When the gardening season finishes, it’s likely you will have leftover seeds in your packets or from harvesting your crops. Don’t throw them away! When properly stored, most vegetables seeds and flower seeds can outlast their “sell by” date by at least a year —sometimes for years. Even saving a few seeds from this year’s harvest can make a difference in next year’s growing season. Learn how to properly store seeds for long-term viability and how to maximize their lifespan.
Why Store Seeds
Since the dawn of agriculture and gardening, seed saving has been a time-honored practice. Intentionally saving seeds has many benefits for gardeners, including but not limited to:
- Self-Sufficient: ardening allows you to be self-sufficient and grow your own food rather than using store-bought produce. You choose what you want to grow in your garden, and what characteristics each plant offers that you prefer.
- Saving Money:: While seed packets can be less expensive than purchasing the plant itself, annual vegetables need to be replanted each year. By saving seeds, you can extend the use of a seed packet to plant your favorite variety for more than one season and cut some of your gardening costs .
- Biodiversity Conservation:: Seed storage at a larger level, called seed conservation, is an important practice for preserving food security and the biodiversity of our planet. Saving seeds ensures access to heirloom and rare varieties in the future.
- Community Sharing: Many communities offer seed swaps or seed libraries for local gardeners to trade offerings with one another. This can be a cost-effective way to garden if you are on a tight budget or find unique seeds.
- Keep What Works:: If you find a crop that thrives in your garden, savings its seeds allows you to grow it year after year. However, practicing crop rotation is going to be essential to maintain soil health and prevent disease.
Choosing Seeds for Storage
When purchasing seed packets from a retailer like Gurney’s, there’s a high chance that you will not use all the seeds provided in the packets. In addition, when you harvest your crops from the garden, they will come with their own seeds that you can use in the future. You will want to assess the seed vigor when choosing which seeds to store; seed vigor affects everything from germination rates to health and yields. When choosing seeds from the plants themselves to store, be sure the mother plant is healthy, otherwise the future seeds will not be viable.
Proper Seed Harvesting and Preparation
Proper handling is crucial for storing seeds, especially when harvesting seeds directly from crops. Be gentle when handling the crop and do not throw or drop the crop as it can decrease the vigor or the germination rate when handled improperly. Different vegetables will have different shelf lives and preparation times for seed storage. Always follow best practices for each plant type and refer to seed packets for specific storage instructions. Some crops will have easier instructions for seed storage, like lettuce or tomatoes and flower seed like marigolds or zinnias, while other varieties that cross-pollinate may be harder to save, like broccoli and squash.
Organizing Your Seeds
As you prep your seeds for storage, you will want a way to organize seeds for easy reference. You will see numerous options available to organize seeds for purchase online. There are dedicated storage boxes, binders, and even envelopes that can store seeds and keep them organized. As mentioned before, different seeds have different shelf lives, so it may make sense to group seeds with similar shelf lives/storage conditions/crop rotation families.
Best Storage Conditions for Longevity
However you choose to organize your seeds, you will need an air-tight container with a good seal to keep the seeds in to prevent pests like rodents and keep seeds dry. High temperatures and high humidity will reduce the seed’s germination rate and vigor for future use, so plan to store seeds in a cool place with lower humidity levels. Many people choose to store seeds in a cool, dry place in their homes like a closet, basement shelf, or cabinet that is naturally cooler than the rest of the house. Some seeds may benefit from being stored in the refrigerator, but you will need to monitor the humidity levels as refrigerators have higher humidity levels than the other storage methods we mentioned.
Best Practices with Seed Storage
As the seed gets older, no matter how well you prep the seed, the germination rate will decrease. When planting stored seeds, you can mix newer seeds with older dated seeds to improve germination rates. We also recommend that you keep the original seed packet or take a picture of it in case you need to reference it in the future. Be cognizant of how the seeds will pollinate or if they were heirloom or hybrid varieties, as this may yield different results each time you plant them in your garden.
By properly storing seeds, you can extend their lifespan, reduce waste, and ensure a productive garden year after year. Whether you’re saving seeds for cost savings, biodiversity, or convenience, a little preparation goes a long way toward preserving your favorite plants for seasons to come.
