Giving Seeds What They Need In Storage
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Article by: Fred Davis On a recent visit to the home , Rose - The Flower of Love and Romance of dear friends--a family blend of professionals, gardeners, homemaker, outdoorsman, and delightful youngsters--we brought along a package of choice vegetable seeds , A Low Maintenance Landscape Can Save You Money that I knew would be accepted with appreciation, and probably shared with several of their friends as well. My heart sank as our host retrieved a Tupperware container from a cabinet above the stove. In it were small, labeled paper envelopes containing an assortment of their cherished seeds , Taming Your Outdoors carefully saved from the previous season. , Everything You need to Know to Set up Your Square Foot Garden Temperatures in this cupboard that Thanksgiving Day had to have been better than 100 degrees and, in all likelihood, it must frequently have soared to well in excess of 120 as large dinners cooked and scrumptious desserts baked. Humidity levels must almost certainly have wildly fluctuated between a parched zero and a sloshy 100% as torrents of steam bathed those cabinets as well. Hot , Lawn Care Information and crackling dry one day; hot , Cyclamen and tropic-wet the next! As you might have already guessed, those are not the ideal seed , Oregano: Joy of the Mountain storage conditions. So, how and where should they be kept to maintain vigor and viability? First, consider that only drying-tolerant seeds , Should You Hire a Landscape Designer? (those that can handle drying out; see note, below) will enter into the following discussion--nearly all common flowers, , Garden On The Cheap herbs, , Plants, Birds, Love and Deer Hate vegetables, , Landscape and Outdoor Lighting - Less is Definitely More shrubs, , Wedding Flowers and a great many trees. , New Ideas For Your Backyard Landscaping Project Drying-intolerant types like aquatics, some large-seeded plants, , Hibiscus Care and the nut-like seeds , Forcing Bulbs for Indoor Bloom: Even 'Brownthumbers' Can Do It of a number of trees--oak, chestnut, ginkgo and buckeye, for example--are normally planted fresh, and are usually not long-term storable. In their natural , A Guide to Vines and How to Vine Beauty with Your Garden setting, drying-intolerant seeds fall , Cyclamen to the ground and then immediately germinate. Nature--whose methods are age-old, tested and proven steadfastly effective--almost always gradually matures and dries seeds , Reblooming Poinsettia on the plant. , US Flag Etiquette Nature , Birdfeeders & Birdhouses - The Perfect Outdoor Accessories has learned that, as seeds , The Basics of Mulch undergo this drying and transition from active growth to full dormancy, important physiological changes , Patio Swings Spruce Up Your Outdoor Space with Comfort and Style occur as food , A Guide to Vines and How to Vine Beauty with Your Garden reserves convert from vulnerable sugars to more stable (storable) fats and starches. In this more stable condition, a broad range of seed , New Ideas For Your Backyard Landscaping Project types can be stored for sometimes years. . .assuming optimum storage conditions are maintained. What are those ideal conditions? Humidity levels within the storage environment , A Low Maintenance Landscape Can Save You Money should, as a general rule, be maintained in the range of 25-35%. The average home , Exotic Plants and Flowers for Guys: Trends in Flowers as Elegant as they are Masculine during a typical northern-tier winter , Control Weeds Effectively In Your Garden is exceptionally dry, often dipping into the low teens. Lower-than-optimal humidity draws moisture , Selecting Your Gardening Tools from delicate seed , Everything You need to Know to Set up Your Square Foot Garden structures and exerts a negative impact on vigor and germination rate. Drying seeds , Taming Your Outdoors to zero moisture , Cocoa Trees will, of course, destroy them. The rule: once seeds , Wedding Flowers have dried (cured) to the correct moisture , Tool Sheds level (by weight), store them in sealed, air-tight containers such as glass , Choosing the Right Lawn Mower jars or doubled zippered plastic , Tool Sheds bags. In the highly variable home , Tips On Lawn Aeration For A Beautiful Healthy Yard or small farm environment, , Tick Removal paper envelopes, cloth bags, or cardboard boxes allow for exchange of far too much (or too little) moisture , Nepeta Faassenii 'Kit Kat' for long-term storage. Temperature, of course, must be maintained within a relatively narrow range. I've heard it said that the home , Would You Like More Information About Climbing Roses? freezer is the ideal place. , Birdfeeders & Birdhouses - The Perfect Outdoor Accessories Personally, I question the advisability of freezing temperatures , Control Weeds Effectively In Your Garden during one- to two-season storage. While it is true that many