Gosh, I didn't think my method of collecting impatiens seed was that unusual or exciting, but it certainly seems to be a lot less labor intensive. No pods to show you all with, so I sacrificed an Allium maximowiczii shoot. (Well, not really
sacrificed: it tasted very good.
)
1. Use three fingers like a the jaws of a pliers and position them around your prey (the ripe seed pod).
2. Quickly close your fingers around the pod. The pod will snap, but your fingers will prevent it from exploding.
3. Sever the pod from the branch/stem.
4. Put your captured pod inside a cup and release.
All seeds are retained. If the pod doesn't explode, than the seeds aren't ripe.
(Excuse the orange paint spray speckles on my thumb.)
