Seed Questions

[shesnotfromhere]

I just cut a Honeydew and a Cantalope and I'm interested in planting both in my garden this spring.  I harvested the seeds out of both melons, but I was wondering what I needed to do to them to get them ready to plant?  Should I wash them?  I have them sitting on two seperate paper towels on my counter right now, but I'm at a loss as to what to do

Comments

[bailey36]

are they heirloom varieties? the seeds may not be viable.

[shesnotfromhere]

I have no idea... I just bought the melons at the grocery store.

[bailey36]

dry them out and test them; let a few dry out, get a nice thick paper towel, fold it in quarters, soak it in warm water, add seeds fold it up again, kep it all in a jar in your house for two weeks, count the seeds that sprout, if none do it is because the melon was sterile. Still it is the best bet to buy seed.

[shesnotfromhere]

I mean...it's not like seeds are expensive... I figured it was worth a shot

[squid_ink]

the melon might be a hybrid, so if you plant it you may not get a plant that's exactly like the parent

[david_anderson]

If it's from a grocery store, it is almost certainly a hybrid.

It's much better to buy the seeds to the varieties you want, than waste more time an money taking a chance on seeds from a grocery store. If you want to save seeds, save them from open pollinated varieties that you have grown yourself. You then want to had pollinate the blossoms to keep from having a cross.

[xtricks]

As above, wouldn't bother. Most grocery store produce is either sterile or hybrids that won't grow satisfying food from their seed. Plus, those are probably fruits not particularly suited for your season - it's dissapointing to grow sterile plants or bad tastign fruit or have the plant die before it fruits because of seasonal issues. It's better to buy seeds from a nursery.

For one thing, most melons grown for grocery stores are long season - unless you live in a warm climate, your growing season may not be long enough.