What do the seeds of the Madagascar periwinkle look like, and how are they harvested?

The Madagascar periwinkle is a relatively easy flowering plant to grow. Because it belongs to the herbaceous family, it produces seeds when it blooms. Moreover, as long as conditions are suitable, in early spring you can simply scatter the mature seeds onto the potting soil in a flowerpot, cover them with a little soil, and water them lightly and they will sprout. Once the seedlings grow to about 2-3 cm in height, we can transplant them.

But to sow them, we first need to harvest mature Madagascar periwinkle seeds. However, many people only see the beauty of the Madagascar periwinkle when it blooms, yet do not know what its seeds look like. What do Madagascar periwinkle seeds look like? In fact, the seeds of the Madagascar periwinkle are hidden inside seed pods, and the pods look like bean pods, only much smaller than bean pods, like miniature bean pods. When you split the pod open, the dark, rice-grain-sized things inside are the mature Madagascar periwinkle seeds. As shown in the image below:

It is worth noting that Madagascar periwinkle seeds are obtained from the seed pods, and when the color of the pod changes from green to black, it means the Madagascar periwinkle seeds inside the pod have matured and can be harvested in good time. So how do you harvest Madagascar periwinkle seeds?

To harvest Madagascar periwinkle seeds, we first need to cut off the seed pods, and only then can we obtain the seeds. The pods are best harvested after all the flower buds of the Madagascar periwinkle have finished blooming, harvested when the flowers fade; at this time the seeds inside the pods are fully mature, and the survival rate when sowing the following year is also higher.

First we need to prepare sharp scissors, then use the scissors to gently but cleanly cut off the mature black seed pods, and then pile them together. But with harvested pods it is very difficult to peel off the outer shell. Instead, the harvested pods need to be placed in the sunlight to dry until the seeds are completely dried out, only then can they be easily peeled out of the pods.

Finally, after drying the clean seeds that have been peeled out a little more, they can be stored. When the right season comes, we then take these seeds out to sow in order to propagate young plants.