Storing seeds?

Dynablo

Well-Known Member
:blsmoke: How long can I keep my Lemon Skunk and Critical A. seeds for? :joint: My current grow is just at the 2 week of flowering mark, and I cant grow anything else . I have them put away sealed in a packet and in a tin, so their away from any heat or light. Will they still be just as good then in 2-3 months, as long as they dont get near any water? :peace:
 

whiteflour

Well-Known Member
In a cool dark place without fluctuating tempratures they should last 2-5years. I've used seeds older but the germination rate obviously diminishes with age.
 

ganjaluvr

Well-Known Member
There will always be debate as to whether marijuana seeds should be stored in a cold environment, or simply in a cool, dry and dark place. While I believe in storing marijuana seeds in a fridge or freezer, this does not mean that I believe that reasonable success cannot be achieved with other methods. This is just the way I do it guys and gals.

A seed is a living thing, and when you put it into a cold environment, the life cycle of the seed slows down. This also means that the degradation slows which in turn means that your seed will last longer than it normally would in an environment where the life cycle of the seed continues at it's normal pace....it's why we put fruit and veg and herbs in the fridge...it slows down the life cycle and the decay, it's the same principle.

Get yourself an airtight container, eg: small Tupperware container, film canisters (which are ideal as they also block out any light) and place either a small amount of uncooked rice or loose/bagged silica crystals on the bottom of your container, these are both forms of desiccants which will soak up any moisture humidity around the marijuana seeds. You can use plastic baggies or envelopes to store your marijuana seeds. I prefer envelopes as they will allow any moisture that has been trapped around the marijuana seeds to be drawn out by the desiccant. Specially designed seed envelopes are available at some nurseries and local seed saver organizations.

I also like to label the bags/envelopes with strain, quantity and date received to make sorting easier. Put them in either your fridge or freezer....humidity/moisture and light are the enemies! Also, write a little inventory of what seeds you have so you don't need to keep the marijuana seeds out of the cool environment for too long.

Below is a guide taken from a local seed saver networks site that shows the effect of cooler temperatures on marijuana seeds.
"TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF STORAGE ENVIRONMENT Temperature and Relative Humidity are the most important factors affecting seed quality during storage. Relative humidity is the more important of these. marijuana seeds are hypocrisies, they absorb moisture from wet atmospheres and dry out in dry atmospheres. Seed storage life is doubled for each 1% decrease in moisture content.

The problems of maintaining seed germination increase with seed moisture content.
This can be generalized as follows:
Seed moisture above:
  1. 40-60% - germination occurs
  2. 18-20% - heating may occur
  3. 12-14% - fungi grown on and in seed
  4. 8- 9% - insects become active and reproduce

Heating is caused by the respiration of cannabis seeds, of fungi and bacteria in and on the seed, and of insect populations, which may build up rapidly in a moist environment. High temperature and high moisture will kill cannabis seeds rapidly as will invasion of microorganisms and insects.

Seed storage life is doubled for each 5¡ C reduction in storage temperature.
Refrigeration to at least 5¡ C is desirable (this is slightly warmer than domestic fridges).

The cooler the temperature the more slowly seed vitality declines. This rule apparently continues to apply even at temperatures below freezing. At 5¡ C and below, insects become inactive.


I have heard reports of cannabis seeds stored in this manner being germinated with high success rates after 5 years of storage. Whether or not that is attainable for everybody or every seed will most likely be unknown until we gather ourselves a little data, but I believe that this is the best way to make that stash last longer.

Hope this helped you out! I tried.. that's what matters. If it didn't help you out.. well maybe it has helped out someone else.. in the past.. or in the future.

Thanks for reading.

:peace:
 

Dynablo

Well-Known Member
There will always be debate as to whether marijuana seeds should be stored in a cold environment, or simply in a cool, dry and dark place. While I believe in storing marijuana seeds in a fridge or freezer, this does not mean that I believe that reasonable success cannot be achieved with other methods. This is just the way I do it guys and gals.

A seed is a living thing, and when you put it into a cold environment, the life cycle of the seed slows down. This also means that the degradation slows which in turn means that your seed will last longer than it normally would in an environment where the life cycle of the seed continues at it's normal pace....it's why we put fruit and veg and herbs in the fridge...it slows down the life cycle and the decay, it's the same principle.

Get yourself an airtight container, eg: small Tupperware container, film canisters (which are ideal as they also block out any light) and place either a small amount of uncooked rice or loose/bagged silica crystals on the bottom of your container, these are both forms of desiccants which will soak up any moisture humidity around the marijuana seeds. You can use plastic baggies or envelopes to store your marijuana seeds. I prefer envelopes as they will allow any moisture that has been trapped around the marijuana seeds to be drawn out by the desiccant. Specially designed seed envelopes are available at some nurseries and local seed saver organizations.

I also like to label the bags/envelopes with strain, quantity and date received to make sorting easier. Put them in either your fridge or freezer....humidity/moisture and light are the enemies! Also, write a little inventory of what seeds you have so you don't need to keep the marijuana seeds out of the cool environment for too long.

Below is a guide taken from a local seed saver networks site that shows the effect of cooler temperatures on marijuana seeds.
"TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF STORAGE ENVIRONMENT Temperature and Relative Humidity are the most important factors affecting seed quality during storage. Relative humidity is the more important of these. marijuana seeds are hypocrisies, they absorb moisture from wet atmospheres and dry out in dry atmospheres. Seed storage life is doubled for each 1% decrease in moisture content.

The problems of maintaining seed germination increase with seed moisture content.
This can be generalized as follows:
Seed moisture above:
  1. 40-60% - germination occurs
  2. 18-20% - heating may occur
  3. 12-14% - fungi grown on and in seed
  4. 8- 9% - insects become active and reproduce

Heating is caused by the respiration of cannabis seeds, of fungi and bacteria in and on the seed, and of insect populations, which may build up rapidly in a moist environment. High temperature and high moisture will kill cannabis seeds rapidly as will invasion of microorganisms and insects.

Seed storage life is doubled for each 5¡ C reduction in storage temperature.
Refrigeration to at least 5¡ C is desirable (this is slightly warmer than domestic fridges).

The cooler the temperature the more slowly seed vitality declines. This rule apparently continues to apply even at temperatures below freezing. At 5¡ C and below, insects become inactive.


I have heard reports of cannabis seeds stored in this manner being germinated with high success rates after 5 years of storage. Whether or not that is attainable for everybody or every seed will most likely be unknown until we gather ourselves a little data, but I believe that this is the best way to make that stash last longer.

Hope this helped you out! I tried.. that's what matters. If it didn't help you out.. well maybe it has helped out someone else.. in the past.. or in the future.

Thanks for reading.

:peace:
Cheers for taking at time m8, helped alot.
 
Indeed, informative, well written and very helpful. I make little envelopes out of white paper and put seeds in a mason jar with silica. Actually, if you search cornell cooperative extension and seed storage on google the mason jar, silica method is recommended. Only, they take the silica out after a week or so. I wonder why.
 

greenjambo

Well-Known Member
I just keep them in the original pkt, in envelope and in fridge till its time to get them woken and growing, and it works for me! Like the post though ganja! How you doing man! Just got some Dutch Passion Blueberry's in Post the day! but wont get the chance to grow them till ? ? ? I've got local authority wanting to come do a survey of my house to see what repairs need done! and since its took me years to get them to get their fingers out, now that they have it looks like what im running just now will be my last till ? ? ?
 
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