Seed storage

[Land of Lincoln]

I got into this garden craze about 6-7 years ago, around the same time I brought chickens into my life. The gardening bug has bit me and I thought that maybe this was just a phase I was going through at the time as I was getting older. However, that bugs bite has lasted a long time and it gets all kinds of thoughts racing thru my melon. I’m not sure there’s a cure but that’s ok because i really enjoy it.

Wish I’d have found this passion a few decades ago because I probably would’ve chosen a different career path. However, I digress.

On with my point…

I grow pretty much nothing but heirloom vegetables and collect the seeds from the varieties I enjoy and want to continue growing. With that said, after a few years, I’ve accumulated quite a few seeds of different varieties. Guess you could call me a seed hoarder. I’ve been called much worse so I’m cool with that.

I’m wanting to get organized and get them sorted by variety but I don’t really want to spend anything on it. Zip locks, shoe boxes or whatever, I’m open to pretty much anything as long as it doesn’t involve getting something new or going and buying something off Amazon.

Any ideas floating around out there? Please let me know, thanks.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I guess a lot will depend on what you have lying around. My husband is re-doing his workshop so I re-purposed one of his old screw organizers for my seeds. This isn’t the one I use, but it’s along these lines. Before that I used zip lock bags that I put into larger paper envelopes. For example, I put each different tomato variety into its own zip lock bag and then I put all of those bags in an envelope with “tomatoes” written on the front. Then I had the envelopes filed alphabetically in an old Amazon box I had.

 

[TooCheep]

Not sure this fits your criteria as almost any solution involves some amount of money- you can't make zip-locks at home, though you can reuse them.

Here are some thoughts. They at least will be inexpensive:

• The general rule for seed storage is keep them dry, dark and cool. Sealing from oxygen exposure can help them last even longer, but is more involved.
• I have a bunch of paper seed packs (similar to commercial seed packs), put them in a box and keep them in the refrigerator.
• Here is an example of the seed packs that I use (not endorsing them, just an illustration): https://www.ebay.com/itm/196621505345
• If you want to store larger amounts, then zip-locks can work well. Just keep them in the dark and press out as much air as possible when sealing them.

Seeds decline in germination rates over time. Some are only good for 1-2 years, some last 4+ years when properly stored. Here is a table of vegetable seed storage times that I've collected from a couple of web sites.

Plant Type​	Years 50% Viable​	Instructions​
*** All *** *** Veg ***​	---​	Be careful of cross-fertilization. Hybrids don’t breed true. Select quality, mature vegetable from the second half of the season. Store cool to keep longer.​
Arugala​	4​	Mature when seed heads are light brown and brittle. Cut off stalk and allow to dry thoroughly until seeds are too hard to dent with fingernail. Rub stalks to remove seed pods. Break open and winnow chaff.​
Basil​	5​	​
Beans​	3​	Pull when the pods are dry/brittle and seeds are hard. Break open pods and winnow chaff.​
Brassica​	4​	Harder to collect due to very specific winter chill conditions. If attempted, plants will need to be brought into garage.​
Broccoli​	4​	​
Cabbage​	3​	​
Carrot​	3​	Harder to collect due to very specific winter chill conditions. If attempted, plants will need to be brought into garage.​
Cauliflower​	4​	​
Celery​	4​	Mature when seed heads turn brown. Cut off head, shake into container and winnow chaff.​
Cucumber​	5​	Leave on vine until it turns yellow. Scoop seeds and ferment in water for 5 days. Keep sinkers and discard rest. Dry thoroughly.​
Dill​	3​	Mature when seed heads turn brown. Cut off head, shake into container and winnow chaff.​
Fennel​	4​	​
Kale​	5​	​
Lettuce​	5​	Allow to bolt and for flower heads to become fluffy and dry. Cut off flower stalk and shake in a bag to collect seeds. Winnow chaff.​
Onion​	1​	Biennial. Goes to seed in second year. Mature when seed heads turn brown. Cut off head, shake into container and winnow chaff. Dry for a few days before storage.​
Oregano​	1?​	​
Parsley​	2​	​
Pea​	3​	​
Peppers​	3​	Seeds mature when fruit softens (~2 weeks soft). Cut out seeds and dry thoroughly.​
Spinach​	3​	Seeds turn tannish-brown when mature. Cut off branch and dry for 10 days. Strip seed clusters from branch and break open. Winnow chaff.​
Squash​	4​	4 species of squash, each with multiple varieties. Species do not cross-pollinate. Mature when fruit changes color and stem dries. Bring indoors for 20 days before collecting. Scoop seeds and ferment in water for 4 days. Keep sinkers and discard rest. Dry thoroughly.​
Tomatoes​	4​	Scoop seeds and ferment in water for 5 days. Keep sinkers and discard rest. Dry thoroughly.​

Notes on hybrids- accidental or intentional:
Hybrids are a cross-breeding of two varieties of the same plant. The seeds can look normal, but will not breed true to the plant you got them from. So, if you have two heirloom tomato plants next to each other, you don't know if you will get pure A seeds, pure B seeds or A/B hybrid seeds. The vegetable will look like the physical parent plant.

