Best Practices: seed saving

[SmokesAhoy]

I thought I was following good seed saving practices, but clearly was not. I germinated 12 varieties some of which sprouted most did not. Mine.

Can we get a discussion from harvesting to storage?

I hang the stalk to dry, crush the pods and sift the seeds, bag and store in the basement. But my germination tells me this is only a strategy for short term seed saving, my seeds that are older did not germinate. They weren't 10 years old.

Would small airtight plastic specimen bottles with a little moisture absorber (like found in food containers) and stored in a frost free freezer be the idiot proof method for long term storage?

Next year I need to pitch all the remaining seeds for my types that didn't germ in paper towels to try to get some viable plants.

What do you do to keep your seeds viable?

 

[ArizonaDave]

If you have freezer bags, you can keep seeds in the freezer, it lasts the longest. I use the fridge, and it seems to extend the life well. I don't have any 10 yrs. old, and only joined the forum a few years ago. You've been here longer than I have.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Here's a good discussion: http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads...ite-with-silica-jell!?highlight=storing+seeds

Knucklehead has a pretty good system set up using a moisture meter and an ammo box. You can search for his thread or maybe he'll chime in.

Myself, I use the little plastic vials talked about in the link above. I put a bunch of them into a mason jar. In the mason jar I put some desiccant. I rotate my seeds fairly often but I do have 5 year old seed that germinates fine. I also have back up seed that is sealed in 2 zip lock freezer bags and stored in the freezer.

 

[deluxestogie]

Dry, dry, dry. Keeping the seed at very low humidity has the greatest effect on prolonging viability. [They figured this out in India, where a lot of folks still don't have electricity.]

Here's what I do for preserving tobacco seed.

1. Cleaned seed is first placed into labeled, tiny Zip-lock bags, which I purchase in quantity. Uline S-1291, 2" x 3 ". $13 per 1000.
2. These are grouped into quart-size freezer Zip-lock bags, typically labeled by year.
3. Groups of the freezer Zip-lock bags are placed into an Outdoor Products Dry Box, which maintains a vapor-proof seal.
4. Into the Dry Box I also place 1 packet of desiccant. I purchased 1 dozen 3-1/2" x 5" silica gel packs for $7.95.
5. I keep the Dry Boxes in a small (old fashion, under-counter) refrigerator.
6. When I need to open a box, I remove it from the fridge, and allow it to reach room temp prior to opening it, in order to prevent condensation inside the box.

There are other ways to do this effectively, and a deep freeze, together with desiccant can maintain tobacco seed for at least 40 years.

Seed that is kept in typical ambient conditions will maintain viability for a few years, but it's the moisture in the air that shortens it's storage.

Bob

EDIT: I've just added this and the other thread cited to the Index of Key Forum Threads. I'm slow.

 

[Gavroche]

1. Into the Dry Box I also place 1 packet of desiccant. I purchased 1 dozen 3-1/2" x 5" silica gel packs for $7.95.
2. .

No money...

 

[indianjoe]

Double zip-lock bags in freezer, after drying seed, I have some that have lasted at least 5-8 years.

 

[greenmonster714]

Dry, dry, dry. Keeping the seed at very low humidity has the greatest effect on prolonging viability. [They figured this out in India, where a lot of folks still don't have electricity.]

Here's what I do for preserving tobacco seed.

1. Cleaned seed is first placed into labeled, tiny Zip-lock bags, which I purchase in quantity. Uline S-1291, 2" x 3 ". $13 per 1000.
2. These are grouped into quart-size freezer Zip-lock bags, typically labeled by year.
3. Groups of the freezer Zip-lock bags are placed into an Outdoor Products Dry Box, which maintains a vapor-proof seal.
4. Into the Dry Box I also place 1 packet of desiccant. I purchased 1 dozen 3-1/2" x 5" silica gel packs for $7.95.
5. I keep the Dry Boxes in a small (old fashion, under-counter) refrigerator.
6. When I need to open a box, I remove it from the fridge, and allow it to reach room temp prior to opening it, in order to prevent condensation inside the box.

There are other ways to do this effectively, and a deep freeze, together with desiccant can maintain tobacco seed for at least 40 years.

Seed that is kept in typical ambient conditions will maintain viability for a few years, but it's the moisture in the air that shortens it's storage.

Bob

EDIT: I've just added this and the other thread cited to the Index of Key Forum Threads. I'm slow.

Hey Bob, what do you mean when you refer to cleaned seed?

 

[deluxestogie]

When you crush a dried tobacco seed pod, the seed falls out. Along with the seed, fragments of the pod also tend to come loose. Although tobacco seed apparently cannot transmit viruses, like Tobacco Mosaic Virus, the chaff from the pod certainly can transmit it.

For your own home use, just remove the big chunks of chaff before storage. For sending seed to anyone else, the best practice is to use a double sieve set into the top of a 5 gallon bucket. The lower sieve is 400 microns, while the upper sieve is 600 microns. The sieves are available from US Plastic Corp., and cost about $4.50 each. They last for years.

400 micron: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=37445
600 micron: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=37442

Chaff, stems, bugs and matted seed clumps are caught by the upper 600 micron sieve (and discarded), tobacco seed is caught by the lower 400 micron sieve (and saved), and immature seeds, dust, etc., fall on down into the bucket.

Bob

 

[greenmonster714]

Thank you for the info Bob. I'd never come across any thread that states you can contaminate someones stash by not cleaning properly but I have now. My list of stuff to buy just gets longer and longer..lol.

 

[Smokin Harley]

When you crush a dried tobacco seed pod, the seed falls out. Along with the seed, fragments of the pod also tend to come loose. Although tobacco seed apparently cannot transmit viruses, like Tobacco Mosaic Virus, the chaff from the pod certainly can transmit it.

For your own home use, just remove the big chunks of chaff before storage. For sending seed to anyone else, the best practice is to use a double sieve set into the top of a 5 gallon bucket. The lower sieve is 400 microns, while the upper sieve is 600 microns. The sieves are available from US Plastic Corp., and cost about $4.50 each. They last for years.

400 micron: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=37445
600 micron: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=37442

Chaff, stems, bugs and matted seed clumps are caught by the upper 600 micron sieve (and discarded), tobacco seed is caught by the lower 400 micron sieve (and saved), and immature seeds, dust, etc., fall on down into the bucket.

Bob

Bob turned me on to these sieves . They work great, seed and chaff are separated and the dust falls right through . I just turn them over and give a good tap to clear the screens. Great investment.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I bought my sieves from Brushy Mountain Bee supply many moons ago. I just did a simple price comparison.

For 1 sieve + shipping from usplastics is about $15.00
For 1 sieve + shipping from Brushy Mtn is about $20.00
I don't know if the quality between the two varies much but I've been using mine for maybe 8 years (for seeds) and about 15 years for honey and they both are still going strong.

So unless you need to pick up some extra beekeeping supplies, usplastics is probably the cheaper route to go.

 

[greenmonster714]

Yes, I do plan on getting the pair. I want to save seed for next year and to have some to share with others here.