Seed trays, storing seeds, etc.

[TomatoDon]

Hi all,

I planted 100 more seeds today to have ready for my late crop, and will soon be ready to store my leftover seed. What is the best way? Just store them in the package they came in, kept in a drawer or closet? Refrigerator? I've heard different ways.

As always, I had some mistakes, but I may have corrected one. I bought seed trays (these had 72 cells per tray, and these fit in a bottom tray) and planted quite a few of these with different vegetables. One problem is the cells always dry out faster than you think they will. And with one tray nesting snug in the other you can't very well add extra water to the bottom and see what's going on. Another problem, I left them out one night and it rained and filled the whole tray and my seedlings spent a few hours up to their necks in water. I caught it in time and they made it fine though. Still, I knew I had to come up with something better.

To solve both problems I did this. I cut one section of the cell tray off, which contained 18 cells. This left me with 54 cells, which is plenty. Next, I drilled a few holes about 1/2 inch up from the bottom in the solid tray that the cell tray sits in. Now, with the smaller sized cell tray I can position it in the middle of the solid tray on the bottom and add water to the "pan" and not directly on the seedlings. I can add up to a half inch of water and it self-waters from the bottom up pretty nicely. If I leave them out and it rains while I'm gone it can only fill a half inch, and then it runs out the drain holes.

So far, it's working well, and it didn't cost a thing to solve both problems. Works much better this way. IF any of you have tried something similar I would like to hear how you do it.

Don