Never Buy Seeds Again - How to Collect Onion Seeds (& Chives)

Alliums like onions and chives require a little extra effort when collecting seeds. Gardener Scott shows how to harvest onions and chives and prepare the seeds for storage. (Video #483)
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[@He4vyD]

I save every silica gel pack I find, and put one in every jar of seeds I saved to help keep it dry.

[@lauramccament1381]

This is a great idea, thanks!! I have just been tossing them, not sure how to reuse them!

[@amymorales4622]

What a great idea!

[@Boterhammetpindakaas]

I've been doing the same. I'm a bit worried that the seeds might get too dry though. In theory they are still living things.

[@amymorales4622]

@@Boterhammetpindakaas as long as the seeds aren’t exposed to excessive heat, they are probably going to be fine. I live in Arizona, so my seeds are typically in very dry conditions. As long as I store them at room temperature and out of direct sunlight, they are fine. I would mostly be concerned with using silica packs to absorb residual moisture from within the seeds themselves when they are put into storage.

[@wardsdotnet]

I've been saving shipping candy (i.e., "do not eat" silica gel packs) for in case an electronic device (e.g., phone) gets dropped into water (e.g., toilet).... I also put them in with pill containers sometimes. Great idea to use for seeds as well!

[@wesmcgull6438]

For separating the seeds from the debris, you can use a method called "winowing" (phonetically transcribed). Place everything, after crushing it, in a bucket and pour the content in a second bucket from about 1-2 feet high outdoors when there's a gentle breeze, and repeat until you only have seeds in your bucket. The breeze will blow away the debris. Worked like a charm for collecting my leek seeds. It's a bit less work, in my opinion. :)

[@FrozEnbyWolf150]

If you don't want to wait for the second year, onions regrown from scraps will go to seed the first year. This should work for most biennial crops, including carrots. Also, whenever I'm saving seeds, I take the chaff and use it as mulch. I'll often get volunteer plants from any seeds left behind.

[@dubrd5926]

I harvest my onion and romaine lettuce seeds with as little work as possible. I just wait for the seed head to dry in the garden, cut the stem at its base then bang the seed head into the garden soil where I want the plants to grow. Next I later do not pick the plants I want to grow as they come up and I am done.

[@ninemoonplanet]

My biggest headache is organizing the seeds, labels and remembering which year they're saved Yup, labels would work, but until a few days ago I couldn't find labels that fit various sizes of containers. I went slightly overboard collecting seeds from flowers parsnips, parsley, and yup, more. I need a seed "library". 😂

[@amymorales4622]

I put my onion seeds away already, and my chives decided to put out some lovely fall blooms. In the past, I have always let the chives just reseed themselves. Now that I have a better idea of how to save seeds from those pretty pink flowers, I will do that. Thanks!

[@eliandkate]

Brilliant video Scott and very timely 😊

[@heidiclark6612]

Thank You for the great video of seed harvesting and saving onion and chive seed. Next year I will have to leave some onion s in the ground.

[@johnjude2685]

I did that last month and thanks

[@asiajo1010]

Another great informative video 👍🏽

[@dustyflats3832]

I just let chive seeds fall; however, not the garlic chives as they are aggressive. I let them flower now as they smell good and pollinators love them, but those seeds got to go. They are taking over asparagus bed and root quite deep. I don’t see the need to collect chives as you can just take clumps and move them. I really haven’t seen heirlooms onions just hybrid. I’ll have to check.

[@LimePopsicles]

thank you

[@Yankeesista203]

Gardener Scott, you are in my head! I have garlic chives that have nice white flowers and I want to save the seeds! I need to check to see if they are hybrids! Thanks as always!

[@dustyflats3832]

The garlic chives can take over. The flowers are nice, they smell great, but now I have an invasive in the asparagus bed. I’m chopping them before the seeds drop this year for sure.

[@domefamily9721]

Hello. To separate the seeds from the chaff, could you place them in water. I tried a small amount and noticed that the chaff floats while the seeds sink. Not sure if you should keep them dry though. Thanks for your videos. They’ve been super helpful. 😊

[@GardenerScott]

That is a great observation. Viable seeds usually sink in water. After draining off the floating chaff it is a simple matter of placing the seeds on a plate or paper towel to dry again.

[@MrJoecordova]

Good afternoon amigo, I live in Denver, this is my first year gardening and you had helped me a lot, I just got a bed ready for garlic. I will use your video to plant them. Also, where do you get your seeds,? Thank you so much!!

[@GardenerScott]

I recently ordered some from Fedco online. Most local nurseries sell garlic bulbs. Sept and Oct are when they show up for sale.

[@bonnieecker5459]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with saving 100% of the seed. Chives are hard to eradicate when they take over in unwanted areas (like in the cracks of our concrete patio), so the less than 100% of the seed are PLENTY for me. Also, I wouldn't bother removing all the chaff. It will simply decompose in the soil when planting the seed.

