Storing Portulaca seeds through the winter... or in general.

Hi

I would like to know how to store Portulaca seeds that i have collected through the summer, so that can sow them in around March April.

Thanks
Tom:)

You're talking about the teeny tiny black seeds from moss rose/portulaca right? I thought I was the only one crazy and/or patient enough to harvest seed off those things:LOL: I just let them dry well on a paperplate of top of the tv or fridge for a couple of days then store in a paper envelope or little ziplock bag. Just keep in a cool dry place. You could probably refrigerate, I don't think they require it, but if you store the rest of your seeds there it wouldn't hurt them. Did you save any separate colors or just kept them a mix? I love those plants, practically indestructible and so much color:)

I just let them dry for a week or so and put them in a pill bottle. They're pretty much bomb-proof. No need for the fridge, unless you just want to.

Yep, I save them too....every couple of years. I try and get several years worth whenever I do it so I don't have to mess with them as frequently. They'll keep for years.

Thanks very much....
Yes i actually do seperate the colours...
moss rose = P. grandiflora
I am actually growing the Purslane = P. oleraceae

I will put them in my cupboard right now:)

Tom.

Don't be surprised if the colors don't stay separate....they've more than likely crossed with each other, and if you have a hybrid variety, it will revert back to the parent colors. Found this out the hard way....now I just dump them all together.

I keep mine in some little watch makers cans that my youngest gave me for Christmas a few years ago. They always come back interestingly to say the least. One year all I saved was the seeds from a lovely cream colored flower and all my plants were bright shocking pink. If you look at them under a hand glass or microscope, they are a steely grey with some iridescence. Very cool seeds.

Tom
Melody is pretty much right. It's tough to really keep the different colors seperated. What I have found after several years of the "physical therapy" of saving these little critters is that once the tiny seed pods are are ready to be harvested, they are pretty well dried. I gather them all into a small pill bottle and don't do anything to preserve them for next year. Never had a problem. Frankly, if you took a pinch of seeds and scattered them into a spring planting bed, how would you know if there was a problem anyway?

If you are a color scheme person and have the idea of separate colors, Stokes has a great selection of individual colors available.