May I have your opinion of Seed Storage mini-fridge?

I'm looking to store seeds from strains I am (or will be) maintaining for as long as I am able to do it.

In the past I had seeds in a quart canning jar and did little except keep them in mostly dark and dry conditions inside that jar.
The good news is after ten years-ish I have F1s that sprouted.

I thought to improve on the chances that in ten years these F2s I made will sprout too.
My first idea was safety in numbers. I believe if all plant material and immature seeds were removed that the volume of mature seeds would be a full quart jar.
I would have loved to let those plants grow and only harvest fully ripened seeds but I'll save that for later.


Second idea is to place a mini-fridge in the root cellar and put those two two thirds full jars in there.
I plan on breeding another strain so I'll be adding to that.

If you like and maybe someone out there has done something like this, would you offer your opinions and insights?



Potential Fridge to use.

i keep my seeds in the fridge and getting 100% germ rate after 4 years.

I store my seeds in a drawer nothing fancy and never really had a problem popping em i think people way over think seed storage if they are dry n cool n in a dark place they should be good for decades imo assuming they are good seeds to begin with obviously the only thing i will add is here isnt super warm if you stay someplace that is then maybe think about fridges or for even longer term stuff freezers and the more seeds u got as back up cant hurt either as you said better having thousands of seeds than 10

Just wanted to say I admire the spirit.

If you're going to be storing seeds make sure that before you put them in small containers that you let them sit out for a few weeks. Don't put freshly harvested seeds directly into long term storage.

I like to use these little airtight test tubes.

I put harvested seeds in small bowls and let them just sit for a few weeks before putting them into tubes. Those tubes then go into an airtight container with some desiccant packs. I've been doing it this way for years and have 99.9% germ rate.

xtsho said:

If you're going to be storing seeds make sure that before you put them in small containers that you let them sit out for a few weeks. Don't put freshly harvested seeds directly into long term storage.

I like to use these little airtight test tubes.

I put harvested seeds in small bowls and let them just sit for a few weeks before putting them into tubes. Those tubes then go into an airtight container with some desiccant packs. I've been doing it this way for years and have 99.9% germ rate.

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i use test tubes with screw on caps and sometimes even put some silica into the tubes with a little piece of cotton acting as a seperator between the seeds and silica. just an extra precaution. if my seed harvest is small (30-50 seeds) i use eppendorf tubes.

This is what makes this site so good.
Thanks to the people. Thanks to everyone.

I do have a root cellar that had hydraulic pressure forcing ground water up into the 8 foot by 18 foot root cellar. It most likely why they couldn't sell this place for four years. I had a professional drainage system put in so now it's dry and the floor is very cool in the summer. So that is an idea. Just need to attach floaties in case the sump pump goes out and I don't notice that for a while

That's a option.

conor c said:

I store my seeds in a drawer nothing fancy and never really had a problem popping em i think people way over think seed storage if they are dry n cool n in a dark place they should be good for decades imo assuming they are good seeds to begin with obviously the only thing i will add is here isnt super warm if you stay someplace that is then maybe think about fridges or for even longer term stuff freezers and the more seeds u got as back up cant hurt either as you said better having thousands of seeds than 10

Click to expand...

I too had seeds in a jar and they were exposed to 100 F at time year after year but they were in a quart size canning jar.
I had filled it with about a quarter of the jar with seeds. At the time I had no idea they could last so long. This time I am wanting to maximizing longevity.
I just germinated some of those F1s this last August. They would be about ten years old.

I have this Idea to be a Strain Maintainer. I believe this is a good Medical Strain worth maintaining and sharing with others.

blueberrymilkshake said:

Just wanted to say I admire the spirit.

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I like your admiring my spirit and would say you could say whose gear that was.

xtsho said:

If you're going to be storing seeds make sure that before you put them in small containers that you let them sit out for a few weeks. Don't put freshly harvested seeds directly into long term storage.

I like to use these little airtight test tubes.

I put harvested seeds in small bowls and let them just sit for a few weeks before putting them into tubes. Those tubes then go into an airtight container with some desiccant packs. I've been doing it this way for years and have 99.9% germ rate.

Click to expand...

I sure benefit from learning from others.

I grew two big plants and have two quart jars about two thirds to three quarters full.
I hope I will be maintaining and continuing to get to a stable strain in the years to come.

This is a lot of seeds with the hopes of ten years down the road that people will have access to. I find this strain I bred to be a helpful medical strain for me. I assume it will be helpful to others as well.

I did allow them to dry in paper bags so your advice was followed.

Thank You.

Friendly_Grower said:

I too had seeds in a jar and they were exposed to 100 F at time year after year but they were in a quart size canning jar.
I had filled it with about a quarter of the jar with seeds. At the time I had no idea they could last so long. This time I am wanting to maximizing longevity.
I just germinated some of those F1s this last August. They would be about ten years old.

