Seed Packets...what works? Sources? - Page 2

Tormato · September 14, 2015

Garrett,

I never did welcome you to my, and others, world of anal retentive tomato seed storage.

So, I'm saying it now.

Gary

BackyardFarm · September 14, 2015

Thank you all for your tips and suggestions! I guess I'm going to head to Staples/Walmart or take a look around Amazon for supplies. I wasn't sure what size even to look for. The only "coin envelopes" in town weren't envelopes but pages with pockets and flaps for books and I knew that wasn't going to work! I love the look of homemade paper envelopes with a homemade label but I was worried about moisture getting in when sending in the mail or trading with someone.

I hit the clearance racks in town a few times and I have lots of (other) veggie seeds now! Excited for spring to come!
So I purchased a couple of plastic shoe boxes and index cards to start labeling and sorting my seeds. Hopefully it's going to work. It's definitely cat proof which was another concern.
I saved spinach, peas, and moss roses seeds so far this week and those all fit well into snack sized plastic baggies (but they were big seeds or in the case or the moss roses, LOTS of seeds).

Now that I've got the easy stuff done I'll be squishing up some JPT and Black Cherry pulp for seeds. Weee! This is fun! Thank you all again!

BackyardFarm · September 14, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by heirloomtomaguy

I have a system i do not stray from. I use 2 × 3 plastic zip lock baggies i buy on amazon. I get 1000 of them for 7 bucks. Then i put them inside 2.5 × 3.5 coin envelopes with way more info on them than i probably need. I get 500 of them on amazon also for 10 bucks. I put the seeds in the baggies and the baggies inside the envelopes that way i do not have to lick the envelope shut to keep the seeds secure. I then make cardboard sleeves similar to the coin envelope packaging only far stronger. All seed packs are in alphabetical order. I also use seperate cardboard sleeves to hold bulk seeds or lines i am working on for segregation. Perhaps a bit of over kill but when you have as many seeds as i do organization is key. I can post pics if you would like.

heirloomtomaguy, I would love to see pics!

That goes for anyone else who is willing to share

BackyardFarm · September 14, 2015

I needed specifically cat proof storage because of the cutie in my avatar. (the plastic shoe boxes)

She thinks my bag of seeds was the BEST pile to jump into ever. Walked around the house picking up the scattered packets and still found her a couple days later bringing one out of hiding and carrying it around in her month like a prized mouse.

MendozaMark · September 14, 2015

When i was just starting out here in Mendoza, I wasn't storing many varieties. I was reusing Tic Tac containers. They do hold a lot of seed and stand nicely in a box. This year i will try small paper envelopes and store them in ziploc bags to ensure they don't get wet.

Tormato · September 14, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by BackyardFarm

I needed specifically cat proof storage because of the cutie in my avatar. (the plastic shoe boxes)

She thinks my bag of seeds was the BEST pile to jump into ever. Walked around the house picking up the scattered packets and still found her a couple days later bringing one out of hiding and carrying it around in her month like a prized mouse.

You're not alone.

I'll let you know, the static electricity caused by those 2 x 3 plastic baggies is a magnet for cat hair (a "freebie" I got in a trade).

imp · September 14, 2015

I'm not as organized as anyone else all seem to be, and then add onto that the fact I am sometimes cheap, LOL.

So, for the bigger seeds, I user my empty plastic 20 ounce coke bottles or water bottles as they have screw on lids, so the cats don't have as much fun, and they are pretty sturdy ( the pop bottles especially). If you take off the "Coke" wrapper label, you have room for a label and can easily see the seed amount. This works well for me before, for like squash and watermelon, or even the cuke or cantaloupe seeds. The bottle makes pouring out the seed pretty easy, plus it's less in the landfill. They stand or stack in a plastic bin.

Small seeds can go small coke bottles, envelopes or plastic baggies- it's a mess that I need to decide on a method.