seeds , Nepeta Faassenii 'Kit Kat' will store almost indefinitely if deep-frozen, experts in the seed , A Guide to Vines and How to Vine Beauty with Your Garden industry have done the research and recommend short-term home , Rose - The Flower of Love and Romance storage between just above freezing, to about 40- or 45-degrees. I've found an ideal location--once properly sealed after drying--to be near the cellar floor , The Cottage Garden in a corner furthest away from heat , Birdfeeders & Birdhouses - The Perfect Outdoor Accessories sources such as furnaces, water , Oregano: Joy of the Mountain heaters, or warm-air ducting. Our new "root cellar"--an enclosed, insulated crawl space beneath a recently reconstructed attached solarium--has proven to be perfect for our seed , Nepeta Faassenii 'Kit Kat' storage needs at a comfortable 25% (+/-) humidity and 42-degrees (F) nearly constant temperature. , Reblooming Poinsettia Darkness is a third equally important requirement. Bear in mind that certain conditions (moisture, temperature , Like Fall Flowers - A Tip To Care For Your Winter Garden Pond and light--most often in combination) stimulate and support the process of germination"¦sprouting. Just as many foods, , Hydroponics Lighting: Blue Spectrum V.S. Red-Orange Spectrum pharmaceuticals and chemicals rapidly deteriorate when exposed to light, , Ginseng Benefits so also is seed , Rose - The Flower of Love and Romance viability and vigor impacted by being exposed to illumination during storage. That cool corner of the cellar or root/vegetable storage area should also be very dark. Worse possible scenario: sudden changes , Garden On The Cheap to warmth, humidity, and light , Cyclamen during winter , Ginseng Benefits storage. . .followed by chilling, drying and return to darkness. Kiss those goodbye! Seed storage problems: Mildew or Mold. Seeds , Rose - The Flower of Love and Romance not dried to the correct moisture , Tool Sheds level before being sealed in glass , Tool Sheds or plastic, , Would You Like More Information About Climbing Roses? will surely rot. A simple test: After "drying" and placing in closed glass , Small Garden Bridges You'll Love To Cross! jars or plastic , Selecting Your Gardening Tools bags, the appearance of condensation on the inside , The Cottage Garden of those containers within a few hours indicates the need for further drying. Stay right on this one because damp seeds , Selecting Your Gardening Tools will decay (and die) very quickly! Insects. Weevils, borers and small beetles that may have escaped notice during harvesting and drying will wreak havoc on stored seeds. , Reblooming Poinsettia A few pinches of diatomaceous earth , Cyclamen (DE) is a safe, , Cyclamen inexpensive, prudent, and non-toxic bit of insurance against most insect damage. DE is available at Johnny's, organic gardening , How to Build a Shed stores, and most garden , A Low Maintenance Landscape Can Save You Money centers. It doesn't take much; just be sure to lightly coat all seeds , Ginseng Benefits before final sealing and storage. A light , Choosing the Right Lawn Mower dusting of Rotenone is also effective. Avoid the use of powerful--oftentimes highly toxic--commercial pesticides. Rodents. Seeds , Forcing Bulbs for Indoor Bloom: Even 'Brownthumbers' Can Do It in storage, unless precautions are put in place, , Solar Outdoor Lighting can provide a virtual banquet for mice or other small vermin. Prevent damage by placing labeled seed , Wedding Flowers containers in either metal , Hydroponics Lighting: Blue Spectrum V.S. Red-Orange Spectrum or plastic , How to Build a Shed storage containers, or enclose them in an unused picnic or camp cooler. Please don't use tanglefoot traps to capture, terrorize, and torture mice. Following these easy "rules" will insure longevity and viability of the seeds , Exotic Plants and Flowers for Guys: Trends in Flowers as Elegant as they are Masculine of a new generation of flowers, , Wedding s herbs, , Creativity with Ponds fruits, , Exotic Plants and Flowers for Guys: Trends in Flowers as Elegant as they are Masculine and vegetables. , Lawn Edging Have a warm, safe , Lawn Care Information and pleasant winter , Like Fall Flowers - A Tip To Care For Your Garden Pond and holiday!An extensive list of flower , Selecting Your Gardening Tools and vegetable seeds, , Exotic Plants and Flowers for Guys: Trends in Flowers as Elegant as they are Masculine and how long they'll last in ideal storage conditions, is available at: http://www.hillgardens.com/seed_longevity.htm. Fred Davis is a Master Gardener, Master Composter, , Garden On The Cheap lecturer, and long-time nurseryman. He and his wife, Linda, own and operate a popular perennial , Reasons to Garden Organically nursery in Palermo, Maine, and maintain a no-frills gardening , Grass Varieties information website at: http://www.HillGardens.com/. |
  
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