From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Princeville, IL

How long do I want to dry bushel gourd seed. I have them sitting in wire racks on top a 24 inch fan that is pushing a lot of air through them. Temperature is room is kept at a minimum of 50 degrees and gets up in the 60's or so on sunny days.

2/26/2017 10:48:33 AM

sevierville, Tn

i dry mine about 10 days with a fan. After that they are in a paper envelope. I wouldn't seal them in plastic for a while. Freezing them would be good if you don't need them.

2/26/2017 8:20:29 PM

Fuquay Varina, NC

Freezing them without having the moisture content down to the required percent will guarantee you won't be needing them.

2/26/2017 8:51:12 PM

sevierville, Tn

ok, thats what i ment, they got to be dry. How long do you dry yours Harry ?

2/27/2017 6:32:49 AM

Colorado

I would keep them in a paper surrounding for a couple of months.As hard as they are to hydrate to sprout suggest they don't dry out fast either-just a guess

2/27/2017 11:51:22 AM

Fuquay Varina, NC

I knew what you saying Smokey..just wanted to get a discussion going, as there are those that are not thinking about moisture and humidity when freezing and can really destroy the germ. I usually let the air dry 6-7 weeks in the greenhouse...temp ranging from 40-80 degrees from day and night. Moisture content should be about 10%. Do I test for it..No..lol. Here is a good way to know if your seeds are dry enough...Freeze about 10 seeds for 3 days..then get them out and see how many you can germinate. If they germ okay then they are dry enough. If not dry some and test again. when I first started freezing seeds they didn't come out too well. Learned by experience.

2/27/2017 8:10:19 PM

Fuquay Varina, NC

If you do this test 2-3 times and you can't get them to germ and you believe you have really dried them enough, then maybe the seeds are not good.

2/27/2017 8:22:55 PM