How long do you keep seed? I always thought fresh seed was best and never
stored for more than a year. I'd appreciate advice - usually I just buy
fresh every year but it goes against the grain to be extravagant!

ticketyboo

In the refrigerator, two to five years usually. In the freezer, I don't
think there is a timeline if they're frozen. I had 100 percent
germination on chile seeds planted this year that were saved in 1997,
what's that, about six years in the fridge?

George

ticketyboo wrote:

How long do you keep seed? I always thought fresh seed was best and never
stored for more than a year. I'd appreciate advice - usually I just buy
fresh every year but it goes against the grain to be extravagant!

ticketyboo

It depends on the type of seed you are storing. Seeds can viable from one to
five to even longer years depending on what you are saving. Keeping the seeds
cool and dry does prolong the life of them.

What kinds of seeds are you saving? Perhaps I have info on them

A good book to buy if you save seeds is called Seed to Seed by Suzanne
Ashworth. It cost
about 20 dollars and is well worth it if you save seeds. The book also
adresses the issue of
how long seeds are viable.



ticketyboo wrote:

How long do you keep seed? I always thought fresh seed was best and never
stored for more than a year. I'd appreciate advice - usually I just buy
fresh every year but it goes against the grain to be extravagant!

ticketyboo

Thanks for the advice - I can see I will have to be more organised and date
and package seed properly - no more folded envelopes stuffed into a jam jar
in the garden shed! Thanks also for the book recommendation -I'll look out
for it. The seeds I usually grow are different kinds of lettuce, spinach,
rocket, cabbage (different kinds) and kale, parsnips, beetroot as well as
flat and moss curled parsley and a few other herbs.

ticketyboo


"Alice Gamewell" wrote in message
...
It depends on the type of seed you are storing. Seeds can viable from one
to
five to even longer years depending on what you are saving. Keeping the
seeds
cool and dry does prolong the life of them.

What kinds of seeds are you saving? Perhaps I have info on them

A good book to buy if you save seeds is called Seed to Seed by Suzanne
Ashworth. It cost
about 20 dollars and is well worth it if you save seeds. The book also
adresses the issue of
how long seeds are viable.



ticketyboo wrote:

How long do you keep seed? I always thought fresh seed was best and
never
stored for more than a year. I'd appreciate advice - usually I just buy
fresh every year but it goes against the grain to be extravagant!

ticketyboo

ticketyboo said:

How long do you keep seed? I always thought fresh seed was best and never
stored for more than a year. I'd appreciate advice - usually I just buy
fresh every year but it goes against the grain to be extravagant!

From an old 4H flier:

LONGEVITY OF VEGETABLE SEED

1 YEAR
onion
parsnips

2YEARS
sweet corn

3 YEARS
beans
carrots
peas

4 YEARS
beets
cabbage
pumpkins
squash

5 OR MORE
cress
cucumbers
lettuce
radishes
tomatoes
turnips

(I assume vegetables not listed would fall into the range of close relatives;
spinach and chard would lump with the beets and peppers and eggplants
with the tomatoes.)
--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

I have some tomato seed that is 10 years old, some will germinate and some not.
Onion family seeds will not keep for more than a couple of years. I mix most of
my lettuce seed together, and broadcast it, so if some isn't germinating it
doesn't matter, I add to it every year.

And I keep them in a big plastic box, in plastic open bags labeled with when
they are planted. as: start inside Jan or Feb. (onions) start in perennials,
start in tomatoes, then peppers etc. with herbs and flowers. Then beside that is
a row of direct sow, early greens, early root crops, after frost crops, etc. All
those are set on a tray which sits 1/2 way down the plastic box, and under the
tray are the big seeded crops. beans, peas and corn.

The box is kept in a back room of my husband's shop which is dehumidified. and
cool.

Talk about anal retentive??

ticketyboo wrote:

How long do you keep seed? I always thought fresh seed was best and never
stored for more than a year. I'd appreciate advice - usually I just buy
fresh every year but it goes against the grain to be extravagant!

ticketyboo