Very small seeds! What do I do? (A chaff question.)
I've tried very hard to separate the chaff from my seeds but it's impossible as the seeds are practically the size of dust. What do I do?
Stop frustrating yourself!
A good example of dust-sized seeds are Butterfly Bush seeds (Buddleia sp.)
I trade or share Butterfly Bush seeds with the chaff included. If you're a seed trader then mention in your initial offerings that the seeds are mixed with the chaff and that the grower should surface sow the entire packet contents and pat it all into the soil. That's exactly how I start mine from seed....easy to do and it works just fine.
If you mention up front in your trades what you're trading then no one can be "fussy" about the trade later on. You're not a mechanical machine...that's what commercial growers have to use to separate out dust-sized seeds. Saving seeds is supposed to be a calming and peaceful hobby, allowing yourself to get frustrated isn't good for your mental health....don't stress yourself out over this; it is much easier to mention that the seeds are too small to be separated than deal with the stress from thinking that someone will disapprove of your trade. THEY also can't separate out dust-sized seeds.
Very tiny seeds are a major hassle to separate from chaff, and honestly, they don't need to be.
Mother Nature successfully sows her seeds with chaff. We can too!
Winnowing Grain in Pakistan
FAO PhotoFile
Photo from Doukhobor.Org.
Click on
photos
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Photo by Edward S. Curtis
Winnowing Grain by Ansel Adams
Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, 1928
Tip suggests these links for further study.
Wiktionary.Org
Basic Seed Saving
International Seed Saving Institute
SeedSave.Org
Revegetation Equipment Catalogue
Rangelanfd Equipment Technology Council
Texas A&M University
