Seed storage time
- Thread starter KJM
- Start date
CelestialNurseries
Well-Known Member
Anywhere from 1 day to 2,000 years...the best way to achieve 2,000 year shelf life is dry and cold storage.
Oldest viable seed - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
I keep all of my seeds in a sealed quart jar in my fridge. I have put a desiccant pack in there to pull out any moisture and I have had this jar in the back of my mostly dark fridge for over 10 years. Most of my present run of plants comes from this jar and from some very old seeds. If you take good care of them, they will last for a long long time.
Thousands of years as @CelestialNurseries mentioned. We are at the 100th year anniversary of the discovery of King Tut's pryamid tomb in Egypt so that has hit the news. One news story mentioned that they found some wheat seeds left in an urn and some of those seeds sprouted. That makes those seeds over 3,000 years old.
When it comes to Marijuana seeds your question is asked fairly often and storing in the fridge seems to be the most popular place. Place the seeds in a small container with the name of the strain if it is known. Write down the date and any other info. Surprising how easy it is for us to forget all those bits of info a year or two later.
Occasionally people give me seeds and I store them in the fridge and will use small plastic snack bags, plastic 35mm film cans or 'doob tubes' for the most part.
One guy I know stored seeds in baggies which he placed on the shelves above the stove. Five years later he gave a bunch away and there was a close to 100% germination rate.
HopHead
Well-Known Member
There are three variables in storing seeds; temperature, humidity and light. The cooler, dryer and darker the better. A fridge provides an excellent environment. The first step is to make sure the seeds are dry before storing otherwise, the seeds may rot. I spread seeds out on a surface out of direct sunlight and allow them to dry for two weeks. Storing for a year or less I'll put the seeds in a plastic pill container or wrapped in plastic in the fridge. For a longer storage I'll package the seeds in tinfoil and place in the freezer. This link gives a detailed explanation on how to seal the seeds so they don't suffer freezer burn. See post #42.
Malawi Gold, Chamba, Organic, Daylight Shifting, 2017
Day 95, Day 23 Clones(from the day I took the cuttings) The seeds from Queen Sativa that I planted haven't germinated and are next to my compost. I dug up 2 pots to see if I could find the seeds but only found a piece of the outer shell. It's now obvious to me that the seeds were green when...
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James Pot
Active Member
i know 3 main things:
no light (better keep them in original package), humidity must be 9% or less, and the temperature 4 to 8 ºC (39-46 ºF)
no light (better keep them in original package), humidity must be 9% or less, and the temperature 4 to 8 ºC (39-46 ºF)
I asked a handful of very well known breeders their best methods for storage... These breeders are people that probably most everyone here has heard of before and here was the commonalities....
COLD
DARK
DRY
vac sealed or low oxygen
very little to no temperature fluctuation.
Most of the breeders said these were the preferred methods... Some went into detail and said that freezer is better than fridge. I asked the question about longevity and most didn't really have an answer but those that did said in the refrigerator 10+ years and in the freezer 20+ years.
I would imagine if stored correctly they could go for many decades...
I started making seeds roughly about 5 or 6 years ago... I store mine in the refrigerator in mylar bags with oxygen and moisture absorbers and I've had no issues with the oldest seeds popping.
And really with tissue culture methods and Gibberalic Acid there are a lot of people able to get genetics from seeds from the 60s and 70s that were poorly stored in baggies in attics and basements.... So properly stored they probably could go for a very long time.
