I'm asking around to find out if anyone has any suggestions for separating tiny little seeds from their "stuff". When I was just saving for myself, I didn't mind the chaff and stuff in there. But as a trader, I'd like to be much neater.
I'm good with tweezers, but my eyesight isn't the best. I enjoy "winnowing", but the little guys I was working with last night wanted to fly away with their chaff!
Currently I am using tweezers and some strainer-like mason jar lids designed for sprouting alfalfa sprouts and stuff in the kitchen. I have 2 sizes and this system pretty well for most things. But I'd sure like to know how to do it better and/or faster/easier!
New trader seeks advice
Strainers are good. I do well with most seeds by crunching them around to break up the chaff, letting them dry a few days, then swirling them in a bowl (shallow rim) or plate while blowing on them so the lighter chaff puffs away. Do this over a tray or counter until you get the hang of blowing just the chaff and not also the seeds.
Some seeds (little ones with fluff especially) just don't separate well... and I just mark the packages "w/chaff."
I clean out as much as I can & then I just put a note on my Have's list like: "some chaff"
It's to be expected & doesnt hurt the seeds no one should be that picky about it, as long as the plant grows.
My grandmother used to use a tobbaco (sp?) grinder & it worked well, but the seeds/flower heads needed to be completely dry.
Stephanie
I have found that sometimes seeds roll and the chaff doesn't, so you can put seeds with chaff on something like maybe a cookie sheet and then tilt until the seeds roll away from the chaff. It is a bit tricky and won't work with flat seeds, just round ones. Also this is assuming that the seeds are not staill attached to the chaff. I did something like that with celosia seeds just recently.
I use teastrainers in different sizes. When the seeds are very small it isn't a very bad idea to leave some chaff in so you can sow more thinly.......
Thanks, all - I really appreciate the advice!
And the "comfort" that some chaff "is to be expected".
I'll keep working at it!
Actually I love to get ripe seeds in the pods. Helps me to destress at the end of the day. LOL
You would not like the ones I have to do next. The pods are covered in what feels exactly like small sewing needles! Try breaking that open! I am going to have to find an alternate way of opening them.
needle nose pliers!
good idea~ Thank you!
What are you harvesting?
Castor bean seeds
I do tons of those. I use the flat nose pliers for those since they are larger seeds.
so, exactly what do you do? Do you need 2 pairs of pliers? One for each hand? I still don't quite see how to get that mean pod off! LOL
I don't remember my castor beans being quite so nasty. I think I wore garden gloves and just squeezed the pod (top to bottom) to crack it open.
One pair of pliers. If the pod is whole, put it in the pliers and crack lightly like a walnut. These should split it into 3-4 segment, each with it;s own seed. Then you can break each seed out of it's own shell covering
I will try that! Thanks!
Good luck with your castor beans!
Mine reseed freely. I'm always composting seedlings and raking up seeds. I try to clip the flowers off but can' t reach the highest ones.
Hey Nilly - if those are the milkweed seeds you are sending me don't worry about chaffe. I'm not bothered by chaffe at all. :)
My daughter has a dissecting microscope that we bought her for her birthday several years ago (yes, she is a science nerd like her father and I). I have found this very useful (although somewhat time consuming) when I want to hand separate chaff from seed or inspect the quality of the seed or look for insect damage. Alot of schools put these up for auction and they are fairly inexpensive if you really want one. Also on Ebay under scientific equipment. But again, probably not worth the expense unless you just really want to get "up close and personal" with your seeds. You can also get some excellent medical/science quality forceps or tweezers on Ebay for cheap and they are alot better for fine detailed work than what you can find in most stores. One last FYI... I used to work for USDA and had to harvest seed from my transgenic plants and then grow them in petri dishes to check germination, DNA analyses, etc. We used to use special mesh screens of various grid sizes to separate the chaffe from the seed quickly. I'll bet that if you go to Ebay (no I do not work for Ebay :)) or maybe a specialty horticulture supplier you may be able to find these in a variety of sizes for whatever seeds you collect. OK now I'm curious for my own selfish purposes. I'll go look for these and get back to yall on that.
Ooh, I think I'd "pay real money" as they say for a set of screens like that! I also know folks who make homemade screens from tin foil by poking holes of different sizes.
One thing I use to clean/separate my seeds are bamboo sticks. Don't ask why I found out but one day I realized that if I rubbed the stick against my clothes, the static would 'collect' the chafe if I guided the bamboo stick over them (specially with dust-like seeds). This, after I had screened the seeds and let them roll on a sheet of paper. It is amazing how the tiny pieces of chafe adhere to the stick.
