Glassine envelopes for saving seed? Or something else.

I've been using empty pill containers to save seed, but they take up a lot of room. I'm wondering what y'all use.

Does anyone use glassine envelopes? If so, can they be purchased locally? Does anyone have an online source if they can't be purchased locally.

Also, how do you store seeds to preserve viability?

As always, thanks for your help.

HB

I use little ziploc bags. you can find them in he craft section of Walmart. I also keep my seed packs in bigger ziploc bags to keep them dry. Some people keep them in the frig and some will freeze them. I think dry is the mos important. Check Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth out of the library for a lot of practical information

Coin envelopes, or ones I make from the websites that offer free seed packet templates...no special storage other than keeping them dry. They end up wherever there's room for them!

Once thoroughly dried, I enclose them in waxed paper and freeze.
I keep all my seeds in a cloth shopping bag in the freezer.

Inside the shopping bag, I have them sorted in ziplocks by
veggie, herbal, annual and perennial seeds.

That way, I can grab what I am looking for easily.

I use coin envelopes too. They are easy to label, easy to seal, large enough for quite a few seeds, cheap and readily available at any office supply store.

Great ideas, thanks to all who responded. The coin envelopes sound interesting, I'll have to check them out.

I use white coin envelopes; I have them in two sizes, for small seeds like tomatoes and peppers and for larger seeds like beans and some melons. If I'm being extra careful I put the envelopes in a half-gallon jar, add desiccant packets, and close it up, keeping it in a dark, cool place over the winter. The white paper envelopes are also easy to label, and I like the fact that they can breathe.

greenhouse_gal - I feel the same way about seeds needing to breathe. To me they are a living thing, and all living things need to breathe. Although I have read that one can keep seeds in sealed plastic bags, I worry about the air trapped inside losing oxygen and the seeds suffocating.

Where did you find your white coin envelopes?

I bought mine from Reimer Seeds in 2008, but it looks like they just carry the plastic ones now. Amazon has them, though

http://www.amazon.com/Coin-Envelope-24-White-Pkg/dp/B003XNEQHY/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1314987088&sr=8-14

in smaller quantities as well as larger ones; I bought 50 each of the #5's, 3 1/8 x 5 1/2", and the #1's, 2 1/4 x 3 1/2" when I ordered them, and I still have some.

Thanks for the link, GG - Amazon always amazes me as to the number of things they sell.

Coin envelopes - you might check with an office supply store, craft store or Walmart...

Podster...do you ever have problems freezing your seeds? I've read the moisture level in the seeds has to be low in order for freezing not to kill the embryo.

Ms. Tommie

Oh, after I dry my seeds I store them in envelopes inside a large glass mason jar (stored in the fridge) with a few moisture absorbing crystals, packets (like those in shoe boxes) or a small envelope of powdered milk. I store purchased seed packets the same way if I'm carrying them over for the next season.

Ms. Tommie

This message was edited Sep 9, 2011 8:06 AM

Hmmm, I always simply used a small letter envelope, tagged and sealed and threw it in a kitchen drawer, I was always taught that plastic seals moisture in and causes rot and mold, unless the seed was so dry it wasnt coming back to life, mine have always survived well for at least up to 5 years for what I preserved, an didn't use, and i dont worry the fridge will accidently freeze them, even bulbs that are dormant I just stick in a dark room til planting time to imitate real conditions as close as possible...

I also use 2x3" Ziplocs from WalMart (100 for $1). Those are big enough for a useful, detailed printed label inside the pkt. Sometimes I use 1.5" x 1.5" Ziploc, for small quantities with concise lables, like tomatoes & peppers. And I store tomato and pepper seed in the fridge in a small jar, which I try to never open cold, to prevent condensartion inside the jar.

For all other seeds, I put many related 2x3" Ziplocks inside a plastic jar (from 2 pounds of peanuts or peanut butter).
For organization, I group related 2x3" Ziplocs into a 3x4" Ziplock, or 3.5":x5": glassine bag, or a conventional paper seed packet within the jar.

I keep one paper coin envelope with a tablespoon of silica gel in each plastic jar. That might keep the jar TOO dry when the silica gel is very fresh: like 10% or lower. If I leave the big jar closed for a long time, humidity will migrate out of the Ziplocs and the seeds will be exposed to 20% RH or even 10% RH. I believe that the optimum is relative humidity might be as high as 25% to 35%.
(http://www.hillgardens.com/storeseeds.htm)

My plan for the future is to use less desiccant in each jar. I might even wrap the desiccant in a little plastic film, to slow down its ability to dry out the jar below 20% RH.

I have a humidity-indicating strip in each jar, but you can use a slip of newsprint instead. If the newsprint is limp, it is much too humid. If the newsprint is crinkly and makes noise when you wrinkle it, it is probably dry enough for long-term storage
.
I store my jars in a cardboard box to keep them dark and even out temperature swings a little.

I can do this because I go into each jar rather seldom, so the desiccant is not exhausted.

When I have to store seeds in containers that get opened frequently (the New Bee seed stash) I do like Doug9345: 2x3" Ziplocs inside quart Ziplocs inside gallon Ziplocs. I do that partly to keep related seeds together so I can find them in categories and sub-categories, or alphabetically. And partly for humidity stabilization of the smallest pkts.

>> I was always taught that plastic seals moisture in and causes rot and mold, unless the seed was so dry it wasn't coming back to life,

Many people think the same thing, and yet huge numbers of people store in Ziplocs without mold or reduced viability. You just have to finish drying the seeds enough to prevent mold, before closing the Ziploc.

Both work fine and both have advocates.

Plastic Ziplocs do breath a little oxygen and humidity, just slowly. Even humidity can migrate right through thin plastic, and the "zipper" part is even more permeable. (I got that from asking someone on the Drierite website, even though I like silica gel much better than Drierite now that I've used both.)

If seeds did consume very much oxygen, they would use up all their stored food quickly and die. In fact, they must respire very slowly, so slowly that they can get what they need right through a Ziploc.

I bought a box of the paper coin envelopes: 4 times as expensive as Ziplocs, and I can't see how many seeds are left, or re-seal it as easily or as completely. I seldom use my paper coin envelopes.

If I want to enclose seeds or seed heads that I'm drying, I use the paper envelopes from bills and junk mail, sealed with paper clips.

Corey


This message was edited Jan 30, 2013 6:21 PM

I've not had problems to date. This year all the seeds I've started from herbs to vegetables delivered excellent germination.
I've no means of testing moisture levels but the seeds frozen are either newly purchased or well dried in the dry heat of the greenhouse.

Experience is the only thing I can base it upon ~ mine and the recommendation of others.

Corey/podster - great info, thanks. I particularly liked the *limp newspaper* tip.

newer technology helps as well, refrigerators ain't what they used to be, or we'd still be standing around with hair dryers on defrosting chores, chuckl, and ice picks would be a dime a dozen... just an old habit that worked for me-home isn't as needy as income acquiring lifestyles. Always knew ziplocs leaked, grrr, I understand why, but it has proven inconvenient several times! and I could have done without the mess of those leaks.

I store seeds in little envelopes that I fold from a square of paper from the advertising flyers that come with my newspaper. Free, they breathe if the seeds aren't quite dry and can be made in a variety of sizes. I think I found the pattern somewhere here on DG quite awhile ago.