How long are seeds viable for in the fridge???

poindexterous

poindexterous

Active Member
Thanks to the excellent community here I have received much great help choosing seed sellers and breeders, and now I'm just deciding how many of the strains that I want to to grow to actually order.

I'd like to get a few varieties but it could take me a while to grow them all out as I can only host so many mothers at one time. I don't want to make a habit of seed ordering thus would prefer to stock up, yet also don't want to waste expensive seeds by letting them age to much.

So under ideal storage conditions (fridge? or what temp?) how long is it safe to save seeds with minimal loss of germination??

Thanks!
 
I saved 40 seeds from a plant I grew stored in a film vial(remember those?) for just over 10 years and not one sprouted when I tried to grow them. The vial was air tight but never kept cool so they were at room temp which could go up to 90 in the summer. So some temp control must be needed, unless other factors caused them to go bad?
 
just cool and dry, mine are still popping, heres 1 of them, hope you dont mind
 

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They can last years in a fridge. The most important thing is to keep light, moisture, and air away from the seeds. Those 3 elements degrade the seed rapidly.

By keeping the seeds in a cool, dark, and dry environment you halt the seed's natural chemical processes making them last longer.

I keep mine in a mini fridge in air tight vacuum bags. I left just a slight bit of air in the bags.
 
i dont know what kind of loss is minimal but germ rate will go down every year but i heard of seed popin after 20 years
do expect les and less to germ as time goes by
 
ive just germinated 13 seeds that were in the fridge for just about 5 years.
all of them germinated.
they are in the flowering chamber this week, looking good.

DSCF1006 (large).jpg
 
poindexterous said:
Thanks to the excellent community here I have received much great help choosing seed sellers and breeders, and now I'm just deciding how many of the strains that I want to to grow to actually order.

I'd like to get a few varieties but it could take me a while to grow them all out as I can only host so many mothers at one time. I don't want to make a habit of seed ordering thus would prefer to stock up, yet also don't want to waste expensive seeds by letting them age to much.

So under ideal storage conditions (fridge? or what temp?) how long is it safe to save seeds with minimal loss of germination??

Thanks!
Click to expand...

although my way is not the proper way of storage, i just keep mine in a sealed baggie in the dark at room temp and they never seem to even go bad. no guarantees but i've had seeds sprout that were over 2 years old.
 
I don't have any numbers to give you ATM but they can definately last for many years in the fridge. I am still sprouting seeds from 3-5 years ago at a igh rate. Some aren't germing so good since they werekept out for up to 10 years before being put in the fridge. Anyways, if you have old seeds you want to try to sprout you might stick them in the fridge for a couple months. It is said to replicate winter and increase how rapidly they germ. You will be better off with the purchased seeds but if you have sometghing really rare or great you might try that.
 
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