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Gold Hill, Oregon

this weekends seed auction (ctgspga) they mentioned that some of the seeds had been kept frozen. i would like to know how long do they stay good when kept frozen? i was told to keep them in sealed fruit jars and put them in a cool (not to cold) dark place like a pantry or something. anyone know the life span frozen or otherwise?

12/8/2008 12:29:08 AM

Upstate S.C.

Big Pumpkin, an eviroment that has the least amount of moisture it the best. A perfect inviroment is a Frezzer or refrig sealed.

12/8/2008 1:30:39 AM

Western NY

I started 6 seeds this year that were 1998 or older. The only 3 that germinated were ones that had been stored in the freezer, presumably for the last several years.

12/8/2008 10:28:15 AM

ordinary,VA

good read BPD scroll down to the seed article.


http://msucares.com/lawn/garden/vegetables/storing/index.html

12/8/2008 11:00:19 AM

milford, CT,

Some vegetable and flower seeds need a freeze cycle to kick off their viability. I freeze mine in a double ziplock baggie( to protect from the defrost cycle). I've had good luck even on older seeds. I don't know if pumpkins have the same type of cycle but it doesn't seem to hurt germination. I'd like to hear other's input??? Mark

12/8/2008 8:00:59 PM

Pocatello ([email protected])

Stratification is actually required for some types of seed.

A few years ago I was playing with one of my seed stocks. I tried germinating a few... not good results. Tried again, no dice. Then I froze the whole bag of seeds for a few weeks. After the freezing, the seeds came up much better!

Unfortunately, I didn't record any of this. Perhaps I should have...

12/9/2008 12:13:24 PM