DIY seed bank?

[keith1975]

I’ve got quite a few seeds i’ve collected over the year. I want to store them somewhere safely where I can also label them. Is there something out there designed for this? Or an easy way to build something that can comfortably store 50 - 200 seeds?

 

[Blew Hiller]

You can store them in a large mason jar filled with rice. Package each set of seeds in a paper fold, labeled, and toss them in the sealed jar and store in a cool, dark place. Three things decay seeds...light, heat, moisture.

 

[Dwight Monk]

I buy the little 1 Dram Glass Vials, they come in various other sizes too, they have a screw top lid and come in clear, amber or blue I think but even though I store them out of the light I still went with amber or the blue. And you can put a few grains of rice in them with the seeds to absorb moisture, and you can put a sticky label on them and mark what it is (like the color coded ones used for file folders).

 

[Dwight Monk]

Here's a pic of them the blue one the 1 Dram and the amber the 1/4 Dram, the little ones hold quite a few seeds even but that way they don't get all mixed up (well unless the labels come off ):

001.JPG

• Dwight Monk
• Mar 7, 2019

 

[HydroponicFireman]

50-200 seeds? You mean a baggie?

 

[Weaselcracker]

I store them in large snap-lid Tupperware type containers in the freezer. In their original labelled packages and containers if they’re store-bought- various other tiny containers if they’re not. I have, I don’t know, maybe 50-75 different seed stocks in the freezer. It’s not super organized but it works well enough.

 

[GrizzWald]

Frost free Freezer, no need for the extra thinking stuff like rice. Can keep them in plastic bag, straw,cardboard, whatever they came in, just place them into a freezer draw..I use plastic things that have the kinder surprise toys in them..

Just read, I should have said x2 for what weasel said

HydroponicFireman exactly like that

IMG_52104

• GrizzWald
• Sep 20, 2017

 

[Weaselcracker]

I have a bunch of plastic tube containers from when I used to smoke- they contained cigarillos. I was always trying to quit and they were the only type of smoke I could buy one at a time. Anyway they work great, plus there’s every other kind of small container I could find around.

 

[TorturedSoul]

They sell tiny Ziploc-style plastic bags. Insert seeds, remove excess air when closing, affix label (self-adhesive label printers are relatively inexpensive and work well for this), toss bag - along with a few hundred other bags, if desired/able - into any opaque container and place in refrigerator for reasonably short-term storage or into the freezer at 0°F for long-term storage when prepping for the apocalypse (lol). That secondary container need not be anything fancy, because the seeds are already contained within the Ziploc bags. It just keeps them together, out of the light, and out of last night's leftovers.

GrizzWald: Mango Sativa, huh? Looks interesting.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I’m pretty careless and I find sometimes the seeds that are in bags tend to get crushed when I’m digging through the collections. Sad when you finally locate the seed strain you’re looking for and it’s just a bunch of rubble

 

[SlyTown420]

Right now I am storing them in very small baggies placed in an envelope. Should I change this?

 

[HydroponicFireman]

I put mine in a baggie and then in a pill bottle (then in a drawer) with desiccant in it. A bag and envelope would work just fine, keep it cool, dry and dark and you are all good. My seeds work just like new even a year+ later.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Right now I am storing them in very small baggies placed in an envelope. Should I change this?

Just depends how nicely you treat them and how long it’s going to be before they’re planted. Anything very precious- I definitely would store in a rigid container. But I’ve been keeping some of those seeds for over 15 years. The freebies that come in little bags don’t survive my tender losing care.

* typo - I meant loving care. I’m gonna leave that one hah ha

 

[GrizzWald]

Freezer if more than can use within next few years.. I've got more than this lifetime.. dark cool dry storage is fine short term but don't rely on it for to long..

 

[TorturedSoul]

I've got more than this lifetime.

In which case, the best place to store the portion of the seeds that one cannot reasonably expect to ever have a use for...

...is in other people's gardens .

 

[Weaselcracker]

Yeah like in front of this Vancouver pub I was at last night, for example.

Spring

• Weaselcracker
• Apr 28, 2019

 

[GrizzWald]

In which case, the best place to store the portion of the seeds that one cannot reasonably expect to ever have a use for...

...is in other people's gardens .

No no, they're all mine, my precious. (Arms wrapt around seeds, looking over shoulder nervously)
Ok ok, but which strain? Cause you know I want to plant that one in the future..
Young one will be left a nice seed collection, to either use or look at me with even more disdain.. either way, she gets them

 

[George Mc]

I took someone's advice on here and I have all the seeds in their original containers put inside a rigid Tupperware Style container with a rubber seal. I put dried rice in 1st, then all the seed containers and then more rice. I put all this in the refrigerator crisper drawer for storage. I'll probably move it to the freezer after what most of you have said. Another advantage to keeping them in the refrigerator or freezer is if your house catches on fire items in the refrigerator usually make it.

 

[TurboBucket]

I have all mine in plastic baggies or the breeder packs in a small plastic tote kept inside a little dorm fridge. I store my pollen in there too.

 

[TorturedSoul]

No no, they're all mine, my precious. (Arms wrapt around seeds, looking over shoulder nervously)
Ok ok, but which strain? Cause you know I want to plant that one in the future.

I cannot say that I'm not familiar with that feeling. And most of what I have, it's just one or two of each strain. Some of my care packages have been biased towards Dark Devil Auto and Sweet & Sour Devil's Crack Auto, since I have multiples (nearly 50 at one time, IIRC).

On the other hand, I have been given far more seed than I have purchased. And I've encountered some folks who were either at my economic level or not far enough above it to really matter except academically. Someone who wasn't rich, but who wanted to grow and was too paranoid to consider purchasing them. An old friend who I had been trying (off and on for about 20 years) to get to start growing again, who said, "If only..." one day, "...but I don't even have a light." I talked to our friend Susan about that and she was kind enough to win him a Mars II 900 LED panel. 352 watts and... no seed, lol? Yeah, well, pick something out, but not the Mango Haze (only two of that and it's not feminized), the Alien OG (heard it's potentially awesome and only ONE), or the Afghan Cow (ONE again, and the name caused me to laugh, especially when I read it was supposed to be 75% sativa). So he walked home smiling that day.

Someone might come 'round one day and offer more. If not, well, again, some of mine aren't forced females, so if I ever feel that I am running out, I could always try my hand at producing a batch of the seediest bud north of the Mexico border, lol. Just one Mass Pollination Event and I'd probably be looking at 4,000 to 8,000 more seeds. Not necessarily something I'd be looking forward to, because I cannot easily segregate males here. But it's an option.

Young one will be left a nice seed collection

Now that's a commendable goal. Store them well, it looks like they've got a future ahead of them . . . .