Saving seeds

I haven’t checked my seeds yet but I wanted to briefly talk about how to save seeds.  Have you ever eaten a cantaloupe and wished you could grow more just like it?  Well, you can.  It isn’t very hard.  Tonight my wife ate a cantaloupe and enjoyed it so I decided to save the seeds.  Here is how you do it:

When you cut the melon in half the “meat” or center part of the melon will have seeds in it.  Scoop as many seeds as possible out of the melon and into a bowl.  It is ok to scoop the meat out with it. 

Once you have the insides in a bowl put some water in the bowl and try to rinse or pick out as many seeds from the meat.

Fill the bowl with more water to allow some seeds to float and the rest to sink.  The seeds that are floating are immature and won’t produce a plant.  Scoop the floating seeds out and drain the water. 

Place the remaining seeds in a paper towel and rub the seeds to remove some of the membrane that is remaining.  Put the seeds back in the bowl and fill with water again.  Stir the seeds with your finger to loosen up the seeds and allow any remaining immature seeds to float. 

Drain the water and dry the seeds again with a paper towel.  Place the dry seeds on a paper plate, paper towel, or pan and spread them out.

Put these seeds in a warm area that is out of the way.  Mine sit on top of my freezer in our laundry room.  After 3 or 4 days you can either plant your seeds or freeze them.  If you want to plant them get a seed starter kit or some seed starter “dirt” and plastic cups and plant 3 or 4 seeds per container.  Make sure there are small holes in the bottom of the cup to allow it to drain.

Good luck seeding your cantaloupe!  Email me if you have questions.