[SOS-PCA] Always used humidity strips when putting seed into plastic

[Craig Dremann]

Dear All,

I have been in the seed business for 37 years, and have been teaching
classes to BLM and the US Forest service on native seed harvesting,
cleaning and storage in California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana,
Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota, that you can see at
http://www.ecoseeds.com/classes.html

NEVER, never, never store freshly harvested native seeds at room temp.
in plastic, even for a half a day, UNLESS you have also put a 10-60%
HUMIDITY indicator slip in with the seeds, and after six hours, the
moisture level of the seed needs to be 30% or less.

If the humidity indicator strip shows over 30%---either add a packet of
indicator silica gel to the seed to dry them down further, or take the
seeds out of the plastic and put it into paper.

Also you have to be very careful in the field with plastic, that you
never get direct sunlight on a sealed plastic bag full of seed, because
they can heat up and kill the seeds in a few minutes with one mistake.
That's why I always use paper bags when harvesting in the field, or
taking the stored seed, back out to sow.

You can always use paper bags with complete safely, like grocery sacks,
manila envelopes, etc.

If you are going to store the seeds under refrigerator or frozen temps.,
then use a freezer ziplock bag, like the Hefty brand bag, and always put
in one of those 10-60% humidity indicator slip in with the seeds.

The strips are 1.5 inches by 4.5 inches, and have 1/2 inch circular
indicator spots for 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% humidity.

Uline is the only company that I know of that sells these 10-60%
humidity indicator strips, but there might be other companies out
there.  The strips are sold by the can, 200 per can, with a minimum
order of 2 cans for about $80 total including shipping, Model No. S8028
and their phone is 800-295-5510.

For keeping seed viable, and keeping track of seed moisture, these
little strips are worth their weight in gold.  I hope this information
is helpful.

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann, Redwood City, CA (650) 325-7333