How do you prevent unwanted hybrids for seed-saving? The general rule is to bag 2+ flowers before they open, use a q-tip to manually fertilize the flowers when they do open, then re-cover them until the small vegetable is visible. Then uncover them, mark them (with a ribbon?) and use those vegetables only for seed-saving. Some plants have male and female flowers, so take that into account when selecting flowers for manual fertilization.

 

[Land of Lincoln]

How do you prevent unwanted hybrids for seed-saving?

Well, apparently I don’t because I don’t go through that extreme to save seeds from whatever vegetable I want to save seeds from. I usually plant several varieties of the same vegetable fairly close to one another so they more than likely have cross pollinated, I just haven't been able to tell the difference visually or with the palate just yet. I’ve pollinated a few tomatoes by hand but I’ve never bagged them afterwards until the fruit has formed.

I have a lot of the smaller manilla type envelopes that I can put the seeds in then put them into a box or something and categorize them. Each box could have several varieties of the same type of seed in it.

What I’ve got now is just a mess and I’ve got seed packets haphazardly strewn about.

Thanks for the suggestions and the seed viability chart, that should help quite a bit.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

I’ve used old pill bottles but the mini envelopes for coins and such take a lot less space.

Tangent, but put the year of harvest on the label with the name. It’ll help you keep track of how old they are.

 

[saysfaa]

I made envelopes from paper and glue for keeping seeds. There are patterns online. I chose the kind shaped like coin envelopes then manipulated the size and proportions in word then copy pasted to fill a page.

It was a little time consuming but pleasant as something to keep my hands busy while watching a movie.

I ended up with all my seeds fitting in one small box instead of the two big boxes they took up when in the packets they came in. Even though I wasted space by putting the envelopes of like types of seeds together in canning jars.

I put bigger seeds, like peas, in the jars without envelopes.

My sister folds paper around the seeds and holds it closed with a paperclip or freezer tape. That is much faster, very much more reusable, and nearly as secure.

 

[Sally PB]

Tangent, but put the year of harvest on the label with the name. It’ll help you keep track of how old they are.

I write something like this: Hungarian Heart Tomato, grown 2024.

I made envelopes from paper and glue for keeping seeds

My sister folds paper around the seeds and holds it closed with a paperclip or freezer tape.

A friend of mine uses the cone style of coffee filter. Writes the info on it, puts the seeds inside, folds the filter around the seeds, and tapes it closed.

I've started doing that for small/flat seeds. Things like beans and peas need a bigger envelope. For those, I use regular mail envelopes.

I put similar things together in gallon sized ziploc bags and write an identifier like "Greens" or "Tomatoes" on the outside. The bags are in a plastic tote in the basement.

As a side note: I found some 10? 12? year old alfalfa seed that I tossed over a ditch, and it grew very well. I was surprised.

 

[TooCheep]

As a side note: I found some 10? 12? year old alfalfa seed that I tossed over a ditch, and it grew very well. I was surprised.

Not surprised. Seed decline in viability over time, so I'm sure a good percentage wouldn't sprout, but enough would to keep the line going. This allows even annual plants to continue when there are bad years- drought, etc.

Seed trivia: In temperate environments, every square foot of soil contains thousands of seeds. They are just waiting for the right conditions to sprout. Some need compacted soil, some loose soil, some need fire (prairie or forest fires), many need to go through a winter cycle before they can sprout, etc.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

some need fire (prairie or forest fires)

We do contained burns in our town every year. The fire department burns the public lands and then if you want a contained burn on your property you call the fire department to schedule it so they can help you keep containment. This not only prevents wildfires because there isn’t huge piles of underbrush laying around, but it fertilizes the soil and helps with re-growth. Usually it’s done every spring and by summer you can tell who had their fields burned and who didn’t because the fields that were burned have the most beautiful lush green grass growing. The burned public lands have lots of new saplings shoot up it’s almost crazy to watch the growth difference vs. where it wasn’t burned. We started burning our gardens and what a difference does it make. It even helps with weeds!

 

[fuzzi]

A friend of mine uses the cone style of coffee filter. Writes the info on it, puts the seeds inside, folds the filter around the seeds, and tapes it closed.

Oh, I like that idea!