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Location

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Date Posted

Barrington N.S. Canada

They say seeds are viable longer if put in freezer, I have never done that. How long are they viable doing this?

3/13/2017 3:38:39 PM

Grittyville, WA

About as long as your freezer keeps running...?

Keep them in a glass jar with a rubber seal (mason jar with lid) and they should be totally dry prior to freezing. That's all I know. I think the optimal temp is -20 F or so but I'm not the guy in charge of Svalbard right?

3/16/2017 10:19:46 PM

Barrington N.S. Canada

Thanks, I have seeds from 12-14 years ago, I tried to germinate some with no luck. I never had them in a freezer, wish I had. Guess I will try the freezer with any extra seeds I may have. Thanks for your response Glenomkins.

3/16/2017 10:41:34 PM

Cincinnati,OH

Non freezer seeds about 7 to 8 yrs. Never tried anything older than that.

3/17/2017 8:36:07 PM

Syracuse, NY

there will be numerous dos and don'ts about freezing seeds, including whether or not it's a self-defrosting freezer and also how long and HOW the seeds have been stored PRIOR to freezing them. i'll try to stop back here in a day or two to elaborate, but just 4 days ago i got 11-year-old seeds of my own 352 Gerry '05 (689.5 Sandercock X 1097.5 Beachy) that are stored in a Mason jar with no desiccant packets to sprout with just room temperature heat with my CD Spindle Method (type-in CD spindle in the BP home page search window and read EVERY post about it) and ironically, or whatever, fittingly, those exact seeds are what i mentioned in that main post back in '05(!); so, follow my instructs and try even one seed at a time of those ones you mentioned and see how it goes - generally, after even just 72 hrs., a root tip is forming. it is not NECESSARY to snip the seed coat all-around, but i do it myself always and all ways, lol--two NEW steps are to use the clear, fake CD to lightly squeeze the water out of the paper towel on the vertical side of your sink, to keep it all from being TOO wet in the container, and also to quadruple-wrap a rubber band around the tip of the spindle, to allow you to apply slight pressure to the fake cd to be able to place the container in ANY position; this is handy because you'll want to turn it all upside-down to make the root develop ALONG the plastic, rather than try to grow right-into the paper towel; turn it and leave it at a right angle for a few days, too, that'll blow your mind!---you're welcome---eric g

3/18/2017 11:47:47 AM

Syracuse, NY

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/MsgBoard/ViewThread.asp?b=3&p=140742

3/18/2017 11:51:49 AM

Barrington N.S. Canada

Thanks Pumpkinpal2, I just put 3 seeds in a cd container, going to give it a try. I just put it on a heat pad, hope that's okay. Will see what happens.

3/18/2017 3:40:23 PM

Central Illinois

I've saved seeds from other plants before by wrapping them in tin foil ,not one large piece but small individual pieces wrapped around each other, then that ball of foil was put into a glass jar in a chest freezer. I figure if the freezers temp varied somewhat then maybe the temp of the seed would be protected at least for a short period . I also buried the jar at the bottom of the chest freezer.

3/19/2017 11:03:01 AM

Central Illinois

20 yrs was the longest I tried this and most of them still sprouted.

3/19/2017 11:04:41 AM

Pittsburgh, PA

I got 15 year old peanut butter jar stored seeds to sprout this winter by filing and soaking for 24 hours in water and peroxide and damp paper towel in ziplock bag on heating mat. Out of 10 seeds at least 4 sprouted and two made it to a cup of dirt and grew well but not aggressive growth.

3/19/2017 8:33:46 PM

Syracuse, NY

great stories, folks, and i was reminded this morning of one small detail about any seed germination tactic, and that is one of mold; although the seed is trying to sprout in basically a sterile environment, whatever conditions existed when the seed(s) was/were stored to begin with are still evident when we're trying to sprout them several years later; as long as the seed sprouts BEFORE the growth of mold in the CD spindle container 'takes it out', the seed can be removed from its seed casing and damage from the mold will be basically avoided. it is not a crime to remove the seeds and wipe them off of any mold that has started, and/or to re-do the paper towel/water process, and/or to remove the seed coat(s) entirely, which will be easier now that the seed(s) is/are soaked on-through; i planted all of my 352s in Espoma seed-starting mix last night - the tap roots were about 5 inches long each, with various side roots also happening - eric g
PS - when i researched on Google, there are SO many topics and discussions about this, using Hydrogen Peroxide to sterilize the seeds before, during and even AFTER germination---just reading the first page of Google results with 'Germination with Hydrogen Peroxide' will give you a day's read on it! i am gonna try 3% straight outta the bottle in my next CDSM germ test and also watering each of the 352s with a different concentration of H2O2, like 3% (why not?), 1.5%, .75%, and .375%...i kinda wonder, though, if H2O2 is bad for Mycorrhizae, which'll be in my SS mix...

3/21/2017 2:59:23 PM

JACKSON, WISCONSIN. ; )

I prefer the oven.. 425 15 to 20 min.., light salt

3/21/2017 10:29:49 PM