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Re: [seedsavers] Some basic questions- Thanks-



Thank you for that excellent post. It answered many questions for me, as it did many other folks.

 

Linda :)

-------------- Original message from oowonbs@netscape.net: --------------


> Here's something I did for http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-Squash list.
> BillSF9c
>
> I saw the seedsaving in Wikipedia and a couple of us added to it.
> As of last night it was still rather general. "Our" seeds versus
> tropical seeds, even though melons might be slightly tropical (???) is
> different. Mimic winter. Winter means cold, and chapped lips, dry
> skin. Ever see an old piece of cheesecake in the fridge? > aside..> it shrinks. It is literally a slowwww version of freeze
> drying. How about a forgotten steak in the freezer, with a broken
> seal. Dry as a bone. Seeds want to see 15 % moisture, even down to 7%,
> if you were going all out, and were going to do your best to approach
> cryogenic multi -decad e seed saving.
>
> For us, let your seeds dry on paper, once cleaned. (A few serious
> folks use hydrogen peroxide, now, or before they plant to reduce
> surface stuff like damp off disease, or just to clean the seeds extra.)
>
> Now, let them dry further in a fridge. In a paper bag is ok. On a
> paper is fine if you won't spill, but you could go *so* far as to use
> a disinfected paper bag even. (Sterile is a word avoided, when it is
> not sincerely meant. 140-150F will deter many fungi. Stay under 160F
> And this is for the bag/paper, not the seeds! LOL! And this is
> overkill. A clean paper towel is great. Newspaper is actually pretty
> clean also, if freshly opened!) Not plastic, natch.
>
> If you leave them in a fridge for a month, they ought to have a low
> enough moisture content if they were small seeds to be put into a
> freezer. Bigger seeds may take longe r. Why risk it. Leave them in the
> fridge a couiple months. If there were many seeds, "a cupful" will dry
> slower than a 1/4 cupful that is spread over an area. So don't just
> have a whole cupful all in one place, if you want faster drying.
> Spread them on a paper towel. Roll it up so seeds are 1 layer deep.
>
> Don't roll too many layers. You may also fold. Some might use 6 layers
> of pumpkin seeds, in a 6x6 plastic storage container, cutting paper
> towel in quarters to fit. Leave the lid off. Don't put them in the
> moist veg crisper. leave the lid off. Putting this in a paper bag with
> the lid under the container and stapling the bag is one idea. These
> seeds will be good to seal and save in a couple months.
>
> For decades of storage, freezing can be considered. It's risky until
> you experiment a few times with some cheap seeds for practice. But
> freezers these day s cycl e warm to defrost. Bad stuff for us. So the
> seeds must be well insulated so that warmth never gets through to
> them. There are many ways to do that, too.
>
> For most folks, just dry in open air... and fridge, unsealed (paper
> bag or etc.) when dry, still open to air for a week or so, then seal.
> Desi cant is optional. Many desiccants are reusable if you "recharge"
> them. This usually means nuking on low for a few minutes, oven, or
> "frying" them over v v low heat for an hour. these come with all
> manner of shoes, pill, purses, camera gear, etc. Heck, put salt on a
> piece of paper towel and tape it shut. Bingo. With desiccant, you can
> place dried seeds in a plastic sealed container sooner, in the fridge.
>
> So you've got autumn dryness... Then coolness, very slowly approaching
> or sometimes even reaching, freezing. You copy nature. Lots of ways to
> do it. Mos t seed s are somehow protected before freezing though. And if
> they are not almost dry, freezing bursts their cells. if they are <7%
> moisture, they don't easily survive that either. For most of us, a
> fridge, perhaps with desiccant, is the farthest we go. I like an amber
> yeast jar, myself. light can be an issue with a few seeds I think I
> heard.
>
> Now onions, if you are *good,* you might get them to survive a year.
> They are just poor sports. but look at them... They want to be fall
> planted. They don't *need* to be saved in the same way. I dunno what
> other seeds are hard to save, except many tropical seeds are good for
> just a very few hours, out of the flesh.
>
> And corn was just brought to my attention. It's moist and takes
> longer to dry. Dry on the ear, or waste some and cut slabs off the
> sides so the seeds all stick up and you lay it flat to dry.
&g t;
> BillSF9c
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