I'm using small zip-lock bags (see the attached image which shows bags on capsules of Viola dissecta chaerophylloides) which are placed over the ripening capsules. Because the bags are transparent, I cen see when the capsule opens and the seeds are ready.

How do the rest of you secure seeds before the capsule pops open and the seeds disperse?

Jim

All the best :o)
Thierry.

I go along with Rob & Thierry.

I use old herbal tea bags, cut open and with the herbal bits removed. The bags are like muslin or cheesecloth. They are quite small, but I find I can just about fit one over a seedpod and tie it around the stem with a piece of thread. That allows plenty of air through, and allows the pods to spread open - but obviously the mesh is too fine to let the seeds escape. It can be a little tricky to see into the bags to check if the seeds have been shed, true. When the seeds have been shed, I cut the stem off, then untie the bag over a dish so as not to lose any seeds.

I know a nurseryman who actually buys such teabags, unused, from the manufacturer for this purpose.

Take care :-)
Thierry.

Another point: I suggest you cut off the stems of the seed pods so they are as long as possible. That gives maximum chance of the pod 'not knowing' it has been severed from the plant (allowing it to finish ripening properly), and it reduces the chances of disease getting into the plant through the lower part of the stems as they die.

For reference, a piccy of how a violet seed pod turns up before shedding its seeds...
A change in colour, as also shown here, may also give an indication of ripening.

The photo also shows how you can tell a chasmo' seed pod from a cleisto' one - the presence of the full-sized style on the tip of the chasmo' one.