​     While summer crops are still producing but plants are getting tired (my first-planted tomatoes are pooping out and some have died), the heat has been accomplishing another unnoticed task – maturing seeds of non-hybrid veggies and flowers that we can harvest to save for next year’s gardens and share now with other gardeners.
     These are the “dry” seeds, unlike the “wet” seeds like tomatoes and cucumbers and squash which have their seeds embedded in flesh that must be fermented off.  For drying those kinds of seeds, go to my blog article --  http://www.gardeninginla.net/blog/saving-seeds-from-non-hybrid-vegetables
    Dryness and crispiness are required in determining when to harvest these “dry” seeds.  This means  REALLY dry!  If plant stems are even a bit still green and wiggly, they need to dry further.  Let the foliage dry naturally – don’t pull the plant and set it aside to dry, since this won’t allow the seeds to fully mature as they dry.
     This waiting process can take up to two or three full months after the fruit or blossom has looked its best, and the plant looks progressively disheveled.  The gardener must consider this area out of bounds for continued watering or further planting to allow the plants to fully mature and dry completely till they’re crispy. 
     So, my bed where I grew cool-season crops last winter – lettuce, spinach, bok choy, chard, kale, celery – is now ready for my harvest of its seeds. 

     Here’re a couple of supplies that’ll help.
 
Large paper (not plastic) bags
Tied over lettuce stalks when the first blossoms dried up months ago, the paper bags “breathe”, allowing moisture to escape.  Plastic bags don’t allow this, so moisture is retained and the seeds can’t dry thoroughly.  The paper bags also keep the seeds captive as they dry, avoiding having all the seed scatter.  If the seed had scattered, later in the season when watered or rained upon, at least some of the seeds would germinate. But, collecting them in the paper bags enables sowing in other more contained locations. However, when any of those self-sown seeds do germinate, consider this your cue to sow the ones you’ve saved, since environmental conditions are apparently perfect! 
 
Plastic bins
A dishpan or other wide container is helpful when held under the seedy branch or tilted seedpod as it’s snapped off its stem.  Chard has really long shoots with many seeds, and breadseed poppy pods have little holes just under their caps so the seed shakes out with the merest movement.   
 
Newspapers or paper toweling on a cookie sheet or other rimmed flat sheet
Once you’ve collected the seeds, spread them onto paper on a broad pan set in a dry place out of sun for a couple of weeks to ensure more evaporation and complete the drying process.  For seeds like lettuce and parsley and cilantro that may have lots of dried foliage along with the seeds, there’s no need to separate them since when sown later the extra chaff just helps provide some accompanying mulch that’ll aid germination.
 
Paper envelopes
Store collected seed in paper – not plastic – envelopes to allow “breathing” and preclude any spoilage from any remaining moisture.  However dry you think you’ve gotten the seeds, never use plastic for storage since any bit of remaining moisture will potentially spoil the whole batch of seeds.
 
Indoor Interior Closet
Store seeds in a location that has the least change of temperature and moisture, such as an interior closet in the house.  You want the seeds to go into a bit of a suspended animation by not being stimulated by any environmental changes.
 
Now you have a wealth of seeds to resow into your garden, and to share with other gardeners!
And, just think -- after seven years of resowing and saving seeds, you’ll have them acclimated to your locale!
 
Why Do This Now, Instead of Waiting Even Longer?
     Once you’ve moved all the dead foliage to the compost pile, you can incorporate nutritive amendments like compost, manure and coffee grounds into the beds and water them in so the soil microorganisms can do their thing prepping the soil for new sowings and plantings.
     This heating-up and cooling-down process takes two or three weeks.  If you sow seeds or transplant seedlings too soon, the soil will be too warm and the new seeds and seedlings will literally burn up with the soil heat. 
     While you’re waiting for the microorganisms to do their magic, purchase your new seedlings so they can use those two weeks to acclimate to their new location.  Place the seedling containers in a bin that you’ll keep a quarter-inch of water in to keep the containers’ soil consistently moist, and gradually move it more and more into the full-day sun. 
     By the end of the two weeks, when the soil has cooled down to being barely warm when you stick your hand into it, the container plants will also be acclimated so you can plant them.  
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     It’s just too hot in the garden for me, except for an hour or so after the sun surmounts the back hill so I can work in bright light but no blasting sun.  Then I can spend time harvesting and watering the tomatoes and squash, and the fruit trees once every two weeks.  During the day, I have to find other gardeny things to do.  In the early to mid-morning, when the shade from my oak tree makes my front patio comfortable, I repot up shade-lovers like ferns and begonias and orchids.  At the same time, my extended house roof overhang on the southwest side provides shade for repotting my succulents.
 