Father'sDaughter · September 15, 2015

I prefer the small zip-locks with the white block you can write on which I buy from Amazon. They not only allow me to write a fair amount of info directly on the envelope, the also let me see how many seeds I have.

Gerardo · September 15, 2015

Plastic or paper it doesn't matter to me, either works just fine. I put all packets into a plastic organizer once used for 3.5 in Floppy Disks. I just looked at the bottom and the official name is: "Fellows SoftWorks Diskette Tray." It's just the right size,flips open nicely and closes well too. High recommend for seeds.

PS For some strange reason it's still being sold on Amazon!!! It is NOT worth $25.
http://www.amazon.com/Fellowes-Softw.../dp/B0000CAPC1

PS2 I like how this thread allows one to peer into TomatoVillian's lives and see where they lie on the OCD spectrum.

Linda10 · September 15, 2015

For storage, I keep most of mine in zip-lock bags inside coin envelopes. These then are divided into 3-ring black, red, orange, pink, green, white and purple binders. Each binder has alphabet dividers and plastic baseball card inserts, so 9 seed envelopes per page. This works great for me to quickly find what I need. The white notebook holds all my dwarf project seeds and commercial dwarfs. Purple is for striped, bicolor, or unusual seeds.

I haven't been able to grow as many tomatoes in the last few years due to health problems, so haven't been able to grow out my really old seed. This year I started giving away my older seeds to others who would be able to grow them out, so I've gone through the black and green binders and reduced them enough to combine the two categories into the purple notebook with cardboard dividers between colors.

bower · September 15, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerardo

Plastic or paper it doesn't matter to me, either works just fine. I put all packets into a plastic organizer once used for 3.5 in Floppy Disks. I just looked at the bottom and the official name is: "Fellows SoftWorks Diskette Tray." It's just the right size,flips open nicely and closes well too. High recommend for seeds.

PS For some strange reason it's still being sold on Amazon!!! It is NOT worth $25.
http://www.amazon.com/Fellowes-Softw.../dp/B0000CAPC1

PS2 I like how this thread allows one to peer into TomatoVillian's lives and see where they lie on the OCD spectrum.

Kudos for repurposing an obsolete memory storage storage container.

Of course, seed packets fit perfectly.... no doubt they had that in mind.

Unlike the nasty 8 track, VHS and CD people.

OCD? Where on earth are you now storing your old floppies?

heirloomtomaguy · September 15, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tormato

Garrett,

I never did welcome you to my, and others, world of anal retentive tomato seed storage.

So, I'm saying it now.

Gary

Well thank you fine sir for being one of the reasons i have so many seeds to be anal with.

habitat_gardener · September 15, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by bower

OCD? Where on earth are you now storing your old floppies?

Ha! I recycled a whole box full of floppies this week, and of course I saved the containers...hmmm...

Right now my seeds are stored in small ziplock plastic bags, inside plastic storage bins. I have 2 bins, and I started putting them in alphabetical order in one of the bins, with all envelopes of each variety in a paper coin envelope. In the other bin, I put tomato seeds as I acquire or save them, so that I know where to find tomato seeds, but they're in no order at all.

I found one of those binders with plastic sleeves at a book sale, but I never got around to OCDing all the varieties. It seemed like a good idea, but it occurred to me that as soon as I'd put all the varieties in their sleeves, I'd get another variety or three and have to rearrange the whole shebang.

heirloomtomaguy · September 15, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by BackyardFarm

heirloomtomaguy, I would love to see pics!

That goes for anyone else who is willing to share

Here you go. As you can see i repurposed a hudson sprayer box to hold the seeds. Sorry for the sloppy writing.

BackyardFarm · October 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by heirloomtomaguy

Here you go. As you can see i repurposed a hudson sprayer box to hold the seeds. Sorry for the sloppy writing.

Wow! That looks so super nice and neat! That's the style of organization I'm aiming for but I have plastic shoe boxes for storage (kitty proof)

September 14, 2015	#16
Tormato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MA Posts: 4,966	Garrett, I never did welcome you to my, and others, world of anal retentive tomato seed storage. So, I'm saying it now. Gary Last edited by Tormato; September 15, 2015 at 04:46 PM.

