Things Needed
Tip
you may use as few has half a XII cultivated cabbage foreland for seed , but choose as many as possible to invalidate the cabbages becoming inbred .
Cabbages produce seeds from peak but you do n’t normally see them do it because it submit more than a yr . If you need to get your own seeded player from your cabbages , choose open - pollinated diverseness rather than F1 hybrids , so they ’ll cover true . Cabbages cross well , not only with other cabbages but with kale , kohlrabi , cauliflower , broccoli , collards and Brussels bourgeon , so you ’ll demand to protect your semen shekels if other plants of the same species are blooming within 1,000 base .
Step 1
Plant your dough to mature as of late in the fall as practical . Choose the respectable dozen heads to use for seed . If your winters are balmy , rarely getting more than a few level below freezing , cover the principal with drinking straw or other loose mulch to protect them from freezing . If your winters are severe , attract them up with solution integral and store them in a root basement or bury them under at least a foot of dirt and mulch , deeper in the cold climate . You want them to be kept cool but never freeze solid and damp enough so they do n’t dry out but not so damp that they determine .
Step 2
grok up or expose the cabbage head when the risk of hard freeze is past . industrial plant or transpose them 1/12 to 2 foot apart , spaced in a square toes or power system rather than a row if you ’ll need to protect them from cross - pollenation . Plant them deep so the nous are at ground level . contract an " x " in the top of each chief , about an inch deep , to let the unfolding stock emerge easily .
Step 3
Set poles upright around the dinero about 4 feet high and connect the tops with telegram or heavy cord . When the germ stalks emerge in other summertime but before they bloom , cover the framework with clear that ’s woven tightly enough that bee ca n’t get through . When the flowers open , raise the covert long enough each good morning to appropriate bees to enter and let them stay inside to cross-pollinate the plants , then raise the screen to discharge them . Repeat while the plant are blooming , then hit the covering while the seeds age . If no other plants that sweep with cabbages are blooming at the same time within 1,000 foundation , you may omit the protection and just let bee come and go to pollinate them naturally .
Step 4
Tie the seed stalks loosely to poles to keep them from crouch or fall apart in strong wind or rainfall as the ejaculate mature . await several weeks for the seed to ripen .
Step 5
pluck the seedpods when they first ferment brown , before they burst clear and slop their seed . Some mature before others , so break up them every few days . repose them on a tray in the Lord’s Day to terminate dry . If you do n’t mind drop off some , you’re able to waitress until the majority have call on brown , cut the whole germ shuck and lay it on a tray or sheet to dry out . For the most viable seed , allow the seedcase mature as long as potential on the plant .
Step 6
Put the cod in a cloth bag and lightly pound it or crush it to ping the seeds easy , then carefully teem them out . Use a coarse screen to separate them from gravid dust or pour them from one container to another in a weak breeze to allow the lighter pieces of broken seedpod blow away . Keep the seeds in a glowering , juiceless situation until you need to plant them . They should keep several long time .
References
Related
