How long do seeds last??

[mtbazz]

Tried popping some beans I bought back in 2010....they were stored since than in a cool, dry (roughly 60dg F, 30% humidity year round) environment in the dark. Every single one failed to germinate....

THought seeds would last several years??

 

[Swollencalyx]

I keep them in a mason jar in the fridge. Popped 5+ year old beans.

 

[HidingInTheHaze]

Its hard to say because you dont always know how old the seeds are when you buy them.

I just tried germing some seeds from 2007, I got 3 out of 4 to germ, but one died in the soil so 2 out of 4.

I've had packs of seeds I just bought have seeds that dont germ, I think the best shelf life starts with well made seeds.

 

[Snype]

Tried popping some beans I bought back in 2010....they were stored since than in a cool, dry (roughly 60dg F, 30% humidity year round) environment in the dark. Every single one failed to germinate....

THought seeds would last several years??

My seeds that I've had in the freezer from the 90's are still germinating fine. I store them in mason jars with a little rice and then vac them with a food saver with the jar attachment. I bottle each lot of seed in small bottles and I place all those little bottles into wide mouth Ball jars. Then I slide the jars into those paper bags from the liquor store and the jar fits perfectly in there to protect the jar from light. Before I put them into the freezer, I put them into the fridge for at least 24 hours.

 

[bootea]

seed preservation

seed preservation

Well Snype - seems like you've found the way to preserve seeds!

For my own clarity, do you use two different sized mason jars - ball jars or a different type of a small jar for the seeds and then into the ball jar? And does the rice go directly in with the seeds of just in the larger jar? Also can you get that food saver from the Ball company or else where? Thanks for your post - bootea

 

[Snype]

Well Snype - seems like you've found the way to preserve seeds!

For my own clarity, do you use two different sized mason jars - ball jars or a different type of a small jar for the seeds and then into the ball jar? And does the rice go directly in with the seeds of just in the larger jar? Also can you get that food saver from the Ball company or else where? Thanks for your post - bootea

I only use 1 ball jar and I make sure it's the wide mouth ones. I either use the 500mL Ball Jars or the 1,000 mL ball jars. First I open the Ball Jar and put about a half inch of rice in there. Then I put all my little jars of seed into the Ball Jar with the rice. I use many different size little glass vials to little glass bottles to hold each type of seed. I don't put rice into those little jars but I try to fill them all the way to the top of the little bottles with seed. After I fill my Ball Jar with all the little vials or bottles of seed, I put the metal cap on the Ball Jar and I use my FoodSaver® Wide-Mouth Jar Sealer as seen in this link below:

http://www.foodsaver.com/accessories/T03-0023-01P.html

After that I screw on the rim for the lid and place in the fridge. This is what I do for long term storage (many years). If I know I'm going to use the seed in the next couple of years, I place those seed lots in a different jar and into the fridge. I try my best not to disturb the jar in the freezer. If I do have to open it, I take it out of the freezer and keep the cap off for 24 hours to get all the condensation and moisture out of it before sealing it up again and placing it in the fridge for 24 hours and then back into the freezer again for long term storage.

 

[Llamaslayer]

I preserved mine in in the refrigerators using baggy (which sat in rice) inside of a mason jar for over a year and germmed with no problems.

 

[bootea]

seed preservation

seed preservation

Thanks snype for the timely reply. That clears it up. Its good to know that its possible to keep valuable seeds that long and how to do it. - bootea

 

[bootea]

I preserved mine in in the refrigerators using baggy (which sat in rice) inside of a mason jar for over a year and germmed with no problems.

That's verification for the short term lamaslayer from season to season.

 

[yesum]

Thanks for the info Snype. I do not see thawing seeds and then refreezing though. If I go to the freezer in the future, I will have the seeds separated in little vials so I can just grab a vial quick and leave the others frozen.

Right now I just have seeds in little vials in a container in the fridge. Will fill those vials to the top with rice soon for longterm storage. Less air in the vials and moisture control being the reason for the rice.

 

[noyd666]

always keep mine in fridge , no problems. just tried 14 year old seeds about 40 odd, none came up and did not expect them to. were given to me so have no idea how they were stored. also just tried 20 odd ozy seeds kept in vial in mates kitchen cupboard from 2 year ago= no good. so fridge wins for me.

 

[GoeRilla]

Tried popping some beans I bought back in 2010....they were stored since than in a cool, dry (roughly 60dg F, 30% humidity year round) environment in the dark. Every single one failed to germinate....

THought seeds would last several years??

I bought some in 2009, don´t know how old they were, i popped 12 out of 12 this spring.

Rilla.

 

[VerdantGreen]

presuming they are kept dry etc.

cool room temps - up to 5 years, but germ rates will go down during this time.

in the fridge - 5-10 years

freezer - 20+ years

dont mug yourself guys, keep em in the fridge or best of all the freezer.

VG