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Anywhere from 1 day to 2,000 years...the best way to achieve 2,000 year shelf life is dry and cold storage.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.How long do seeds stay viable before planting? What is the best way to store them?
*** 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.
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....How long do seeds stay viable before planting? What is the best way to store them?