Storing Seeds

J.Chemz

J.Chemz

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I would love to hear everyone's favorite method to extend the life of their seeds. I keep mine in the fridge, but have been contemplating storing in the freezer. I have a large collection probably not as big as you guys....lol.

From what I have read the refrigerator will keep seeds for upwards of 7 years and freezer 10-12 years in a deep freezer indefinitely. Now my concern is will they still veg ok if stored in the deep freezer and or freezer? Is there a specific method to thawing the seeds so they don't turn to mush inside of the shell ?
 
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I would have thought that freezing would destroy seeds, as like you say, the thawing process, or even the way things get "freezer burn" over time would destroy them. I keep mine in the fridge, at a slightly cooler than normal temp.
 
once they are put in the fridge, do they need to be kept cold from then on out? like would anything happen if they were warmed up and cooled down a few times? I just began storing my beans in the fridge as well.
 
JenkemJoe said:
once they are put in the fridge, do they need to be kept cold from then on out? like would anything happen if they were warmed up and cooled down a few times? I just began storing my beans in the fridge as well.
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You want to keep them cold, because that will help the seeds last much longer. As long as the packs are sealed and theres no moisture, your seeds will hopefully last a really long time.
 
JenkemJoe said:
once they are put in the fridge, do they need to be kept cold from then on out? like would anything happen if they were warmed up and cooled down a few times? I just began storing my beans in the fridge as well.
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That is why the fridge is better than the freezer. You can get them out without it hurting them so bad. Getting things out to look for seeds is fine. It is best to keep them cold as much as possible.
 
Fridge for me. Rice everything up, seal decent. Works great. I have different types of containers in there, just make sure they seal off.
BigSur taught me about the freezer, you can definitely store then in there, for very long periods.
But once you take them out have to pop them.
Didnt give it a try yet but evntually will.
 
I worried for years something would spill in my fridge and leak into the crisper that was full of seeds. It never happened. The beer fridge solved most of those problems. I did have the door not close one day and the freezer part of the Beer Fridge defrosted and leaked into a tub that held seeds. I caught it in time to save everything.

When you consider how much money is involved in some of our seed collections. Proper storage is a small expense for insurance.
 
For real. I have the individually packed seeds in a big Tupperware container, inside the Tupperware i sprinkled rice.
Then again i have another open Tupperware full of rice sitting in the fride to catch excess moisture and keep a decent RH in that thing. I also check regulary. Matter of fact these days i have a small fridge just for the seeds.
Once i had a similar thing happen to me like you explained and i immediately took measures as the thought of losing precious stashious shocked me...
Never been sloppy since.
 
I have to agree with many of the members approach on the fridge method. Freezer works great with those Landrace genetics. These new hybrids seeds. genetically modified don't have the same shelf life. Just like those poor farmers that have to go to big pharma outlets every year to get their corn seeds. I can definitely see the Seed industry leaning towards growth inhibitors in many hybrids seeds, time will tell. I can see Big Pharma offering KB tens of millions! Patent those strains Bro.
 
This was a post I put on Bean Basement: I actually picked up on the Inkbird ITC-308 Wi-Fi through this forum. However, I was having some trouble dialing it in. I didn’t find the PDF manual to be very helpful ( for my understanding ). I use a mini fridge with no freezer section for storage. I found this article to be very helpful with understanding the Inkbird controller and its settings. I did however include the Inkbird PDF Manual for additional reference.

I set mine to 38 degrees with 1 degree variance in temp. Compressor to kick on every 10 minutes. 4 degree variance before it sets off an alarm. I use a food saver for all my seeds along with put them into Tupperwares.

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I bought seeds from top dawgs discord store - 5 packs of bodhis cobra lips that had been freezer stored. I popped them and got 10 for 11 - still have 4 packs. They are in the fridge with my normal stock. But I consider the freezer regularly...am just afraid....lol
 
I still haven't been able to invest in an upright freezer for the garage, but I just read that they will keep indefinitely if stored around the freezing mark, I tend to leave packs unopened unless I really want to crack them, but I do have a bunch of silica packs in the plastic containers. But it is getting ridiculous to the point that I am contemplating, cutting myself off from civilization....lol I don't have any more room.
 
Have been previously storing some seed in a match box at room temp for years -before i even considered the fridge- still got a decent germination ratio.
If the seed is good quality shelf life should usually not become an issue for at least 5yrs imho.
 
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