On Sun, 1 Jul 2012 22:33:26 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson wrote:
Finally neatening up my messy seeds. How to save the "winter" seeds
for next year? Radish, bokchoy,
spinach, lettuce, sugar peas, carrots, etc.

Is there any REAL evidence -- not anecdotal -- that storing in the
freezer will preserve viability better than refrigerator or just shelf

Consider a seed that has a lifespan of about 2 years at 50 degrees fahrenheit,
50% relative humidity. By dropping the temperature 10 degrees or by decreasing the relative humidity 10%, you'll double the storage life of the seed.
Likewise, increasing the temp 10 degrees or increasing the relative humidity
10% will halve the lifespan of the seed in storage.

This is for conventional seeds, like most temperate zone crops. There are some
exceptions to this, notably maples and most tropical seeds, but as a rule
of thumb, the 50-50 rule works quite well for guesstimation purposes.

There are some limits... putting a very wet seed into the freezer will probably
kill it as ice crystals form and disrupt the embryo. Drying a seed too far
often leads to "hard seededness", where the seed won't absorb water when
you try to rehydrate -- it's still alive, just in very deep dormancy due to
the seedcoat issues.

If you'd like to explore this topic more fully, most beginning seed science
textbooks do a pretty good job of it; this has been known for awhile, so even a 20 year old text gotten from some place like abe.com is likely to have a
good discussion.

Or search AGRICOLA for key words like "seed longevity" and "long term storage".

Me, I'd put the paper packets in a mason jar with a couple of packets of silica
gel and stuff them in the back of the refrigerator, next to the jar of pickled
garlic. g

Kay