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Are saved seeds better than shop bought?
in Fruit & veg
Hi,
Last year I grew runner beans (Scarlett Emperor). I thought it would be fun to save some seed to grow again this year. So I left the pods to go brown and then Ive kept the seeds on my window for the past year. (ie: I forgot Id left them there!
)
Ive just compared the size of the seeds Id saved to the ones in the packet. The ones Ive saved are about twice the size!
1) Is this normal?
2) Should I plant the ones I saved; or is it safer to plant the ones out of the packet?
Thanks
Last year I grew runner beans (Scarlett Emperor). I thought it would be fun to save some seed to grow again this year. So I left the pods to go brown and then Ive kept the seeds on my window for the past year. (ie: I forgot Id left them there!

Ive just compared the size of the seeds Id saved to the ones in the packet. The ones Ive saved are about twice the size!
1) Is this normal?
2) Should I plant the ones I saved; or is it safer to plant the ones out of the packet?
Thanks
0
Posts
Some other crops/ seeds are more difficult though, the cucurbit family (courgette, pumpkin, squash etc) all cross pollinate very readily, so unless you take steps to avoid that saved seed may not come "true to type". The same goes for F1 hybrid plants their seed will revert to the two parent plant characteristics unless you are very lucky.