I have this Idea to be a Strain Maintainer. I believe this is a good Medical Strain worth maintaining and sharing with others.

Click to expand...

So make alot and freeze em store the rest in a fridge remember dessicant with either freezing is what genebanks do for long term storage

conor c said:

So make a lot and freeze em store the rest in a fridge remember desiccant with either freezing is what gene-banks do for long term storage

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The issue with freezing a thousand seeds will be having to use them all once they are unfrozen I have read.
I have read that if one freezes seeds that they need to be germinated straight away.


I appreciate your input so thanks!

Okay.

I have made a decision.

I will place this pet food container on the cool floor in the root cellar and put the seeds in it.
If there is a failure of the sump pump and the root cellar fills with water then this pet food container should float and is air tight so no water in hopefully.

This was a serious decision and I sure needed to hear the wisdom of the crowd.

Thank You all.

Friendly_Grower said:

The issue with freezing a thousand seeds will be having to use them all once they are unfrozen I have read.
I have read that if one freezes seeds that they need to be germinated straight away.


I appreciate your input so thanks!

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So pack them in say 50s or what suits you that way and you can use em as needed just takes more packing/space you defrost what u need as needed

Friendly_Grower said:

This is what makes this site so good.
Thanks to the people. Thanks to everyone.

I do have a root cellar that had hydraulic pressure forcing ground water up into the 8 foot by 18 foot root cellar. It most likely why they couldn't sell this place for four years. I had a professional drainage system put in so now it's dry and the floor is very cool in the summer. So that is an idea. Just need to attach floaties in case the sump pump goes out and I don't notice that for a while

That's a option.

Click to expand...

I thought maybe the house didn't sell because it either didn't have a kitchen or a refrigerator in the kitchen.

LeastExpectedGrower said:

I thought maybe the house didn't sell because it either didn't have a kitchen or a refrigerator in the kitchen.

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Well, it is a fixer-upper but it has a kitchen and believe it or not the refrigerator was the only appliance worth keeping

I'm happy here. I was thinking of rototilling a spot and grow a garden and do a sneaky grow where I would bend the plant over and get the stem to root every foot or so. Ever see that? I did.

I was thinking of trying the Hawaiian Snow from GreenHouse seeds.

I have a feeling that would keep it low and allow other plants to hide the grow. Stealth would be the thing.
Ever do that?

Friendly_Grower said:

Well, it is a fixer-upper but it has a kitchen and believe it or not the refrigerator was the only appliance worth keeping

I'm happy here. I was thinking of rototilling a spot and grow a garden and do a sneaky grow where I would bend the plant over and get the stem to root every foot or so. Ever see that? I did.

I was thinking of trying the Hawaiian Snow from GreenHouse seeds.

I have a feeling that would keep it low and allow other plants to hide the grow. Stealth would be the thing.
Ever do that?

View attachment 5109483

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Outdoors isn't really for me too many pests and/or animals creating issues, much less people! I have seen some extreme LST where plants have been kept at ground level and/or trained in a spiral to remain compact, etc., though I think you moved to somewhere that had shorter summers? Will you be able to grow-out and train aggressively and still do it before the first frost?

I have an area in the back of my property that has 8+ foot weed growth (native grasses, golden rod, wild roses, etc.). I could clear a radius & drop some seeds, but I'd need to fence (deep, groundhogs, etc.), but I'd guess that I could mask a few plants by growing there.

I'm working another challenge right now...I've got a pair of Durban Poison seedlings that I'm going to have to be strong handed to keep at a reasonable height in my tent. I sort of went off the deep end and bought a bunch of sativa seeds that are of the 'close to landrace' side of things. I don't have a need to push a schedule, so I can train these low and let them take however long to flower.

What temperatures is best for longterm storage?

My experience is that I made seeds. I kept them in a canning jar and they were not temperature controlled.
They didn't get direct sunlight and were in the back of a twenty foot trailer in the California Summers for a decade. Easy 90 F in the day.
So keeping them cool and in low humidity is the general wisdom. Out of the light is a must for sure.
I remember a poster said that they can be kept in the fridge. I believe that they intended to use those seeds within two years.
Some have said the freezer. Those seeds will think winter is over and expect to germinate once they warm up in my opinion.

So I am not an experienced seedsman except for having sprouted seeds that were in that jar a decade.

I would say cool, dark and low humidity in a canning jar with a sealed lid.
The seeds are in suspended animation. They are "On Hold" for germinating and what will trigger them is humidity, temperature and light.

I hope my cement floor will keep them cool. I painted the plastic bin but will also bag over to be sure sunlight isn't an issue.
With some luck the F2s will germinate in 2032.

Did I answer your question?

Have my seeds in a fridge and its about 35-39 F just wanted to make sure and double check that wasnt too cold above freezing closer to 40 would be better. Working with a airtight and dry container, might pick up some desiccant to put in there if theres room