[@dustyflats3832]

Exactly.

[@lgarden7086]

Thanks for sharing. After you gather your onion flowers do you pull and discard the onion plant?

[@GardenerScott]

Yes, I pull the plant. I don't discard it, but put it in my compost.

[@ghalibnetwork]

AoA/Hi, Hope you fine there Gardener Scott, Dear Sir Thanks for update such a very informative and nice vlog pl keep it up we are on the way, ok cud you please in detail guide us regarding growing of saffron seed in Pakistani soil plz. hope you never mind ,Allah Bless you for this kind 's ,Thanks keep happy

[@GardenerScott]

I'm sorry but I have not grown saffron. I don't have a detailed guide to help.

[@joycedagostino8869]

Hi Scott, about a year ago you mentioned on one of your live Monday shows that you sow your onion seed in the fall and you would post a video about doing that. I couldn't find that video. Can you please let us know if there is a video and if not, would like to have the steps on how to plant them in the fall. Sounds like such an easier method than trying to grow and plant those tiny thin onion seedlings in the spring!

[@GardenerScott]

I didn't get that video done as planned, but I am planning to sow this fall. I'll use some of these seeds and show the process. It will be similar to winter sowing that I show in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/noXRe6Ktp7hgrpo

[@joycedagostino6074]

@@GardenerScottthank you!

[@hugelpook]

In your opinion, which plants are good to plant with squashes to deter squash borer and other pests?

[@GardenerScott]

I don't think there are particularly good plants that deter such pests. I'm not aware of studies that show a good one and gardeners have tried everything from radishes to mint with questionable results. There are better options like planting resistant varieties, rotating crops, removing infected plants, and cultivating the soil to disturb the pupae.

[@janericvelure6883]

if you give that plate a bend, like a taco almost, and hold it on a angle and start shaking\heaving the seeds in the air when you hold the plate on a sligth angle, the hevys comes towards you and the ligths go to the topp, seen it done with baskets, with a low rim, and i prefer a paper magasine my self, i hold it with two hands and make somting simelar to a snow showel, smal amonts are better until u get the teknikk, i also belive i get rid of ligth seeds that way,that likly aint so god

[@bevbarry9637]

Hi Scott. I used to watch you channel regularly for gardening tips in preparation for moving into our dream home 2.5 years ago. Turned out the dream was actually a nightmare and it has taken this long to get garden beds set up. Now that I'm back to it I am back watching your channel regularly. I have a question regarding seed germination. The most recent lot of seeds I planted have not come up within the germination time on the packets. Some are old do this is understandable but others are new seeds from a reputable seed company. I am hoping our unseasonably warm weather predicted for this week will give them a kick start but could you offer a suggestion of what I may have forgotten in my process? All are in either seed raising mix in my greenhouse or well prepared soil in raised beds and I have planted at the recommended time of year. Could it be under watering? Or just a little too early in the season?

[@GardenerScott]

Underwatering could be an issue. The soil needs to stay moist throughout germination. letting the soil dry out just once at the wrong time can doom the seedlings. In warm weather I typically water at least four times a day during germination.

[@reneejmj]

How do you keep your onions from flopping over and dying. I kept a couple onions with the intention of saving seeds. They flopped over and greens turned brown a couple of months later.

[@GardenerScott]

I keep watering the plants to keep them healthy. The leaves often die back in the first year but new ones should emerge in the second.

[@tylerjohnsen7423]

Hello Scott! I am planning on leaving some onion in the garden like you did. Do you need to protect the exposed bulbs? Or do they handle the winter months fine? I’m in Oklahoma (7) if that helps

[@GardenerScott]

I'm in zone 5 and they survived the winter fine.

[@HigginsLawLLCWinterHaven]

do the flowers have to be pollinated first?

[@GardenerScott]

Yes. Insects do it.

[@francoisboulet3671]

Hi Scott! I have a question concerning cucumbers seeds! If I have five different varietes of cucumbers in a 4 X 8 raised bed, do I have to be concerned about cross pollinisation. All my varietes are heirlooms, not hybrides. Can I save my seeds without beeing concerne about having « weird » cucumbers next years? Thank you from the guy in Québec.

[@GardenerScott]

Because cucumbers need insects there is a good chance of cross pollination. You can save the seeds and they shouldn't be weird, but they may be different from the specific varieties you grew..

[@Elzwnd]

I accidentally cut mine off while it was still white and green. Can I still have it dry out?

[@GardenerScott]

You can, but expect that many of the seeds may not be viable.

[@mikecarrillo7245]

Gardener Scott is a stone cold PIMP

[@jacquelinemiles6491]

A nice thing to say .😢