Seed Storage

[jonnyonthespotaz]

so..I've taken the idea of the pill organizer with rice and putting into the fridge and put my shit laying around the house to good use..my wife makes jewelry and has arts n crafts stuff and organizers laying around..sooo..I took one of her organizers that has maybe 17 slots..she has these little clear pucks with screw on kids that fit nicely into each individual compartment..I put my seeds into the little ziplock baggies and put them in the pucks..I them fill each individual compartment with a little rice, put the puck in and cover it with rice and label each compartment..pretty slick so far..I'm rly nervous about putting them in the fridge tho..idk y but i am..right now I have them in a drawer in the basement..I guess I just worry I'm gonna lose some germination % or some crazy shit is gonna happen and I'll lose my collection..it's not a ton of beans but not easily replaceable financially for me or availability wise..any advice would b greatly appreciated..thanks..peace

 

[jonnyonthespotaz]

I would like to thank @justanotherbozo for the initial idea of the pill organizer

 

[Icristal]

suggestion,,,make sure your mark the zip bag with the strain name,,,just in case the box gets knocked over you will know whats what. Just marking the compartments doesn't help if spilled accidentally.

Nice idea
Keep it green
icristal

 

[jonnyonthespotaz]

Oh yeah I printed off address labels and put on each puck and on the lid of each compartment just in case something like that did happen..always gotta think ahead..what do u think about putting into fridge?

 

[jonnyonthespotaz]

*address labels with the strain and date etc..lol..

 

[Icristal]

I can offer no suggestion there, as I have very little seeds, always used old camera film case stuffed in a draw, lol, old school

 

[ShroomKing]

Do NOT put seeds in the freezer it ruins them. Put them in the refrigerator just like you have them. I have mine labeled and in a little tackle box in the fridge.
Best of luck.
Peace

 

[jonnyonthespotaz]

Awesome thanks for the advice..gonna put em in the fridge today then..peace

 

[happy b]

I keep mine in fridge.as long as no actual moisture gets in your will be golden.

 

[Ned Kelly]

Would the fridge be better than say a fireproof safe in a dark room I doubt the temp in the safe would move more than 2 c and would hang around 12 c

 

[jonnyonthespotaz]

I keep mine in fridge.as long as no actual moisture gets in your will be golden.

I'm thinking with the little pucks and baggies and rice and bigger storage bin I hopefully won't have to worry about moisture..I guess I'll find out next time I go to pop some beans..peace

 

[happy b]

With the rice and everythi g they should be fine.i just keep mine in a sealed tupperware with a few of the wee silicon satches and wrap it up in 2 plastic bags and iv never had any problems with germ rates.

 

[jonnyonthespotaz]

With the rice and everythi g they should be fine.i just keep mine in a sealed tupperware with a few of the wee silicon satches and wrap it up in 2 plastic bags and iv never had any problems with germ rates.

That is reassuring to hear brother..thanks..good luck to u..if I get a chance later today I'll take a pic n post it up to share n maybe help someone out in the future.lpeace

 

[Seamaiden]

I've had seeds ruined by rice that rubbed off the protective hulls. I no longer use rice at all for helping keep them dry. If nothing else, a bit of cornstarch.

 

[jonnyonthespotaz]

I've had seeds ruined by rice that rubbed off the protective hulls. I no longer use rice at all for helping keep them dry. If nothing else, a bit of cornstarch.

So r u saying even if the seeds and rice r separated by multiple layers of different material it can still take off the protective shell?

 

[Seamaiden]

So r u saying even if the seeds and rice r separated by multiple layers of different material it can still take off the protective shell?

Ah, no, I've never seen/tried that. I'm talking about when I've had seeds sent to me and people put a few grains of rice into the glassine bag or other container. If they can rub together at all, the rice can rub off the hull. If you treat the seeds like you would say... good pearls, then I don't think that can happen.

That said, I seem to recall someone telling me long ago that rice isn't the best thing for absorbing excess moisture, that stuff like cornstarch is. I wish I could remember... @Blaze -- does this ring a bell with you? The baron, perhaps..? or @ncga ?

 

[Blaze]

Rice is not ideal, other than the problem Seamaiden had it can also potentially provide a food source for fungus and mold. I just keep my seeds in ziplocks in another container in the fridge and that has worked fine so far. I got 100% germination this year on the last of my Kryptonite x Grape Krush Seeds that I made back in 2006.

 

[ncga]

Ah, no, I've never seen/tried that. I'm talking about when I've had seeds sent to me and people put a few grains of rice into the glassine bag or other container. If they can rub together at all, the rice can rub off the hull. If you treat the seeds like you would say... good pearls, then I don't think that can happen.

That said, I seem to recall someone telling me long ago that rice isn't the best thing for absorbing excess moisture, that stuff like cornstarch is. I wish I could remember... @Blaze -- does this ring a bell with you? The baron, perhaps..? or @ncga ?

My take on long term seed storage is to be consistent with the temp. I am still easily sprouting original VicHigh bbc99 as well all my stock from as far back as 1996 with a 90% rate. Never stored with rice. All in the original plastic zip lock type plastic bags. ONLY stored in a stashed frig in the vegetable and enclosed sections of the frig( Please keep seed libraries off site). Keeps the humidity lower than the the main frig. I have to say never freeze seeds. Just look what freezing does to a protean like chicken , fish or beef. Do you really think the small proteins needed to spout a seed will survive that.

Also think about safe food practices and know what you are pulling. The time the seeds spend above 40F reduces there total storage viability time. So know where your seeds are and get them out and back in quickly, if you want them to last.Mine come out once a year with a purpose. I put them in a iced cooler bag for transport back to the lab.

 

[bIlToNG]

for storage i use a zip lock bag in the fridge with one of those little dessicant bags to keep things dry