I was getting started Food Savering my seeds but then started to be concerned at the tight vacuum the FoodSaver can draw. Do I just let it keep going until it has evacuated most of the air? I was afraid it might crack some of the seeds.
The enemy of most seeds are oxygen and moisture
The seed hull protects the seed kernal and germ
When you vacuum remove the air, you are removing both oxygen and moisture, the two most deadly enemies of seed viability.
A cracked seed hull might limit the viability of that seed germ, which is why I do a germination test each year on stored seed.
Seed germination test(accuracy of 5%): take 20 random seeds, placed on moist paper towel in warm environment; this test yields accuracy within 5 % of seed viability.
Seed germination test(accuracy of 10%): take 10 random seeds, placed on moist paper towel in warm environment; this test yields accuracy within 10% of seed viability.
Transplant the successes, but keep an eye out for late germination on the moist paper towel; you want the most hardy plants, the late germinators used for 'fill in'.