OK the ones we used at USDA are apparently very nice professional tools that of course are a little pricey (photo below is what we used - brass with a HUGE variety of mesh inserts). I found them at www.seedburo.com if anyone wants to check them out. But there are cheaper versions available. I found some at www.sonicnet/~bountifu/shop/seed-saving.html and some other suppliers, even a bonsai supplier. The one at sonicnet was very reasonably priced ~$15.00 for a 11.75" diameter frame with 3 changeable screens of 3, 5, and 10 mesh per inch. Of course 10mesh/inch won't work for some seeds and chaff (like my moss rose :O). But I have seen a homemade collection that someone made that was basically wood framed with various mesh sizes stretched across the frames. You can purchase various mesh sizes to use for this. Probably as efficient and cheaper to make your own.
As Tuinkabouter mentioned, tea strainers work well for very small seeds and then you can GENTLY blow off any dust size chaff that remains.
Ursula - I like your idea about using static to pull off the chaff. I noticed that once, inadvertently, and I agree it works really well on light chaff.
Found a lot of different screens on ebay under "mesh screen". This was the most interesting tho. Gold panning classifier screen set(4) 10,20,40,60 mesh!This seller accepts PayPal Buy It Now
different sizes of screen. Too expensive tho. $39. Might find something like it in a different catagory. interesting.
Jeanette
Oop I meant to post the photo of the nice brass set I found. Here it is. I wish. I probably wasn't good enough this year.
How much are those? Look expensive. How big across are they?
Jeanette
Jeanette - they are VERY expensive for a seed sieve. Follow this link for product info and pricing from Seedboro (http://www.seedburo.com/online_cat/categ08/us_sieve.asp).
This set is a professional grade setup that can be made of brass or stainless steel. I guess I posted the stainless steel version in the image above. We used these in government lab and I can tell you that Uncle Sam doesn't scrimp when it comes to lab equipment (or anything else for that matter from my observations). In my dreams I would have a personal set like this. But due to the price I will probably have to keep looking for a cheaper setup or maybe try my hand at a home crafted version. :)
I hope I didn't get anyone's hopes up too high. I just remembered using these and how nice they were for separating out my seeds from chaff. But as mentioned above, I'll bet someone out there will carry a cheaper version that would work for seed collection on a lower scale.
Wonder why you couldn't use window screen with embroidery hoops????
My nephew works for a lab and he said he would see if he could get me a couple of 10" sieves. I can handle the large seeds I think, but it is the tiny ones that are a problem. I think. I haven't tried any. I see some of the sunflower seeds are hooked to the end of the petals. Has anyone worked with these? Do you plant the whole petal or have to pick each seed off?
Jeanette
You guys had me looking again :-) I've been wanting some also. I found this link also. The first set seems pretty reasonable. and you can buy individual screens also to fit into the rims. http://www.dallasbonsai.com/store/soil_sieves_screens.html
Andrea
I use the plate and inserts from the steamers meals packages, they have a bowl inside a bowl and it works for small seeds.. i just roll and shake and then empty the bowl under.. works good for me on primrose, cockscomb, celosia, violets, laurentia and that sort.
I use goves to break the thornapples and castor beans and yucca pods..
Does anyone know what Dusty Miller's seed looks like? I have a bag of fluff, stick looking things, etc.
You have a bag full of Dusty Miller seeds, Lynn.
mygypsyrose - good find! Those are much more reasonably priced and should work for the vast majority of seeds. I like that you can buy the individual screens according to need. Stacey
Holy crap, I just checked and shipping is $15.00. I guess it looked good until you tried to order :-0.
Oh, it looks like it goes down to $7.95 if I spend $20.00
Edit to say:
For the larger kit with 7 screens, it comes to $45.00 with shipping included. I think I'm going to have to hit my DH up for a Christmas present :-). He always complains that I never know what I want. Well now I have an idea. 7 different screen sizes would be great.
This message was edited Dec 10, 2008 9:43 AM
Why not just check your local kitchen utensil depts and Walmart, Kmart etc or local thrifts stores. I find all kinds of sieves/strainer in all different size wire for very little money.
I'm using an assortment of strainers now, and I have to say the thought of having a set in graduated sizes so I'd always have the "right" one available is very appealing!
I tried that at one time and got fustrated. My walmart is not a very large one and doesn't carry alot of items. I didn't think of thrift shops. I don't have a kitchen utensil dept around here also. I miss living where I used to have a Letchers? Forgot how to spell it. I loved that store.
OK off subject sorry but... can someone explain to me what DH, DD, DS...Dx means? I think I have finally figured out that that is H(usband), D(aughter), S(on), but what is the D? I feel like a moron but maybe this is one of those texting things or something that I don't understand and am always making a fool of myself over. Once my supervisor fired an email at me saying "Stacey, F/U" and I was quite shocked and ended up being laughed at by my colleages that were present because I honestly thought I was being verbally assaulted.... Anyway, can someone explain this to me? Thanks.
D = dear or darling
I do get confused by some of the longer forms... and I have to search for context to see if DS is "dear son" or "darling sister."
(I don't know what "F/U" means!)
:-)