Long term seed storage

Hey,

Need help with storing seeds. I have about 34 different strains in breeder packs. I won’t get to them in the next year or two so I’ll be taking the seeds out of the breeder packs and re packaging them into glass viles with silica beeds.

My fridge lucatuates in temp and humidity from about 6C - 11C and from 35% - 65% humidity. I’m worried leaving them in there will hurt the germ rate. A lot of money has been spent on those beans so I want to keep them viable as possible for as long as possible.

What would be the best seed to silica ratio? I was thinking 1:1 but don’t know if that will dry them out

In the freezer. Not the refrigerator. Use all the silica gel you can pack in. It's function is to absorb liquids.

Thanks, I’ll stick them in the freezer instead.

I read somewhere you can use silica to dry seeds for storage so it had me wondering if too much silica will dry them out. Or is that even possible?

emeraldbuds said:

Thanks, I’ll stick them in the freezer instead.

I read somewhere you can use silica to dry seeds for storage so it had me wondering if too much silica will dry them out. Or is that even possible?

Click to expand...

I doubt it.

The breeder at Ch9 told me to store seeds with rice as silica will dry them out too much.

Also the fridge not the freezer.

I just keep mine in a dark side table drawer in a light proof jar right in the breeder packs or plastic viles.

4 year old packs are still germinating fine.

We do keep our house around 70 degrees and 50 to 60 % humidity with ac or heat and dehumidifiers in the basement.

Metal brief case in the freezer
I try to come as close as I can to how the world stores seeds for what’s coming.

https://www.croptrust.org/our-work/svalbard-global-seed-vault/

MichiganMedGrower said:

The breeder at Ch9 told me to store seeds with rice as silica will dry them out too much.

Also the fridge not the freezer.

I just keep mine in a dark side table drawer in a light proof jar right in the breeder packs or plastic viles.

4 year old packs are still germinating fine.

We do keep our house around 70 degrees and 50 to 60 % humidity with ac or heat and dehumidifiers in the basement.

Click to expand...

Cheers man. Iv seen a few write-ups on seed storage, some were saying the silica dries them out but then iv seen others including here, use them at a 1:1 ratio. If the seeds were dry to begin with, would they lose moisture I wonder? My house on average is about 68F with 50-70% humidity.

BigHornBuds said:

Metal brief case in the freezer
I try to come as close as I can to how the world stores seeds for what’s coming.

https://www.croptrust.org/our-work/svalbard-global-seed-vault/View attachment 4160494

Click to expand...

Nice link, just done a 360 view tour of the facilities. They don't mention the humidity, I reckon its low if they're running the rooms at -18. The vials have a pretty good seal, I left them under water for 48hrs and no leaks. Just not sure about silica or rice.

I keep mine in a wine chiller. Set at 42° and 35% humidity. It nvr fluctuates. I have beans from my dads collection from the mid 70s to present day. I just run some 95 of kush. The beans were made in 1994. They popped fine.

whytewidow said:

I keep mine in a wine chiller. Set at 42° and 35% humidity. It nvr fluctuates. I have beans from my dads collection from the mid 70s to present day. I just run some 95 of kush. The beans were made in 1994. They popped fine.

Click to expand...

Nice, never thought about a wine chiller. How do you package them inside the chiller?

emeraldbuds said:

Nice, never thought about a wine chiller. How do you package them inside the chiller?

Click to expand...

I just leave them in their packs they come in. If it's not sealed. I put them in plastic vials from Ebay that I bought. I got 500 for like 15 bucks.

emeraldbuds said:

Cheers man. Iv seen a few write-ups on seed storage, some were saying the silica dries them out but then iv seen others including here, use them at a 1:1 ratio. If the seeds were dry to begin with, would they lose moisture I wonder? My house on average is about 68F with 50-70% humidity.

Click to expand...

I guess we are assuming the seeds are dry and viable to start.

I dont know how to measure silica. Don’t know what a 1 to 1 ratio would even be.

I’m sure it is measured and packed for specific use but how much and how long before it gets full of moisture and hard?

Don’t know the answer about rice either but the person suggesting I use it has for 30 years or so.

He says it can’t over dry like silica.

MichiganMedGrower said:

I guess we are assuming the seeds are dry and viable to start.

I dont know how to measure silica. Don’t know what a 1 to 1 ratio would even be.

I’m sure it is measured and packed for specific use but how much and how long before it gets full of moisture and hard?

Don’t know the answer about rice either but the person suggesting I use it has for 30 years or so.

He says it can’t over dry like silica.

Click to expand...

1:1 as in use the same weight in beads as seeds. No idea where that measurement comes from though. The silica beads are moisture indicating so they turn from orange to blue once they are used up. I could keep an eye on things but iv no way of telling the humidity inside those little vials.

I think the main question is, do seeds hold moisture when fully dry? If not, then they cant dry out. But if they do, and the silica absorbs the moisture inside the vials, it could start pulling the moisture from the seeds too.