Seed Sorting Weekend

[AlittleSalt]

The warm weather has finally come to an end. It's in the 40s - raining and is supposed to for the next few days, and then it will get cold. I'm glad I got all the outside stuff done, because now I'm stuck in the house. That means it is time to sort out the tomato and pepper seed binders...and the ones in the box...and the ones beside the computer...

It's fun looking through all the seeds. You find the ones that make you think, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that one, and it's a must-grow." I sort the binders alphabetically. I also make excel spreadsheets along the way.

I need to use one binder for seeds I have saved and pepper seeds. Another binder for those that I want to trade/give away. And the most difficult binder to sort is the one that has varieties that we want to grow eventually. That binder needs extra card collector sheets between each letter so I'll have room to put whatever I receive from the MMMM.

There are many threads here about how we store seeds. My way above is one way. How do you save your seeds? How do you categorize them?

[Ecovixen]

Could you post a picture of how you organize your seeds in the binder?

[habitat_gardener]

I save my seeds in little plastic bags (2x3), and I used to file them alphabetically, but the bags are floppy and won't stay in place.

So lately I've started putting the little bags in a bigger ziplock bag, organized by year grown. The ones I get from swaps are organized by the name of the swap. I can find them because I keep a notebook where I write down what I grew each year, and what I got from swaps, along with some notes about varieties I'm not familiar with as well as "must grow" notes. This system makes it easy to find what I have to share, which is my main reason for saving seeds. I keep intending to go through my seeds and purge/share the ones I probably won't grow, at the same time I'm looking/hoping for more garden space!

I also have a database file, custom designed by a friend, but it needs lots of work, so for now I use it only as a master index.

Other types of seeds are filed by plant type (carrots) (herbs), with each (group) in one or more separate plastic ziplock bags (the best way to keep them upright and together -- I don't try to close the ziplock, it's used as an organizing tool). Then I put the larger bags in a small plastic tote.

[AlittleSalt]

I think I finally got a picture without a lot of glare.

[oakley]

I did some tomato sorting of seed packets last August...two lower right piles in the pic i will not be growing next year. 25-30-ish so far. Just now pulled my seed suitcase in from the garage and afraid to open it is so stuffed.

Seeds saved and newly acquired this Fall are in a heap on the work table downstairs where my winter garden has been started...

I also zip-lock in categories. Then larger gallon size zip-lock for 'early planting', then 'warm soil', then late, etc.

Soon i will open my case and organize. It works for me as i have to travel with it. Most of the summer it is in the barn upstate, then travels back to the city for the winter. Has worked well for ten years or so and no critters can get in....they have tried. It was a gift from a friend. She found it at a yard sale. Lined with cedar. My bulk seeds like cover crops and sunflowers and micro greens are in another similar case for travel...

[MissS]

Well Salt I save my seeds just the same way as you. The difference is is that I use (2) 4 inch binders and have only one or two packs of seeds in each row so that I can have room to grow. I also leave a few blank pages at the end of each section so that I have room to fill it in. One binder is for A-L the other for M-Z. All of my tomato seeds are in these binders. They are alphabetized and each pack has a label made from using 1/2 of an index card. On the card is the name and then a colored line across the top which is the same color as the tomato. In the bottom corner of the card the color is also written in colored ink as well as if it is a dwarf/heart or whatever. On the back of the card are my notes as to the type of tomato it is. Days to maturity, leaf form, taste, color and plant form. As you have, I also use a spreadsheet which makes it quite easy to look up what it is that I have and what I want to be growing. For seeds that I have saved large quantities of I also have pencil cases inside the binder and I put these seeds in there.

[Gardeneer]

I have a box , similar in shape and size to a fishing box. Every tomato, pepper , ... seed is in there. seeds from sellers are in their original packets. The ones I have save and/or received (Donation, trade ) are in small clear plastic bags.

1- I have zip bag for tomatoes that I will grow this year.
2- I have another like above , marked as "MAYBE !!"
3- I have yet another bag , just there ,maybe in the future ...

