Saving Seeds - In General

Hello All,
I have been harvesting seeds from my gardens for years. I haven't given much thought (until now) about how they are stored. I keep them separated and some in an unheated greenhouse over the winter, some just in a cool place. I have had great success with starting most - but haven't keep any records on ones that have failed or how they were stored. Should I? Is there a general rule of thumb for keeping seeds over the winder period, or do I have to treat each type differently? Should they be in the freezer, fridge, warm house??? Yikes, the possibilities.
I 'm on my way to list the seeds I have on my trade list - (once I find out where that is).
Thanks :)
Joanne

For most common wildflowers and veggies keeping them dry is a *must*, and cooler is better for prolonging viability.
The two greatest enemies in seed storage are high humidity and high temperatures. Seeds stored at fluxuating temps and humidity will quickly degrade.

In general, freezing is the best as long as seed moisture is sufficienty low (about 5-10%) . Don't worry about the numbers tho. If the seed shatters when dry, the moisture content is low enough.

My seed storage is the freezer or fridge at all times. I do however let all seeds come to room temp before opening the jar to avoid condensation the inside of the jar, on seeds or seed packages.

With that said, there are plenty of people who keep seeds in lots of different locations, a kitchen drawer, the bedroom, or unheated spaces. They get fine germination from their seeds. Seeds do last longer than we tend to give credit for the most part (there are species that just do not have a long shelf life so to speak). So for just 1/2 a year or so-you will not loose much germination in most seeds by keeping them at normal house temps. For longer storage think about the freezer or at least the fridge.

Hi Caron,
Thanks for the response. From that information, I think it will be safe to keep them in the greenhouse. I checked today and even though it's -9 C (about 20 F) outside it's +10C (about 40 F) in the greenhouse, mind you it's a lovely bright sunny day.

I have some Dahlia tubers and Murielae corms out there in peatmoss - I think I'll leave them there for the winter, last year I just stored then in a cool dark place. They potted up fine, I had close to 100 Dahlia's potted up and eventually planted - NO MORE - that was way too much work. I wish I had DG then.
Thanks again
Joanne

I have a question for you seed savers: Will someone please send me (via e-mail) a rough layout or pattern for printing out a seed envelope from my computer? I have been saving seeds in little tiny tupperwares, envelopes, baggies, etc. A couple months ago I got some seeds from a DG'er and they arrived in a wonderful custom made envelope that had the name of the seed, planting instructions, the gardner's name on it - it was truly a wonderful creation - thanks Dstartz! I'm jelly - I want to do that, too!

You can find seeds envelopes that you can print here on DG. At the top of the page click on trading, then click on trading primer and then on the left side no. 3 Seed Trading. About halfway down the page it talks about making your own seed envelopes and tells you to click on the blue word 'here' and it will take you to the seed packets. There are a number to choose from.

Thanks Nightowl, somehow I missed that when I went through the primer the first time around. Those are awesome! I was happily surprised by how many different ones there are!