Hi Brothers.I am approaching a SAFE method to store seeds on my own.
This Is important since I m going to start Landraces seedrun and want to store seeds for years.
First off, how do you properly harvest and dry seeds?(I did once and got very bad germ rates)
Secondly:
I can’t use the fridge.
My House has very big and drastic swings during the seasons,Summer Is very hot and humid,and I found out many seeds I stored in a drawer(for a year) had bad germination rates.
Now,temps in my house are around 18 during Winter and higher than 23 during Summer with Rh around 60 to 70%
I thought of using vacuum and Vials with gasket.
I was thinking of getting a Little wine freezer to help cure buds and keep some Pollen there too.
Any help ?
Well i recomend keep it in the vials, with a little cotton in the mouth and some silica gel beads to prevent humidity.
If you are not going to store it in the fridge, then look for a polysterene box, or a " beach fridge" to try to maintain the temperature the most stable possible
So you mean a container that insulates from temp swings and put an hygrometer inside this beach bag with all the vials ?
With silica I am scared to overdry the seeds @Piter
The silica has a minimum amount of humidity that they don’t go more down. I use eppendorfs of 0,5ml for around 10-15 seeds, put a small piece of cotton and a pair of silica gel beads, and close. The only difference is that I store in a sealed container in the fridge,with more silica in the container to keep moist under control after when I open the container to take/put seeds.
I know this topic has already been covered a few times but I just wanted to get a second opinion on seed storage. I have a pretty good seed collection going and have been keeping them at room temp the last couple years but I’ve been reading on here that keeping them in the fridge might be a better option. I have my seeds in their original packaging inside a vac sealed bag with silica packs but I won’t be able to pop them for at least few years so I’m just wondering if the fridge would be the best option for my situation
I would think fridge would be better. I do store my pollen the same way, in a fridge and freezer. If it’s good enough for pollen it’s great for seeds imo.
I’d only freeze seeds for long term storage. Once you freeze them you have to start them once they thaw. No in and out of the freezer. I keep mine in the crisper drawer of the frig
I just mention the freezer because I lost a lot of seed putting them in and out of the freezer. I did not realize that once they thaw, I had to plant or loss them
I keep mine in a dedicated fridge for them., they stay well in the refrigerator. It’s my proven way of keeping seeds good for long term. A user is doing a repro on seeds plucked in the late 70s. So far coming along good!.
@DougDawson Thank you so much! I really appreciate your feedback, I’ll definitely keep them in the fridge from now on. I’ll be moving to Oregon next year and will probably put them in a cooler for the drive out there
White rice in the jars is a great way to keep humidity low. You can use a cut up coffee filter to wrap the rice up in so the rice doesnt get everywhere you on pull seeds out.
Anyone ever keep their seeds in something like this or have a better suggestion?
Not sure this is much better than the cooler they’re in but I feel like any cooling is better than none and this was worth taking a $25 flyer on even if it’s not an actual upgrade from my current setup.
Hey how’s it going man. I just got this yesterday. I used one before. It went out. On to the new. Never used a smaller one like yours, but if it gets cold your good man.
Awesome thanks, that’s honestly probably what I should have gotten size wise. I can already tell the one I got isn’t going to hold many more packs than what I already have.
I used one before. It went out. On to the new. Never used a smaller one like yours, but if it gets cold your good man.