I asked the engineer about the best way to store seeds for the long term. I got a lecture about temperature and humidity, how they work together, and what the seed needed to stay alive. He said it is a living thing so it needs some oxygen and humidity to stay alive - in regard to that humidity it needs to be dry but not too dry or it will die.
The seeds need to be sealed so more humidity can't get in and a snap plastic top on a coffee can is not sealed and if you put it in the fridge, there is fluctuating of humidity and temperature every time you open the fridge and humidity can get into that coffee can and the temp. inside can fluctuate due to the snap lid not being a real seal.
A sealed glass canning jar IS sealed when you put the lid on - nothing else can get in there. But if you put the jar in the fridge, you will have the fluctuating of the temperature due to opening the door.
It is also important to know the amount of humidity of the room when you seal that glass jar. I got a lecture on how higher temperatures allow more humidity (water) to be in the atmosphere and lower temperatures allow less humidity (water) to be in it. So, if you are in a hot house, there is more humidity in the atmosphere and that will be in the jar when you seal it and mold could grow. If the house is cold, there will be less humidity in the atmosphere and therefore less humidity in the jar.
Using a canning jar with lid makes a seal and putting it in the freezer controls the temperature around the jar. According to him, a freezer is kept “below” freezing and a fridge is about 40 degrees which fluctuates every time the door is opened. Freezer doors aren't opened that often and when it is the temp inside still stays below freezing unless the door is left open for a while.
He said he wasn't an expert on seed to know how dry a seed should be to store it for if it was dried too much, it would die but if it was too wet, that would kill it.
With this information, I put “best way to store seeds” in search and found what is needed to store seeds for just one year and what is needed for long term storage and that method is what the engineer said - glass canning jar and lid and fridge or freezer. The method also describes how much to dry seeds for long term storage and that was the part the engineer did not know and said I needed to find out how dry the seeds needed to be before storing. I will print out the method and let him read it when he comes back after his school today.
Here is how to store for one year and for more years and again, it follows what the engineer said about a glass canning jar being a sealed container. The canning jar is used to seal these seeds in order to keep the seeds dried to the proper amount of dryness. It allows for storing in the fridge or freezer but if one takes into account what the engineer said about fluctuating temps in a fridge and constant below freezing in a freezer, I'll use the freezer.
The Best Way to Store Garden Seeds
Often after planting, you may find that you have a significant amount of seed left over, enough in fact to supply your sowing needs for another planting season or more. Rather than toss the seeds away and be forced to purchase another batch the next time you're in need, you can simply store the seeds for later use. Properly stored, your seeds can last for up to 10 years, with their viability little affected by the storage process. After their removal from storage, you can simply plant the seeds as normal.
1. Place your seeds into a paper envelope and press as much air from the envelope as possible. Place the seeds onto a shelf somewhere within your living space where you can maintain a moderate room temperature year-round. You can store the seeds indoors without further preparation for up to a year.
2. Dry the seeds in preparation for a storage period exceeding one year and extending up to 10 years. Turn on an oven to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and wait about five minutes for it to reach that temperature.
3. Spread the seeds in a layer onto an oven-safe tray and place a thermometer onto the tray along with the seeds.
4. Place the tray into the preheated oven and dry the seeds for six hours with the over door open. Check the thermometer occasionally to ensure that the oven's temperature never rises above 100 degrees. If it does, then adjust the temperature of the oven downward, immediately placing it below the 100 degree threshold.
5 Remove the seeds from the oven after the six-hour drying period and place them into a sealable glass jar.
6 Cover the jar with the cap tightly and then place it in a refrigerator or deep freezer.
Thanks, Marcella!
Probably better to use a dessicant to dry the seeds than the oven. Temps over 95 hurt germination long term.
Southern Exposure has dessicant for sale.
Otherwise in agreement with the rest of that post.
The best resource for saving seed is a book by Suzanne Ashworth, ‘Seed To Seed’. I highly recommend it. Gives detailed instructions on how to save seed from pretty much anything you’d want to grow and tailors them for each geographical growing region in the US. Even if you don’t want to save seed right now it’s a good book (if you get a hard copy) for the ‘rather be looking at it than looking for it’ category.
Copied, pasted and filed. Thank you!
Well, you did ask, so you got a lot of info. I knew that a glass canning jar would be better than my coffee can, but my medicine bottles wouldn’t all fit.
Our freezer was a frost free freezer, and the temps fluctuated enough that ice cream often melted to a very soft stage. Hence, I picked the extra refrigerator whose door is rarely opened, and where I had room.
If I ever have to save seeds for 10 years, I might have to change it thought and this info will certainly be of use for long term. Thanks for the research.