> Our VFTs have flowered in our back yard and we would like to harvest
> the seed. The seed pods are black and have not split. Does one wait or can
> the pods be picked and mechanically opened at a later date?
I'm afraid that neither I (nor probably anyone else) goes to the
trouble of picking pods at all sorts of different times just to
answer questions like this. So long as the pods and the stems just
below them are black and dead, then you can't go far wrong collecting
them. If there is any chance that they are still growing, then common
sense suggests that it is still too soon. The covering on the ripe
pods is nothing more than a thin papery skin, so it's not like you
have to crack them open or anything.
If there are a good number of seeds in the pod, then you may see them
split (the seeds don't seem to fall out very readily, so it isn't a
problem losing them). If there are only a few in there, then you will
probably just collect the debris and have to look for the shiny black
seeds among it.
-- Clarke Brunt (clarke@brunt.demon.co.uk)