September 15, 2015	#25
Linda10 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brush Prairie, WA Posts: 925	For storage, I keep most of mine in zip-lock bags inside coin envelopes. These then are divided into 3-ring black, red, orange, pink, green, white and purple binders. Each binder has alphabet dividers and plastic baseball card inserts, so 9 seed envelopes per page. This works great for me to quickly find what I need. The white notebook holds all my dwarf project seeds and commercial dwarfs. Purple is for striped, bicolor, or unusual seeds. I haven't been able to grow as many tomatoes in the last few years due to health problems, so haven't been able to grow out my really old seed. This year I started giving away my older seeds to others who would be able to grow them out, so I've gone through the black and green binders and reduced them enough to combine the two categories into the purple notebook with cardboard dividers between colors. __________________ Linda10

September 14, 2015	#17
BackyardFarm Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Wisconsin, zone 4b Posts: 360	Thank you all for your tips and suggestions! I guess I'm going to head to Staples/Walmart or take a look around Amazon for supplies. I wasn't sure what size even to look for. The only "coin envelopes" in town weren't envelopes but pages with pockets and flaps for books and I knew that wasn't going to work! I love the look of homemade paper envelopes with a homemade label but I was worried about moisture getting in when sending in the mail or trading with someone. I hit the clearance racks in town a few times and I have lots of (other) veggie seeds now! Excited for spring to come! So I purchased a couple of plastic shoe boxes and index cards to start labeling and sorting my seeds. Hopefully it's going to work. It's definitely cat proof which was another concern. I saved spinach, peas, and moss roses seeds so far this week and those all fit well into snack sized plastic baggies (but they were big seeds or in the case or the moss roses, LOTS of seeds). Now that I've got the easy stuff done I'll be squishing up some JPT and Black Cherry pulp for seeds. Weee! This is fun! Thank you all again!

September 14, 2015	#20
MendozaMark Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Yarmouth,NS Canada Posts: 296	When i was just starting out here in Mendoza, I wasn't storing many varieties. I was reusing Tic Tac containers. They do hold a lot of seed and stand nicely in a box. This year i will try small paper envelopes and store them in ziploc bags to ensure they don't get wet.

September 14, 2015	#22
imp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Wichita Falls, Texas Posts: 4,832	I'm not as organized as anyone else all seem to be, and then add onto that the fact I am sometimes cheap, LOL. So, for the bigger seeds, I user my empty plastic 20 ounce coke bottles or water bottles as they have screw on lids, so the cats don't have as much fun, and they are pretty sturdy ( the pop bottles especially). If you take off the "Coke" wrapper label, you have room for a label and can easily see the seed amount. This works well for me before, for like squash and watermelon, or even the cuke or cantaloupe seeds. The bottle makes pouring out the seed pretty easy, plus it's less in the landfill. They stand or stack in a plastic bin. Small seeds can go small coke bottles, envelopes or plastic baggies- it's a mess that I need to decide on a method.

September 15, 2015	#23
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,917	I prefer the small zip-locks with the white block you can write on which I buy from Amazon. They not only allow me to write a fair amount of info directly on the envelope, the also let me see how many seeds I have.

September 15, 2015	#24
Gerardo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: San Diego-Tijuana Posts: 2,594	Plastic or paper it doesn't matter to me, either works just fine. I put all packets into a plastic organizer once used for 3.5 in Floppy Disks. I just looked at the bottom and the official name is: "Fellows SoftWorks Diskette Tray." It's just the right size,flips open nicely and closes well too. High recommend for seeds. PS For some strange reason it's still being sold on Amazon!!! It is NOT worth $25. http://www.amazon.com/Fellowes-Softw.../dp/B0000CAPC1 PS2 I like how this thread allows one to peer into TomatoVillian's lives and see where they lie on the OCD spectrum.