I planted some seeds, but plenty left and would like to know the best way for long term storage. The seeds I have came in those little paper packets, like most. But it seems to make sense that they'd dry out in those? If I want to store seeds for longer time, wouldn't little plastic baggies work better, or not?

I leave my extras in the paper packet if that is what they came in. But I also have a ton of leftover glassine envelopes so sometimes I use those. I store them in the basement in an old cookie tin

Hi Lily,

I use Snack sized Ziploc bags and 3x5 cards as a convenient way of identifying and storing my many varieties of zinnia seeds.

I am sure there are better ways to store my zinnia seeds, and I intend to find them, but for the time being this scheme seems to be adequate. I am thinking of buying a tiny refrigerator just for seed storage.

ZM

The standard is somewhere cool, dry and dark.

I leave mine in the paper packets but put the whole lot of them into an open ziplock bag that I keep in the crisper of my refrigerator

I have never stored seeds in the fridge, did not think to do that. The 3x5 card idea is great! I'm not very creative

Hello Henderman,

" ...but put the whole lot of them into an open ziplock bag that I keep in the crisper of my refrigerator "

Just out of curiosity, why do you leave the Ziploc bag open?

ZM

So they stay dry. I worry that any residual moisture might lead to mold or fungus, so I leave them open so any moisture escapes. I never heard this from anyone, its just something I thought of. My seeds do alright, they stay viable for years, so I've kept doing it.

Hello Henderman,

" So they stay dry. "

Well, that works for you. I wouldn't trust the crisper of our refrigerator to be dry or to stay dry. Some of the things we put in the crisper (a wet head of lettuce comes to mind--the guys at the supermarket spray them daily) are kind of wet.

So I seal my Ziploc bags for the same reason, to keep the contents dry. But I also don't keep those Ziploc bags in the refrigerator, and maybe I should.

ZM

Henderman said: The standard is somewhere cool, dry and dark.

I leave mine in the paper packets but put the whole lot of them into an open ziplock bag that I keep in the crisper of my refrigerator

That's what I do as well, not sure if it makes a difference but I seal the bag. Loose seeds that I collect I just toss into smaller sandwich plastic bags, seal them and I just write on the outside of the bags with a magic marker to ID the seeds. Someday I'll remember to pick up small envelopes to store seeds.

I put them in a zip lock bag, kind without a zipper mechanism, squeeze the air out and put in the freezer.

I store seed in sealed containers in a cool and dark place with packets of silicon gel desiccant and ageless oxygen absorber, this can make them last longer.