Just thought I’d post a reminder here: make sure your harvested seeds are THOROUGHLY dried before storing them!
Last night, I happened to glance at the shelf in my pantry where I had put my dried & harvested seeds.
Since I only managed to grow one pumpkin, I stored them in a spice jar and a small zip baggy for the handful that didn’t fit. The dark colour of the baggy caught my eye and when I pulled it out – mold!!! Dark green and black, fuzzy, nasty mold!
Exclaiming in horror, I immediately pulled out the spice jar and was mortified to see more of the same!
I dumped all the seeds out of the jar onto my drying tray (the ones in the baggy were so black I wrote them off immediately) in hopes of possibly salvaging them. They were all soft, many of them sticking to each other and the inside of the jar.
Online suggestions for reversing this mold issue were to soak them in a solution of either diluted bleach or peroxide, then physically scrubbing the mold off before thorough rinsing and then drying again, with no sure guarantee that the seed would be viable after the process.
I considered it, but decided against it. Seemed like a lot of work, time and resources for the small chance that they’d sprout into producing plants come spring.
Moving forward, my recommended drying period for harvested seeds will be no less than 2 full weeks.
Happy harvesting & wishing you no mold!
⭐❤️
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