I have similar grouping arrangement for peppers.

Nothing is in any order, alphabetic, etc. Every time I have to go thru one by one. BUT I have a small number of varieties ; Less than 100 tomato, less than 50 peppers. So it'll take me just a few minutes to see what I have.
To me organizing can be time saving IFF you are dealing with a large quantity and do it very often. It is not the case with me.

[b54red]

I use some simple index file boxes that are about 5 X 7 inches. I then label small business envelopes that fit in them and inside each envelope I place small coin envelopes with the seed in them. I put the envelopes in the small file boxes in alphabetical order so I can find them quickly and store them inside the house in a desk drawer where it is dark and cool. I can label the coin envelopes with each years seeds I save and throw out the ones that are too old. I only keep the varieties that I use regularly in the index file boxes. I do this for all my vegetable seeds that are very small. I have one file box for peppers, two for tomatoes and one for things like broccoli and lettuce. Things like beans have to just go in a small box on a shelf.

Bill

[AlittleSalt]

We have an older filing cabinet that I store the binders in. Just guessing, the filing cabinet was probably made in the 50s or 60s. It is pretty heavy and would most likely make it through a fire. We have looked at the new ones sold at Walmart around tax time. Some are made of plastic and others are not much thicker than a Coke can.

[KarenO]

I do similar to salt except I find adding new seeds to a large alphabetical collection is a pain in the you know what.
I have a binder for:
reds and pinks
Orange, yellow and bicolour
Blacks and green when ripe
Cherries and dwarfs
Hearts and pastes
Oddballs and experimentals
My own breeding projects sorted by filial generation
I can find what I'm looking for and when I get something new I just add it or replace old seeds of that variety.
KarenO

[Raiquee]

IMG_2212.jpg

IMG_2211.jpg

So I have a 9 drawer system that I put down in the basement to keep dark and cool. And because tomato/peppers are not my only vice, I need a drawer system.

However it's not easily organized and my pepper and tomato collection has gotten out of control for a drawer so I may get binders and put them in card collector slots. I used to do that when I could fit it all in one binder (for all my seed)

[jtjmartin]

I divide my tomatoes into regular, dwarf, cherry and paste types alphabetically. They are stored in the typical 2X3 envelopes that so many of you recommended. All of them still fit in about one side of a waterproof plastic box.

seed storage.JPG

I use Microsoft Word to actually figure out what I want to plant. I use the same paste, dwarf, cherry divisions but then I make sure to also you GWR, YWR, HEAT, HEART type indicators so that I can . . . search for all Heart type tomatoes - or green-when-ripe.

seed database copy.jpg

[AlittleSalt]

Well, it's Sunday night. It took both Saturday and Sunday to go through all the seed varieties. Right now, they are just in alphabetical order. The pictures are of the ones that I haven't saved seeds for and there are no crosses or grow-outs. Those are in a different binder.

I like the ideas you all have provided. I can see all of them working well for our collection.

MissS, I like this "One binder is for A-L the other for M-Z. All of my tomato seeds are in these binders. They are alphabetized and each pack has a label made from using 1/2 of an index card." I will need to do the #-A-L and M-Z thing with two binders. I know I could buy a bigger/wider binder, but I already have an extra binder the same size. I had not thought about the index card part - good idea. I may adapt that to my seed books. I'll probably type and print the info and glue or tape... or maybe laminate the info to the half index cards. Otherwise, I might end up with writer's cramp.

JTJMartin, I also do that in MS Word. I like seeing the pictures just as much as reading info about them.

I haven't touched the pepper seeds yet. Nor have I made Word documents or double checked if I have them all in exact alphabetical order in Excel - that starts tomorrow. Here are a couple pictures. After all the work on them this weekend, I thought the shot glass was a perfect size ref.

[AKmark]

Robert, that is a great idea.

[jmsieglaff]

I too use a thick binder--admittedly I saw it here on TVille!