Saving Seeds (Spring Radishes)

Saving seeds is simple for some plants and somewhat complex for others.  In this post, we focus on spring radish seeds which are quite simple to save.  We will look at more complex seed-saving processes for other crops in future posts.

Why save seeds?  Saving seeds is free to do and quite easy for most plants.  Not doing it is throwing money out the window.  More importantly, saving seeds allows you to select the best of the best plants each and every year.  Over the years, this will develop a genetic line that is adapted to your area and it's specific growing conditions.  Certain traits can be selected, such as: early production, disease resitance, pest resistance, flavor, color, texture, etc.  Whatever traits you most cherish can be enhanced through seed saving.

Some quick terminology: 

Variety - plants of the same species, but with different traits.

Open pollinated plants - produce offspring that are identical to the parents.

Hybrids - a cross of two different varieties.  Hybrid offspring will not be identical to the parents.

Cross pollination - pollen from one plant fertilizing another.

Saving Spring Radish Seeds:

Start with one open pollinated variety.  It is very important to only have one variety flowering at any one time to avoid cross pollination between varieties resulting in hybrid seeds.  We prefer Pink Beauty for it's thin skin and mild flavor.  Plant them in the early spring 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost (mid-March in Northwest Arkansas).

Allow 5 to 10 of the best radishes to go to seed.  They will send up a tall, central stalk with pale flowers.  Butterflies LOVE these flowers.

The flowers will form green seed pods.  Leave the plants in place until these pods have turned brown and dried completely.

Once they have dried, pull the plant and pluck off the seed pods.

With your fingers, split these pods to remove the small, brown seeds.

Label and store them in a cool, dry place until next year.

Further Reading:

Here's an excellent, free resource for saving seeds of the most popular crops.

Seed Savers Exchange's forums are a great place to get ideas and ask questions.

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