How long seeds store

Honestly, I was totally surprised by the viability of these seeds. Oh, let me just say this was 20 plus packs of a whole different variety of seeds and from various seed suppliers. I was simply overjoyed to discover this especially since I live on a very low income. I have successfully kept marigold, zinnia, sunflower and nasturtium seed for at least two years. This spring willl be my third year with them and I'm confident I'll get decent germination.

I buy these seeds in bulk - in one pound bags, so I'm happy that they keep for a few years. One flower is gone I took a large thing out from the inside is this the seed. Once the canna lily finishes flowering, it will produce a few seedpods that look similar to those of a chestnut tree or a burdock. Once these seedpods turn brown and dry, they are mature, and can be split open to reveal the true seed of the canna lily.

The true seeds are fairly large about the size of a pea and are pure black in color. Some of my leftover seeds, or seeds that I garnered from a previous crop, may germinate but seem to develop deformed plants or fruit.

This is usually beans, corn, or peppers. Could this be due to them being hybrids? If the seeds you saved are from hybrids they rarely will produce a plant that is like the parent.

You could get something wonderful but usually it is a mutant throwback to a distant relative. To have any success with saving seeds look for plants that are heirlooms or open-pollenated. They will produce a plant that is the same as the parent. That said you do have to be careful of plants within the same species cross-pollenating - squash with gourds or one variety of tomato with another - those crosses sometimes result in a surprise! Your old seeds should not grow a deformed plant unless they have been damaged.

I have a rosemary plant that was blooming in a big pot until the cold weather, it's now in my garage, still looking and smelling like rosemary. How do I save it? Bring it indoors? Break up into smaller plants? Please advise. You must be psychic! I was planning on writing about wintering over rosemary next week! Here is my advice in a nutshell. Rosemary likes it cool and bright.

If your garage does not fall below freezing and has a south window that gets lots of sun, you could leave it out there. Just be sure to water it when the soil feels dry. The relative humidity of the air affects the moisture level in the seeds.

Ideal moisture levels for storage range between 8 and 12 percent and levels between 12 and 25 can lead to degradation of seeds, growth of fungi, etc.

Storage tips Knowing that we need low temperatures and low relative humidity to extend seed life gives us some clues on how to store seeds to get the longest shelf life. For the needed temperature levels, your standard home refrigerator is acceptable. However, humidity in a refrigerator is very variable. Humidity can skyrocket when doors are open, as condensation settles from warm room air settling on surfaces accumulates. Auto defrost cycles can also alter humidity.

Store them in a plastic bag with the desiccant, and for added protection I always put mine in a sturdy container like a plastic box or even a canning jar. Storing seeds in a freezer may help with the humidity issue, as any moisture that enters is frozen. Smith, R. Seed Science Research 2, His specialties are fruit and vegetable production, small space intensive production, plant propagation, and general plant science botany, physiology, genetics.

View all posts by John Porter. John, I have been searching for an answer that you may have addressed in this article. The seeds of certain native woody species are said to stay viable for decades… Even 50 years or more. Some stay dormant for particular conditions, such as a fire. How is the length of seed viability determined? As I mentioned, the Michigan State research is still ongoing after years..

These days there is more study done on genetics — which can help provide some details of potential for long term storage and how plants act under certain treatments. I like your blog very much. Thanks so much for taking the time to share. Do you think coffee cans work for storing seeds? My basement is old, damp and drystack stone, I am not sure if this would be a good location and there is not enough room in the fridge.

I have a lot of seeds? My concern with the coffee cans is about the moisture getting through. As long as you use a good number of those silica gel packets in the cans to absorb the moisture, they should be okay.

Perhaps try it with a few seed packets before betting your whole collection on it! Thanks for sharing! So informative! As a new gardener, I thought simply laying the seed packets out are totally fine! Oh, my!

That would have been quite a disappointment. The Seed Collection advises to not store in the freezer for vegetable seed will likely be killed.

All seed banks freeze their seeds for long term storage, so even though many vegetable crops are sensitive to frosts, their seeds are not. You can use both if you like for longer-term storage. If the container is airtight, the oxygen removers will likely not contribute much for annual storage. Thanks for the info. I am retiring after 27 years of Army service and plan on going all in on our produce farm.

I want to buy seeds now for planting in spring; was concerned about how to save them until then. This was a big help. Can you store seed packets in a air tight container with rice all around them to keep moisture from building up instead of silica packets? Im curious about saving seeds in purchased envelopes or home made ones. Is there a safe seed packet you can recommend? This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.