This is a followup of the Basic Seed Storage article.
The ultimate goal in seed saving is
(temperature Fº) X (humidity) = 100
How WE do this:
Dry seeds
We air dry seeds on napkin-type cloth so they can be removed easily. The seed is then sealed in a glass jar with reusable ceramic beads specially made for seed drying along with a humidity gauge. When they hit 50% humidity, we remove the seeds from the beads.
Storage
Seeds are placed in a glass canning jar of appropriate size. The jar lid is then vacuum sealed onto the jar. We use a Foodsaver with a canning jar attachment for this. Then the screw band is attached to prevent the seal from complete failure. If we are planning on storing for a long time, we also place a humidity gauge in the jar before sealing to worn us if the vacuum seal is broken.
Temperature
Kitchen refrigerators vary greatly. We use a wine refrigerator on the white wine setting of 50ºF.
100
We use the settings of 50ºF x 50% humidity = 100
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