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RE: cold storage of prairie seed

Just for interest - When we were building our seed storage facility we contacted as seed storage specialist. He told us that the optimum conditions for seed storage are for humidity and temperature together to add up to 100. For example if seed is stored at 60 degrees F, humidity should be 40%; If temps are 50 degrees, humidity should be 50%. 
 
You aren't planning to keep the seed for years, so a cool dry place should be sufficient.

Corrine Daniels
Nursery Manager, Applied Ecological Services

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-prairie@mallorn.com [mailto:owner-prairie@mallorn.com]On Behalf Of Meum71@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, June 16, 2001 10:43 PM
To: prairie@mallorn.com
Subject: Re: cold storage of prairie seed

In a message dated 6/16/2001 10:19:48 AM Central Daylight Time,
DACESH@aol.com writes:


.  My question is this, if we put the seed in cold storage, will
it still have some viability in the fall -- a year after it was harvested.  
 
In the end, is it worth putting the remaining seed


Even if stored at room temps you should maintain a high viability for at
least a year or two for most plants.  The conditions to avoid are humid warm
temps.
If the seed is dry and kept out of the sun you should get almost as good
results this fall as you did last fall from seed collected late last year.
Cold storage would help but considering the cost and the fact that you will
be using the seed this year-you probably do not need it.

If you need to store the seed for more than 12 months, then storing them at
35-39 F would go a long way to maintain good viability.

I store a lot of different perennials seeds for future use and violability is
still over 70 Percent after 5 years for any different seeds when stored cool.
 Stored warm, viability decreases after 12 Months for many items, but is
still good. But even stored warm for two or three years the seed is still
useful.

Some seeds have short viability no matter  how they are stored  but most
seeds are good for a few years.,

Storage present a few problems for some seed-some species seeds go into "deep
dormancy" and may take a year or two to germinate.  But some seeds also
germinate better after storage.

Keep your seed dry and they should be all right for fall planting.


Paul Henjum
Specialty Perennials
Hardyplants.com
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