Wondering how to save basil seeds? It’s pretty easy to do, and after you save them once you’ll never forget how.
If you prefer a video over reading a blog post, here’s a link to my 34 second YouTube short showing exactly what I’m doing: Saving Basil Seeds – Easy Gardening Tutorial
Harvest the seeds when the flowers on the stems have turned brown and are a bit crispy.
I grow Genovese basil, a common, easy to grow species with good flavor. Each flower bunch can have around 10-15 seeds in it! So one stem of flowers can give you plenty of seeds.
This is a simple and easy method to save plenty of basil seeds quickly, so don’t overthink it! Nobody wants to spend hours meticulously saving each basil seed, and you will get plenty from just one or two stems.
Pick a long, dry flower stem and snip it off. One or two stems should be plenty, but if you feel the need to save enough seeds to supply a 3-acre basil farm, take as many stems as you’d like! And send me all the pesto afterwards.
For this video I’m using a small plant with a relatively short flower stem, since I’m doing this one-handed and it will be easier for me. If your stems are short (4-6″) maybe take two or three. If they are long, one is most likely enough to get 50-100 seeds. Either way, just make sure the flowers are dry and brown.
Grab a shallow container with a rim around the edge. A jar lid works really well here, or something similar.
Pinch the whole flower bud and give it a little roll in-between your fingers, like you are playing the worlds tiniest violin. The seeds will drop out, along with some chaff.
(Chaff is the extra parts of the dried flower/plant that you don’t need, you’ll get rid of that after pinching out enough seeds.)
Again, you don’t need to painstakingly extract each seed from the flowers. Work your way down by squinching the seeds that fall out easily and move on.
Once you’ve worked your way down the stem and have your seeds collected in the container, give the whole thing a tilt, so seeds & chaff collect down against the rim. The seeds will be underneath all the extra junk you don’t want.
Gently blow the chaff out, the seeds are heavier and will stay at the bottom while the dried bits of fluff get blown away. Pretend it’s your birthday wish and the chaff is the candle. (If your wish is for a bountiful basil seed harvest, it’s about to be granted.)
This might take a practice run or two, but it’s the quickest and easiest way I’ve found to get the seeds clean enough and ready to store.
Note: Your seeds will be happier if you have brushed your teeth recently.
That’s it! Don’t forget to label your basil seeds. The species and the year is most helpful long term.
Basil seeds can be good for 5 years.
Happy Gardening my friends! 🌱
