I have probably 90 seed pods, most look good, but I have a few that are turning brown when they are still small.
How long does it take them to ripen? I have several that are 7 weeks old.
Some scape's have are being weighed down by the number of pods on them.
They vary in color also some being a dark green, some a pale green/yellow is this normal?

The blurry photo of a seed pod looks like one that is going to abort. Sometimes just one chamber may die and not have any seeds while the other two(sometimes three chambers) might actually have viable seeds. The difference in color is normal, some are also super large while others are fairly small. I think most pods mature in 30 to 90 days, There are bound to be some some exceptions.
I just like to wait for them to start cracking open. But check them often, sometimes it seems to take forever and other times the pods just seem to burst open almost over night.

I am hoping that some of them will ripen before I leave July 22, I will be gone a month. I don't want all or most of my seeds just fallen to the ground. Any way to catch them while I am gone?

Some people tie taffeta bags like you see with wedding favors around the pods so the seeds fall in them.

I need to try something because squirrels love to eat my seed pods!

I did let seeds fall by accident last year. Got seedlings popping up right where it fell. I dug several up but only 2 survived. I didn't bother digging up the albino one.

My wife wants to go visit her sisters, and I really would love to see them as well, but I just keep thinking how things will be in the garden when I return. Some how we all have to work out ways to let the garden take care of itself while we are away. I love my garden but life can't be limited to just that. I think I will start a thread on that, hoping to get a lot of good suggestions.

bxncbx said:Some people tie taffeta bags like you see with wedding favors around the pods so the seeds fall in them.

I need to try something because squirrels love to eat my seed pods!

I did let seeds fall by accident last year. Got seedlings popping up right where it fell. I dug several up but only 2 survived. I didn't bother digging up the albino one.

Thanks for the idea, I will go to the dollar tree and grab about of hundred of them.

Seedfork said:My wife wants to go visit her sisters, and I really would love to see them as well, but I just keep thinking how things will be in the garden when I return. Some how we all have to work out ways to let the garden take care of itself while we are away. I love my garden but life can't be limited to just that. I think I will start a thread on that, hoping to get a lot of good suggestions.

Awesome idea, I am gonna get the little wedding bags mention, the reason I want to collect all the seeds, is to separate them, so I can plant half of them here, and half at my mom's.

I'd love to take credit but it was suggested by someone else on the forum a couple of years ago and people have tried it and said it works well! I'm not sure I'm going to try it. My neighbors think I'm crazy enough as it is!

I used those little taffeta drawstring bags on my pods last summer, and it worked so well! I highly recommend them.