Best Ways to Save Seeds?

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Permalink Reply by Ken Ferguson z7B NC on July 23, 2009 at 4:25pm

If anyone is interested, I will post on this board the seed packs that Ilse talked about.

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Permalink Reply by liz joseph on August 5, 2009 at 2:26am

i saved just about every seed i could find last year in plastic bag. i wrote the name of them with a Sharpie on the outside, and put a paper towel, or two, inside with them. The paper towel absorbed the moisture. The seeds grew like crazy. Now, I'm not sure if I'd have been more successful had I stored them in envelopes... But, if you look at the pics on my page, you'll see how well the seeds grew!!!!! Good luck!!!!

P.S. I DID try using brown lunch bags and envelopes.... Small seeds like to fall through the cracks. If you decide to use either, I'd put them somewhere where they won't move around much, or double or even triple the bags, one inside the other. Just IMO. ;)

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Permalink Reply by Patricia Schaeffer-Jobe on October 29, 2009 at 9:57pm

Thank you for this site. I especially love the Ancient White British Cattle, they are amazing. Patricia

Lora Fleming said:

Go to http://www.seedsavers.org/ ... THE authority on saving seeds! I learned how to ferment tomato seeds from them and my germination rate went up dramatically! Basically, you take the seeds and pulp from VERY ripe tomatoes, put it in a jar, cover it with water and let it fester for a few days ... pour off the liquid, refill with clean water and wash the seeds. Then dry them on paper toweling. Very easy and should be done with tomato seeds. Any seeds you want to save should be from the best specimen from the garden and it should be overly ripe. Go to their site, you'll be there for hours poking around! Oh, and they are the only place I order from now ... both plants and seeds. Extremely fast service, big healthy plants and they are a non-profit organization of gardeners dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds. Check them out! And no ... I do not work for them nor am I affiliated in any way with them ... : ) Just an extremely satisfied customer!

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Permalink Reply by Patricia Schaeffer-Jobe on October 29, 2009 at 10:28pm

Hi! I have a friend in NC who puts her seeds in clean prescription plastic containers, and then places them in her freezer. She has given me quite a few seeds, however, because they have been frozen, they need to be aired out, and left to dry before planting. If left in the containers, they become wet when thawing, and then mold, which of course is not good for the seeds. I believe the reasoning behind freezing them, is that it keeps the seeds in a state of hybernation, or statis, which increases their possiblity to germinate. Personally, I have not had any luck doing what she does, and I implore legal sized envelopes, and just keep the seeds dry and cool. I also do do the wet paper towel moist wrap, to initiate germination, and like to put a little slit in the casing with an Exato knife. Now, my grandmother used to, and we still do, keep nuts like almonds, walnuts, pecans in an air tight jar, which we put in the ice box, but these are the fruits from the nut of the tree, and by removing the nuts, germination cannot take place, because the nut has been split for pecans and walnuts, and I have never seen an almond germinate without the hull. I just thought that I would throw this in. Patricia

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Permalink Reply by Ken Ferguson z7B NC on October 31, 2009 at 11:07am

I am going to go a little to the right of the convention wisdom that many of you have commented on regarding the packaging of seeds.
The only way I store seed for long time use is in PLASTIC ZIPLOCK bags.
I have seed that is over a decade old that still has a fairly good germination rate.
My conclusion is that it is not the makeup of the container that is a problem, but rather how the seed is prepared for storage, and the storage method that may be the problem.
All of my seed is harvested off the stem, just before it naturally drops. I bring them indoors into a relatively stable temperature and humidity environment. I let the seed dry for at least a month before packaging for long term storage.
When I do pack them in plastic bags, they go into the refrigerator… above freezing, but cold enough to stunt any fungus or bacterial growth.
Works for me.
Some of the seeds I have offered for swapping were preserved this way, and they seem to sprout year, after year, after year.

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Permalink Reply by Jon S. z7 tx on December 27, 2009 at 10:40pm

paper bags and sun drying I put mine on a cookie sheet in the sun to dry them then store in paper lunch bags easy to mark and use then store them in a bigger container of choice the bag absorbs any moisture to stop mold. reviving seed's soak in a hydrogen peroxide water solution dilution ratio of your choice I have used full hydrogen peroxide and 25% hydrogen peroxide 75% water. hydrogen peroxide is atomically 2 oxygen and 2 hydrogen atoms thus it is like caffeine in coffee for us it give's the seed a wake up shock or jolt like your morning coffee soak the seeds over night in the solution. I have honey suckle, marigold, pear, apple, peach, blackberry, red yucca, all saved right now too name a few.
bulb's and rhizomes are my specialty more than seeds same concepts though.

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Permalink Reply by kathleen a mclean-bedell on February 20, 2010 at 3:32pm

the best thing to do is cut the dead flowers off and store them a Vase and let them dry out and in a couple of months you can transfer them into a ziploc bag and make sure you label it

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Permalink Reply by Sandy LaFond Z5 on February 26, 2010 at 8:52am

lillah cruce z9/10 Fl. said:

I am an avid seed saver. the best trick I have learned is don't put them in plastic baggies the static kills seeds for some reason. I have saved seeds year after year. I would use them with in a year. although I have had seeds that were 3 or 4 years old grow into wonderful plants their germination rate is awful after a year or so.

Uh oh. I saved seeds for the first time last season, for this year, and - put them in ziploc baggies after the dried. ::sigh:: : (

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