DavidLMO said:"Green" seeds are and can be problematical. My own experience has not been good generally. Best to let nature mature them. If you pick "too" green you are usually not successful in my experience. Here the problem is not moisture per se, but maturity or ripeness. ...
I agree, and should have stressed "if you HAVE to pick seeds before they are fully ripe ..."
I also believe, but can't support, the idea that even ripe seeds "benefit from" fairly gradual drying, and that letting them do as much ripening and drying "on the vine" as possible probably maximizes their eventual viability.
DavidLMO said:...
You say "My perspective is mostly on what to do with literally soggy seed heads". A question. Why not let nature dry them on the plant? Am I missing something?
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The first year I tried to save flower seeds, they weren't fully ripe when we got a few days of rain - and a few more - and a few more. That was when I learned there is no such strategy as "wait for a few dry sunny days in a row", past some particular date in early fall.
Now I know that if the seeds won't be ripe and falling by August or so, the weather might only give me a choice between unripe and soggy. I agree that "unripe" seldom becomes viable.
Maybe I can dry out ripe-but-soggy flowerheads and keep them from getting so moldy that you can see the mold. But since I still wouldn't let those seeds into my "stash" jars, I don't bother trying to save seeds that have been too wet too long.
My grandiose plan is to set up tall hoops and cover a bed with plastic to keep rain off something I was trying to breed or preserve - well, maybe after I retire.
