mama!!! sorry that i haven't gotten back to you sooner. what with thanksgiving, dealing with carpal tunnel and the intense pain that it is causing (i WILL NOT have surgery), trying to get in the holiday spirit-feeling like a grinch this year!!!- i just haven't checked out my seeds. i do have the baby butterfly amaryllis separated from the mom plant, the lady banks rose cutttings are being "stubborn" (very slow to root right now), and i know there's something else, but will hold off sending plants to you til you tell me when to do so, OK? I have a lot of "plant work" to do and PROMISE to give you a definate answer re: the abutilon seeds by the end of this coming weekend. i am quite happy that 99% of the brug cuttings that I have gotten from various generous DGers are rooting AND leafing out already.

ttyl!

jan

jan, no rush on anything. take your time and enjoy what you can of Christmas. does your email start with "malva"? is that you i have been talking to?

ummmm---malva??? in summer i sent you malva zebrina, bi-color butterfly bush, floral foam and, the megagro!!! speaking of megagro...last weekend dh and i started cleaning up the messy basement and i found my megagro...yippee!!!

you communicate with soooo many people here and i can't expect you to remember everything/everyone but i remember that you have been very generous sharing seeds, and cuttings, with me.

just let me know when's a good "safe" time to send "stuff" to you again. hope your weather is better where you are than where i am and that you have much success with all your garden, especially the iochromas!

ttyl,

jan

This message was edited Dec 8, 2006 9:26 AM

no it wasn't you. i am getting emails from malva and i remember who it is now. not you. good for you on the megagro. can you grow crinums where you are?

i just rec'd a couple of pink crinums from someone and they're inside right now until i can plant again in the spring. they are hardy in my zone and they are pretty too! are crinums like daylilies? are they what is referred to as "naked ladies" (the foliage 'dies' and then it flowers...)?

i haven't had luck with the red yucca seeds yet but i still have some left and i'm not gonna give up!

did you cold treat the red yucca? those things have me stumped.

i think the thing that most people call naked ladies is lycoris squamigera. no crinums are not like daylilies but i am not the one to give a lesson on lilies.

If anyone has a few extra double or triple datura seeds please dmail me for a trade. I only grew the white ones and just love looking at everyones pretty pictures of the fancy ones. I am not a very good seed saver. If you buy seeds what is your favorite company?

Thanks,
Teresa in KY

bluegrassmom, i do have the double purple and white seeds if you want. if you have something to trade that is fine and if not a sasbe is fine too. barb

I have some triple yellow if you want some also other types of seeds. Fran

sounds good fran. get in touch with me again next week as i have a few other things to get ready this week and i have to get my kids back in school. i am so angry with our school. my kids have to go back to school for 3 days this week and 4 the next. then they get fri., mon. and tues. off. i don't know why they couldn't just have this whole week off and stop all of these interuptions. or better yet stop giving so many holidays during the school year so we could get out sooner.