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Re: I have a question

Windy wrote:
> 
> I was wondering if a seed is fertile if the flower is taken from the
> stem and then dried and the seeds removed. Are these seeds mature or do
> they have to ripen on the plant itself?
>  The reason I ask is because I have marigolds and zinnias which I would
> like to keep flowering. In order for this to happen I have to remove the
> spent flowers before they dry and go to seed.
>  However, once they are dried there are seeds. So are these seeds going
> to be fertile or not? It may be a dumb question, but I hope it has an
> answer anyway.
> Windy

Hi Windy.  Botanically, a seed is a matured ova which contains an embryo
resulting from the sexual union of haploid gametes. Fancy for boy and
girl genetics getting together.

There is more to it than that, however (ain't there always?!) 

Seeds develop their myriad complexities at very specific times in their
lives. For example, some genetic traits are expressed only in the
embryogenesis stage and disappear in the mature form. 

Seeds also contain storage tissues which accumulate protiens and various
hormones which are vital to seed's "recognizing" conditions are right to
germinate and sprout.  These need time to accumulate.

A seed coat is also necessary to protect the whole mechanism and keep
these hormones and inhibitors from being washed away until it time to
grow.

Seeds need to go through histo-differentiation (all those little cells
deciding what they want to be when they grow up), cell expansion,
maturation and drying.  

Then some also need a quiescent or dormant stage, and some require being
chilled or burned.

The point is the seeds of most flowering plants, like our little human
seeds, aren't finished for a long time after they become present, and
the "window" for development is fixed and must be reached or all is
lost.

Dead heading removes some hormones present in the spent flowers that
tell the plant its time to go to seed. It keeps making flowers, but
thats because it doesn't move on into a more mature phase of its
lifecycle.

And that's the SHORT answer!  

My recommendation:  Keep a couple of plants for seed stock and let them
mature naturally. Dead head the rest for their appearance.  Believe me,
Marigolds and Zinnias will give you more than enough seeds from just one
plant to reseed your beds next year and then some!

Good luck.  

Glen Seibert
California
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