Dan L. wrote:
In article
,
Billy Rose wrote:

In article ,
Ann wrote:

FragileWarrior expounded:

Or can the seed pod/flower head be cut off and hung to dry after it is
formed? I'm thinking of things like Bread-seed Poppy, Balsam, Echinacea,
Sunflower, etc. I can't think straight anymore but I'd like to gather
some
seeds from my garden before I move.

Depends on the plant. Definitely don't hang those bread-seed poppies,
all the seeds will fall out! G If the seeds are far enough along
then yes, I'd try gathering them and drying them - try small paper
bags and elastics, put them in head first, that way you'll lose fewer
seeds.

Back to the question whether seeds have to ripen on the plant -- what
about pokeweed -- if the seeds are still green and not full-sized yet?
Deadly nightshade -- if the seeds are still green or just starting to
turn red? Clover? A patch of land that adjoins my yard has gone
untended for over a year now, and I've been wading in there to pull the
plants that are making seeds (getting scratched up by rampant
raspberries in the process). I'd like to put them in the compost (we're
talking a lot of biomass), but I'm already being overrun by those weeds
in my own yard because of last summer's neglect, and I don't want more.
My compost often gets warm, but seldom warm enough reliably enough or
for long enough to sterilize the seeds.

TIA

helco