More bean seed saving questions - Page 2

Zeedman · October 19, 2013

Whenever I receive new bean seed, I quarantine that seed in clear zip lock bags, and check them every couple weeks or so. If bugs appear, into the freezer they go... if not, I assume they are safe to plant. No point in freezing everything - and risking seed damage - if it is not necessary.

joseph · October 19, 2013

Every packet of seeds that I receive, from any source, gets cycled through the freezer. (Even seeds that I collect from my own garden.) I think of it as operational security for my garden. There's no sense (re)introducing bugs into my garden when it's such a simple mindless task to toss them into the freezer for a few days. This is particularly critical for beans, peas, corn, nuts, and sunflowers. I'll gladly sacrifice a few percentage points of germination potential in order to deal - in such a simple way - with bugs.

October 19, 2013	#16
Zeedman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 313	Whenever I receive new bean seed, I quarantine that seed in clear zip lock bags, and check them every couple weeks or so. If bugs appear, into the freezer they go... if not, I assume they are safe to plant. No point in freezing everything - and risking seed damage - if it is not necessary.

October 19, 2013	#17
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	Every packet of seeds that I receive, from any source, gets cycled through the freezer. (Even seeds that I collect from my own garden.) I think of it as operational security for my garden. There's no sense (re)introducing bugs into my garden when it's such a simple mindless task to toss them into the freezer for a few days. This is particularly critical for beans, peas, corn, nuts, and sunflowers. I'll gladly sacrifice a few percentage points of germination potential in order to deal - in such a simple way - with bugs.