Storing Seeds

Hope someone can help me. I am new to the DG website and also new to seed collecting! I have bunches of Rudbeckia Seed from my garden as well as a few other kinds of seeds collected from my sister's yard, and also a friends yard. I am not sure how to store them! Can they be put in tightly sealed glass jars as long as they are dry? And, my plan was to put the jars in a closet (inside, where it's airconditioned), but I'm not sure if that's the best place.

I'm not real sure if anything will germinate come spring, or whenever I get a chance to try planting them, but would love some information on how they should be stored. How long should dried seed be viable? Or, does it depend on what plant it's from?


Thanks for any answers!

Lin

I keep mine in the veggie drawer of my fridge. Many people, including me, wintersow rudbeckia. They seem to like the cold treatment so storing them in the fridge might prompt them to germinate quicker next spring since you may be a little too far south for wintersowing. I've still not transplanted all of the seedlings from last winter. They may not all be viable, but you probably will have more to come up than you know what to do with. Seed sowing is an obsession, so is seed buying and trading. Hope this helps.

Digs

Sorry,
I didn't tell you what I use for storage: old paper envelopes, ziploc bags, small medicine bottles, etc. Mostly, I use paper envelopes, some homemade. I save all those little silica packets that come in meds and shoe boxes and throw one in now and then.

Digs

Digs:

Thanks so much for the info! I have so many Rudbeckia seeds, and Four O'clock seeds ..... hopefully some of them will be viable next spring and germinate for me. I think I will put some in envelopes as you suggested and store them in the frig, and maybe store some in the glass mason jars (tightly sealed) on a closet shelf.

I am excited to see how it all works!

Lin

I have always refrained from putting seeds in airtite/sealed containers..I usually put them in a sealer jar and just use the ring with a coffee filter to allow for any condensation to dissipate.Or small samples in envelopes/paper.