"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Bertie Doe" writes:
| Last September I saved back 20+ pods of dwarf and French climbing beans
and
| also some sugar snap peas. I allowed them to dry out on the parent
plant.
|
| The condition of the seed wasn't pristine and I dried them on paper for
a
| day. Although I placed them in airtight containers, most of them, dried
up
| or went mouldy. Appreciate any advice please.

That's because you didn't dry them out! Nothing dries properly out
of doors in a UK winter, because of the sky-high (relative) humidity.
And a day indoors is nothing like enough - a week or two is needed,
at least.

If they shrivelled hopelessly, they weren't ripe enough for drying.

And, whether or not you use airtight containers, I recommend somewhere
dry, indoors. Airtight containers rarely are truly airtight.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I would say that airtight containers are the problem because referring back
to what Nick said, they will not be totally dry. Brown paper bags are ideal
imo.


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