Seed storage using desiccant pack

Invisighost

Well-Known Member
I have some seeds that I will not be using for at least 6mnths to a year and wondering if I should use a desiccant pack in the container. Attached is the jar that I'm using as well as the desiccant pack I got out of a tylenol bottle.20170618_155223.jpg 20170618_155512.jpg
 

Bacala

Well-Known Member
They'll be fine in there if you keep it in the fridge. I use a Rubbermaid container with that same desiccant and regularly go two years with no problem. Dry and cool is what they want.
 

Invisighost

Well-Known Member
They'll be fine in there if you keep it in the fridge. I use a Rubbermaid container with that same desiccant and regularly go two years with no problem. Dry and cool is what they want.
So you think I should fridge them as well even though they will be used in prob no more than a years time. They are just in a gunsafe now
 

WattSaver

Well-Known Member
As long as the safe is cool (<70F) then they will be fine, I keep mine is the back of a bottom desk drawer where it's cool and dark, and recently popped some 6yr old seeds I made. As far as using the desiccant, it depends upon the humidity where you live. You can over dry seeds.
 

Invisighost

Well-Known Member
As long as the safe is cool (<70F) then they will be fine, I keep mine is the back of a bottom desk drawer where it's cool and dark, and recently popped some 6yr old seeds I made. As far as using the desiccant, it depends upon the humidity where you live. You can over dry seeds.
Yea thats actually the main reasoning for me asking is b/c I read that they can be over dried. Its pretty hot and humid here. I guess I'd have to put my temp/humidity gauge in the safe to know for sure. Just in the house its usually around 75 with 60% humidity. I'm sure will be different in safe
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
75 degrees is not cool. Storing them in that safe vs. a fridge will likely reduce viability over time by a factor of five or more. Google it.
75 is a bit warm but I doubt it will hurt them. I prefer I. The 60 degree range.

I don't need to Google it. Everything I grow from flower to vegetables are heirloom and I save them.
 

AliCakes

Well-Known Member
While I doubt the gun safe will be an issue, I personally prefer to keep my seeds in the back of the fridge, in a container with desiccant. I currently have a couple of hundred of them in an old vitamin container with a couple of packs similar to yours. Individual strains are in labeled straws that I pierced with a straight pin to allow the desiccant to work inside the straw as well.

I say this, because in nature, seeds typically drop in the fall, go into dormancy through the cold months, and sprout as the weather begins to warm. Keeping them refrigerated will mimic nature more closely and thus, they seem to come out of dormancy a bit faster. Just my personal experience.

Granted, I have never had issues when I didn't follow these rules until the seeds were several years old.
 

Invisighost

Well-Known Member
While I doubt the gun safe will be an issue, I personally prefer to keep my seeds in the back of the fridge, in a container with desiccant. I currently have a couple of hundred of them in an old vitamin container with a couple of packs similar to yours. Individual strains are in labeled straws that I pierced with a straight pin to allow the desiccant to work inside the straw as well.

I say this, because in nature, seeds typically drop in the fall, go into dormancy through the cold months, and sprout as the weather begins to warm. Keeping them refrigerated will mimic nature more closely and thus, they seem to come out of dormancy a bit faster. Just my personal experience.

Granted, I have never had issues when I didn't follow these rules until the seeds were several years old.
Much appreciated for the info
 
Top