What is the best way to store seeds to keep them at peak freshness, what methods are better than others, how old is too old when germinating seed, and do I have a seed hoarding problem? All that and more on today’s episode.
VIDEO: Best Way to Store Seeds & How Old is TOO Old?
What is the best way to store seeds to keep them at peak freshness, what methods are better than others, how old is too old when germinating seed, and do I have a seed hoarding problem? All that and more on today’s episode.
Just want to say THANK FOR ALL THE WORK YOU PUT IN TO HELPING US "GROW BIG!"
Since you mentioned it, how about a Prepper centric video. Could be on storage, ease of growing, best protein and nutrients for the effort.
As a Prepper, this information is invaluable. I've just been buying seeds and storing them in mylar with a oxygen absorber. Great video. Mahalo for sharing.
I do the Mason jars in totes. Love it!
Would LOVE a seed tour video!
I've had seeds that were supposed to become unviable in 1 year, and, have sprouted some of them 5 years later. Not all sprout, but, some do, and, if 10 out of 100 sprout, that's enough. I wash them. Dry them. Put them in tiny homemade paper envelopes, then in plastic bags. Then, freeze them for a month. Remove them from the freezer, bring them to room temp, keeping them in the paper. Then, vaccuum seal them, and, put them in the basement. I grab them when I want to test them. We also have a lot of seeds that we burry 5 ft under ground. In the dirt, no container. They wont grow. They lay there dormant. Every 5 or 6 years, we dig them up, spread that soil out, and maintain it like a garden area. Many of them grow and produce. <— Not recommended as a plan, we are still experimenting with forced dormancy. But, we do have many that grow and produce. Nature has many things about her that we still don't understand when it comes to seeds and plants. Also, information that comes from suppliers is not exactly based on facts, or testing, as much as it is based on the desire to repeat sell more of the same products. Testing at your home is as easy as saving a few seeds, properly storing them with the year marked. Each year, plant a couple of them, or, sprout them between 2 layers of damp paper towel in a plastic bag. Wait 7 to 10 days and check them. We start checking them in 3 days. Proper storage and learning in your own environment is the key.
Somebody, I don 't recall who it was, observed that seeds don't read shelf-life viability or expectancy charts and sort of like bumblebees not knowing that aerodynamically speaking they are incapable of flight, fly anyway. So seeds just sprout.
Back in the 1980s I came across an article about some millet seed excavated from a tomb in China, estimated to have been about 5,000 years old. It had been sealed up in a clay pot. Of course, scientists had to try and they found they got only 5%-7% germination but I was impressed as all get-out. Five-thousand years old, it seemed to me that any germination was not only a win but very impressive.
Luke, we are kindred spirits—er, fellow seed junkies. It's almost a compulsion, and if I find something new and different, something I didn't know about before, or a different variety of something we already like, I've just got to buy it and try it. Outs is a small-ish urban garden and we certainly don't NEED twenty-something varieties of tomatoes, or a dozen varieties of cabbages or a dozen-and-a-half varieties of radishes, or however many (I ought to count them) of Asian greens, more bean varieties, bush, pole, dry, fresh, and runner, than we have room for even if we grew nothing else, and I could talk a long time about all the seeds in my collection.
Ooh: I see you've done the Seed Haul Collection Tour, I'm going to watch that, now.
But don't kid yourself: Neither you nor I nor any of our seed-collecting brethren need any intervention: one of my relatives took a BSSW degree and is a licensed Social Worker (and sees some rather grim stuff in Domestic cases) and when I confessed to my inability to resist buying garden seeds, told me: "If you're going to have an addiction or a compulsion, yours isn't the worst."
Love all these storage ideas. I’ve wondered…Does it make sense to vacuum seal the seeds?
Love to see your video… you can re design your keep boxes!
Seed stash!
I keep mine in the freezer…. in a mason jar, last year when cleaning out the freezer, I found I had 22 year old tomatoes and squash seeds mixed in the group that I tried, they germinated and grew a bumper crop! The year before I grew green bean and watermelon seeds from 1983 that my grandma had given me. They had been in a letter I put in a tin box in my closet , she had them wrapped in a tissue and wax paper, then that was wrapped in a piece of paper (like a garbage paper sack) they grew fine. I did put an extra seed in each hole but I think it had a better germination rate than the seed I buy fresh . BTW Luke, I have red seeded watermelon .. they are seeds I have collected each year ….that her (My grandmas) father brought over here when he immigrated in the late 1700s to early 1800s… he had gotten them while traveling with the military so we aren't sure if they hail from the Amsterdam area (where he lived) or Persia (where he spent some time where he toured in the military)? They grow a pink watermelon flesh with red seed and are super sweet. If you are interested in some let me know and I will send some to you!
Love those totes. I use them for Kratky hydroponic containers for my lettuce and herbs. They go great in a south window with little added lighting. Be sure to paint or cover the clear bottom to avoid algae.
I prep some … but you have to be an active grower …this way your seeds stay fresh and free . 🙂
Can help with the seed haul????
Seed haul!!!
Luke, thank you for everything. Should we be mindful of how often we take our seeds out of the fridge? House temp is 67-70 degrees currently.
I store mine in the freezer in those photo or craft storage containers that have all the individual cases. I like the ones with different colors. It helps keep them well organized. I am still growing ten year old onion seed with good germination!
Show the seed haul…yay!!!
Someone saw that I was keeping my seeds in sandwich baggies. She said paper envelopes would be better cuz they need some air circulation. Perhaps she is right, but only if there was ANY dampness in/on the seeds when you put them in your sandwich bag?? What do you think about a need for air circulation?
I want your seed tour! I am starting to get very bad – packages here and there as I was reading about and sat it down to do something else and forgot!
YES! Full seed haul tour!
Cool!! I never throw seeds away either. Experimenting now with some really old ones!! Great video.
I made a seed storing video too. My seeds last decades!
One problem: if you store in a fridge, be sure not to seal them if they are cold because they grab moisture from your warmer house, turn you seal them.
I've planted seeds that were over six years old that I had misplaced during a move. And these were seeds that were not kept cool or dry for at least part of the time. Most everything germinated very well, especially lettuce seeds and flower seeds. The things that had horrible germination were summer squash and melons. So I try to plan for newer seeds for squash and melons.
I had my seeds in several plastic boxes like those but my kids kept knocking them over whenever I had them open to look through them and they take up a lot of space. So I ended up getting diamond painting drill storage containers. Basically they look like tic-tac boxes inside a larger plastic box. I like it because I can see how many seeds I have through the clear plastic. And I keep the envelopes separately so I can look through the info and plan without taking my seeds from the back of the fridge where they are stored. The only issue is that the containers don't fit large squash seeds or huge quantities of larger seeds like beans, peas, and sunflowers but I keep those in old plastic butter containers since I save and plant those in large quantities.
Two years ago, I started buying seeds from Target, Home Depot & Walmart. Some say Non-GMO but lots of them don't. Have yet to plant any of them although I plan to this month. Are these good sources to buy seeds? Walmart seeds were very cheap which made me wonder if they were inferior. Is heirloom the only good seeds? Anybody?
2 apple boxes full…. that's after the seed swap
You can use note cards or pieces of cardboard A-Z fyi