When to Repot
     There comes a point, perhaps years after you’ve first brought home a plant and settled it into its new container home and it’s thrived, when it doesn’t look so happy and you’ve observed that perhaps not much of the original potting mix remains in the pot. 
     Or, you may have collected so many small pots of plants that you never got around to settling them into their new homes, and they’re beginning to look neglected.
     In my case, these conditions move me into thinking “I’ve got to get them repotted” but then the activity doesn’t happen.  Until it’s too hot for me to find the excuse to do something in the garden.  Like now.
 
Choosing a Container:  Material, Color and Pattern, Size
     Clay (glazed or not?) or plastic?  I prefer unglazed terra cotta, either glazed or not, because I know the pot will “breathe” and foster a healthy root system.  I always use the same potting mix so all plantings will dry out at the same rate and I don’t have to guess so much who needs watering when.
     I try to aesthetically match the plant to the pot’s color, glaze and pattern – taking into consideration the particular shade of green, form and texture of the foliage, and any bloom color.
     I choose larger size pots according to how quickly the plant will develop.  Deeper is better than wider to accommodate enlarging root systems and lessen evaporation from the soil surface.  At minimum, the pot should be at least 3 or 4 inches wider and deeper than the plant’s rootball.
 
Covering the Drainage Hole
     Keeping the potting mix inside the pot while allowing irrigation water to drain can be accomplished using two separate materials.  Plastic window screening cut into 3-inch squares will do both functions.  Also placing a piece of broken pottery shard pointing down on top of the screening will form a bit of an air gap on top of the screening that will keep the bulk of the potting soil in place above it and also augment the draining of irrigation water.
     Never fill the bottom of the pot with more pottery shards or packing “peanuts” or anything else because this lessens the amount of potting mix for roots to develop.  Why create a smaller pot and disadvantage the plant?
 
 Potting “Mix” or Potting “Soil”?
     For containers, soilless potting “mix” is what you want to use.  Potting “soil” has actual “dirt” in it, which makes it too dense for containers since it won’t drain properly and roots will literally drown.
     But “mix” and “soil” as marketing terms on packages continue to be confusingly interchangeable, so read the package's description and experiment with several until you find the ones your plants seem to prefer, especially with your particular irrigating habits.  
     I used to like SuperSoil, but over the last several years, the texture has changed to be too similar to shredded bark more suitable as mulch.
     Three brands I prefer now are E.B. Stone Organics, Dr. Earth, and LGM All Purpose Potting Soil.
 
Transplanting Into Containers

• Place several inches of potting mix on top of the screening and pot chard covering the drainage hole.
• Water the plant in its container to make sure that the rootball is fully hydrated.
• Holding the plant upside down and supporting the stem at the soil level with one hand, knock the plant out of the pot.
• Holding the plant upright suspended in the container, massage the rootball with both hands to release most of the plant’s original potting mix into the container until you see many of the roots on the rootball. 
• With one hand holding the plant, use the other hand to mix the plant’s original potting mix with the new potting mix, and begin to spread the combination up the sides of the container. 
• Holding the plant so the soil surface where the stem emerges about an inch below the top rim of the pot, fill in handfuls of the new potting mix around the rootball.
• With individual fingertips, press the potting mix down, still holding the plant the inch below the top rim.
• Continue adding new potting mix until the plant is fully supported and the potting mix combination is somewhat compressed by your fingertips.
• Water the container 3 times immediately, filling to the top rim of the pot.  The first time, the water will drain quickly as it fills all the air pores between the potting mix particles.  The second time will drain more slowly.  The third time will make sure that all of the potting mix is moist and the roots are in good connection to the potting soil particles.
• Place the newly-planted-and-watered container into a filtered-bright-light area – with no direct sun – for at least a week and preferably 2 weeks during this hot weather.  
• Water once including the foliage every third day in the morning so that the foliage dries by sunset.
• After a couple of weeks -- once the plant’s foliage is completely perked up and obviously growing nicely – you can be assured that the plant is established well enough to move to its final location.

For August tasks, see August.
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