Seed storage time

How long do seeds stay viable before planting? What is the best way to store them?
Thousands of years as @CelestialNurseries mentioned. We are at the 100th year anniversary of the discovery of King Tut's pryamid tomb in Egypt so that has hit the news. One news story mentioned that they found some wheat seeds left in an urn and some of those seeds sprouted. That makes those seeds over 3,000 years old.

When it comes to Marijuana seeds your question is asked fairly often and storing in the fridge seems to be the most popular place. Place the seeds in a small container with the name of the strain if it is known. Write down the date and any other info. Surprising how easy it is for us to forget all those bits of info a year or two later.

Occasionally people give me seeds and I store them in the fridge and will use small plastic snack bags, plastic 35mm film cans or 'doob tubes' for the most part.

One guy I know stored seeds in baggies which he placed on the shelves above the stove. Five years later he gave a bunch away and there was a close to 100% germination rate.
 
There are three variables in storing seeds; temperature, humidity and light. The cooler, dryer and darker the better. A fridge provides an excellent environment. The first step is to make sure the seeds are dry before storing otherwise, the seeds may rot. I spread seeds out on a surface out of direct sunlight and allow them to dry for two weeks. Storing for a year or less I'll put the seeds in a plastic pill container or wrapped in plastic in the fridge. For a longer storage I'll package the seeds in tinfoil and place in the freezer. This link gives a detailed explanation on how to seal the seeds so they don't suffer freezer burn. See post #42.

 
Here's how I do it

*** Seed Storage ***

I'm seeing lots of questions in different threads lately on how to store the seeds you aren't going to plant right away.

I keep mine in the fridge, lower shelf and way out back behind other stuff. A darkened and sealed container is best to block the light. An amber glass jar with a screw-on lid would be perfect.

The consistent low temperature and low humidity is very helpful to long term seed storage. Some folks even advocate keeping them in the freezer. I've had no noticeable degradation in germination rates even after 5 years and more.

If you don't keep them in the fridge, but just at ambient room temps, the fluctuating temperatures and humidity levels throughout the year will significantly affect germination rates as time goes on. If you're just keeping them a year or so it might not matter much, but anything more than that and the fridge is your friend.

When I want to plant some I take out just what I need and put the rest back in the fridge as quickly as I can. I want the storage group to have as little time out as possible, and I certainly don't want them warming up to room temperature. The rising temps can also change humidity levels and further degrade the seeds chances of sprouting.
 
How long do seeds stay viable before planting? What is the best way to store them?
I asked a handful of very well known breeders their best methods for storage... These breeders are people that probably most everyone here has heard of before and here was the commonalities....

COLD
DARK
DRY
vac sealed or low oxygen
very little to no temperature fluctuation.

Most of the breeders said these were the preferred methods... Some went into detail and said that freezer is better than fridge. I asked the question about longevity and most didn't really have an answer but those that did said in the refrigerator 10+ years and in the freezer 20+ years.

I would imagine if stored correctly they could go for many decades...

I started making seeds roughly about 5 or 6 years ago... I store mine in the refrigerator in mylar bags with oxygen and moisture absorbers and I've had no issues with the oldest seeds popping.

And really with tissue culture methods and Gibberalic Acid there are a lot of people able to get genetics from seeds from the 60s and 70s that were poorly stored in baggies in attics and basements.... So properly stored they probably could go for a very long time.
 
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