It’s disappointing: You bought some seeds and sowed them in the soil, expecting life to appear, and then nothing. You pull out your packet to double-check that it hasn’t expired, but nope.
Seeds don’t last forever; they’re living entities with a shelf life. That means how long a seed stays alive vary according to its storage conditions. Here’s how various crops fare in years (and a chart).
How to Store Seeds Properly
Consistency, not necessarily science, is what matters with seed storage. Stashing seeds in the garage where temperatures fluctuate wildly or in a kitchen drawer right by the stove are common practice among many gardeners. Oops. Ideal conditions is dry, dark and cool.
For most seeds, back of your fridge (on a door shelf) would be just fine (especially for ones you know go downhill relatively quick). Onion and leek seeds loses their vigor fast; onions and leeks is fickle and lose their get-up-and-grow pretty quickly. Sow onion seeds this coming year, or toss. Melons and cucurbits last longer. Those seeds will hold up well for years in a cupboard.
Whether it sprouts or rots depend on moisture control. Use airtight containers with packets of silica gel. Sealed jars with silica gel packets keep seeds twice as strong than seed left open in a warm drawer. What’s that? You take the packet out of the drawer; put it in a tin instead. Refill the jar with fresh desiccant. This is an easy adjustment.
Examine the beads. When they’re spent, they’ll have changed color. Even if sealed, the seeds will still age if you don’t manage internal humidity. Heating it up will also age things faster. So putting your seeds on top of a sunny windowsill or over the warm oven will basically cook them before they has had a chance to come alive. Light also ages them, which is why I prefer opaque containers over clear glass jars. You might not notice any change in seed packet, but rest assured that the germination rate decrease every day.
You should of tested older seeds first. First plant some in a small tray or on a damp paper towel, then commit an entire bed to sowings if they sprout. If no luck, time to invest in new seeds.
Kale and other vegetables in the broccoli family holds really well for multiple years, but nightshades such as eggplants goes downhill relatively quick. That’s why one approach doesn’t work across the board. Know thy crop. Don’t store peppers hot (they hate it); don’t store beans wet (they hate that). Pick the right storage conditions for the crop.
Knowing which seed types is most sensitive to certain conditions is not so much about refrigerating things. It’s about storing accordingly. Get seed orders in right away. That is good. They don’t fly around like mad seeds and get stashed here and there. First you put the shorties together. Then stash those in the fridge. Then you run a test on your oldest ones before the going gets good. It saves hours of head-scratching, and only takes a few minutes.
Potential is what you are storing. A viable seed is a promise of a harvest. Keep your promises: offer it a cool, dark and dry place to call home. When you finally see those first green shoots break the soil, it’s not luck, but preparation. It is not luck, but preparation.