Organization and Storage of seeds

[rwsacto]

Lets see.

Each variety is in a small labeled plastic bag. I have a plastic ziplock bag with most of the ones I planted last year. Then I have another smaller bag with a bunch of different dwarf seeds and another small bag with all the seeds that end in "boar" Most of the heart varieties have their own bag. There is another bag with the mystery trade seeds of 2014 that were never planted. Oh, and then there is the bag with all the seeds that I saved last year, and in 2013.
Wait, what was the question again?

[sdambr]

Originally Posted by joseph

My seeds are stored in the seed room.

And in the kitchen freezer, and in the downstairs freezer, and in the garage, and in the truck, and on the kitchen tables, and under the computer desk, and in the master bedroom, and in the spare bedroom, and at my mother's and in the barn, and at my brothers, and in the shed, and in the garage, and in the truck, and in the jeep.

They are stored in bins, and boxes, and bags, and sacks, and trays, and tubs, and tool-boxes, and mason jars, and bowls, and ammo cans...

Bulk seeds are mostly stored in glass jars with steel lids. Small seeds like tomatoes are mostly stored in plastic zip-lock bags.

There ain't no database, nor list....

I Laughed way to hard

[Tomato Beth]

So far, I have seeds in their own tiny ziploc bag if I received them from trades. The ones I saved from my tomatoes last year ended up in cleaned medication bottles since I had too many for the littl bags. I label those with magic marker. The whole mess is being saved in some plastic grocery bags inside a larger box. My dog likes to eat seeds, so I have to put it up high on a shelf that a 60 pound black lab can't reach, the big stinker. He's very smart and very persistent when he wants something!

[joseph]

The seeds that I value most are stored like this:

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by bughunter99

1. Open seed envelope and retrieve seeds.
2. Close seed envelope and toss in ginormous shoe box.
3. Sore box on floor of closet

Next season joyously empty entire box on bed and select the candidates.
Toss envelopes of repeat spitters.

I still have good germination rates so so far, so good.

I do similar. I also stored them on the back porch in AZ for about 6 years. Still got almost 100% germination this year despite.
I'm currently missing an entire box of summer seeds though and it's very annoying.

[JerryL]

Glass vials labeled with year and sequential numbering. Labeling tracked on a spreadsheet that is backed up several times.

[TressJ]

Great ideas and very helpful, thanks for all of the responses!

[joseph]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

If I have seeds of the same variety from multiple years or different sources, they each get their own little bag and they get taped together with blue tape.

Reminds me of my bulk tomato seed bottle.... Lots of people send me tomatoes that I don't want to plant this year, and I don't ever really want to plant, and I don't care about the stories behind them, and they probably are too long season, and would just be one more average tomato. And I really don't want to clutter my life with hundreds of packets of tomato seeds. So all those kinds of tomato seeds get opened and combined into a bottle together. Some years I might plant a pinch of that seed if I'm feeling adventurous. That allows me to keep the diversity around without being burdened by the stories and names.

I find myself doing that with lots of other species as well. An incoming runner bean is just a runner bean that probably won't produce seed for me. It might as well be lumped together with all the other incoming runner beans. People send me more tomato seeds than anything else, even though I almost never ask for tomato seeds. So the tomato seed bottle is the most developed.

[charley]

beth the texas chili cook off is the funniest thing ive read in years.i spewed coffee all over the computer screen thanks for sharing

[ddsack]

Joseph, expect an incoming bottle of varieties that I don't like and will never grow again. I've been wondering what to do with them since I don't like to waste seed. Now that I know they will find a good home with you -- problem solved!

[joseph]

ddsack: sounds good. Then ten years from now, after I have planted a pinch of your seed, I'll discover a really-super and glorious variety. Then I can give it a name that I make up. And release it into the world. And it will look, and grow, and taste just exactly like some world famous variety that I have never heard of... And the participants in tomatoville can whine about how they hate it when names get all mixed up.

[Zana]

Mine are in coin envelopes in alphabetical by type and year (unless I have large quantities of a seed type/sku's ....then they go in medicine bottles or even 250-1000ml mason jars) in large shoebox size airtight plastic bins. Currently all plastic bins and bottles/jars are stored in 2 rubbermaid bins in preparation for moving. Otherwise they're organised on a dedicated bookcase/shelf unit in the basement cold cellar.

[NarnianGarden]

Mine are stored and kept in various envelopes, plastic bags, ziplock bags inside larger bags and inside a glass jar in the fridge. There should be a system to the madness. More often than not I know where everything is placed..
Except when I could not find the pepper seeds any more and realized I might have given all away
I started to look for my cucumber seeds and couldn't find any. Then, thank God, noticed they were in another plastic bag separate from the main stash. Oh the joy to know I have a couple of balcony cucumber seeds left - the variety is a cucumber pumping machine!