Complete Your Gardening Cycle: Growing Seeds
(Page 4 of 7)
August/September 1993
By Andy Van Hevelingen
Check stored seeds periodically for mold and insect damage. Clumping of seeds when the container is slowly tilted and rotated may indicate mold. Other signs include a black, sooty color and perhaps a moldy smell. If you suspect mold, dump the seeds on a sheet of white paper, then pour them back into their container and look for black, downy dust on the paper. If there is any mold, throw away the entire container of seed.
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Fine dust at the bottom of a container may indicate the presence of insects, and further examination is wise. Most storage pests are larvae that are large enough to see without a hand lens, and their webs are usually visible in a container of seed. If you find or suspect an infestation, freeze the seed for a couple of days to kill the insects. Dry ice can also be used to kill insects in stored seed. Simply drop a piece into the container, then replace the lid lightly. The insects either die from the cold or suffocate when the dry ice sublimes into carbon dioxide. Caution: Don’t screw the lid tightly on a jar containing dry ice, as the jar will explode.
The optimum storage temperature for seeds ranges from 35° to 65°F, and humidity should be low. (A refrigerator is an excellent place to store seeds if you have enough space.) Seed stored under these conditions can remain viable for at least 2 and sometimes as long as 15 years, although with every additional year in storage seed viability will decrease.
Seeds must never become completely dry: the tissues within the seed must retain at least a small amount of moisture to remain alive. Some seeds with hard coats are able to withstand desiccation to a moisture content as low as 5 per cent of their total weight, while others with fleshy reserves may tolerate desiccation only to 60 per cent. Seeds stored in a paper packet take up and lose moisture within a range of 5 to 20 per cent of their total weight in response to the humidity of the surrounding air; seeds in the open air take up and lose moisture even more rapidly. These frequent fluctuations can seriously impair seed viability.
Seed Types and Characteristics
Most herb seeds are small and dry and have a hard, dark brown or black seed coat. They typically are long-lived: seeds of sweet basil often are viable for seven years or more under proper storage conditions. Many such seeds, especially those of biennial and perennial herbs, may require a period of cold or of dry storage to induce dormancy before they will germinate.
A few herbs, such as angelica, lovage, sweet cicely, and parsley, produce moist seeds. The seeds tend to be large and have fleshy, spongy inner tissues because of their large storage reserves. Such seeds are short-lived: they tend to dry out over time; this process is accelerated under improper storage. Cold storage in the refrigerator or freezer not only helps maintain the viability of moist seeds but also induces dormancy in those that require it for germination.
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