Seed Storage: Options and Tips for Your Seed Packet Collection

I have stored my seeds in many ways—in jars, in plastic storage containers, in used bubble mailers, in cute “binder” gift books, in Ziploc bags. Keeping seeds organized can be a challenge, especially when you grow an extensive vegetable garden. There’s the question of how to organize and categorize. But did you know that your seed storage conditions can also affect the viability and germination rate of your seeds? In this article, I’m going to share some tips on how to keep seeds and container options for storing them.

Storing your seeds properly will help them last longer. There are two things to think about when using seeds from a previous year: their viability and their germination rate. Viability refers to whether your seed will produce a healthy, robust seedling. The germination rate is a percentage determined by how many seeds sprouted compared to how many were planted. These factors will differ among different herbs, fruits, and vegetables.

It may be surprising to learn that some seeds last longer than others. Lettuce, corn, onions, and parsley don’t last as long as cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, or eggplant, for example.

This article by Jessica provides some helpful information about how long various seeds will last, as well as how to test germination rates. The back of your seed packets will usually have some type of stamp that says “packed on,” so you can see how old your seeds are.

Your storage conditions do not have to be on par with the Global Seed Vault, which currently holds 1.1 million seeds to safeguard the world’s crops. Those crops have been frozen in special lab conditions. The intent is to store them for years.

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