Topic: Multiple Packets of Seeds - Storage and Organisation

[cambourne7]

Hi All,

As the winter approaches and talk of seed catalogues has started i wondered if i could ask how do people store there packets of seeds? Personally am considering moving to Janines suitcase idea :) but at the moment mine are in a wicker basket which has 2 shoe boxes inside.

Currently mine are organised by type of seed so i have all my tomatoes together etc i have seen other people organise these by when to plant and again i am considering moving to this.

Advise welcome :)

On a lighter note -
Also wondered if this might qualify for a winter photo comp :) hehe

Cam

[Silverleaf]

Mine are also by type.

I decant them into little plastic bags with bits of paper saying what the seed is, where it came from, sow-by date, etc. This saves loads of space over paper packets.

The little bags go into bigger bags - I have a bag of tomatoes, a bag of lettuces/leafy salad stuff, a bag of peppers and chillies, etc.

And those bags are kept in five CD storage boxes from IKEA. One each for flowers, herbs, beans, peas, and other vegetables. I might need another box soon though!

I'm working on keeping track of everything on Trello boards so I know exactly what I've got without pawing through boxes, and can plan when I'm planting stuff and make notes on how different varieties perform.

[markfield rover]

A job for me too , I have a lovely collection of boxes looking very much like the Victorian idea of cabinets of curiosity but it isn't practical and doesn't work so I've decided to have twelve boxes one for each month ,collections will be broken up but they stand a better chance of being sown.
Good luck.

[Deb P]

I have a small metal four drawer filing cabinet (free from Freecycle) which I store my seeds by type in, I then have a Wilco expanding file divided into months that I put the seeds in I plan to sow each year. That way it helps me do successional sowings of the ' little and often seeds' such as salad onions, they just get put back in the appropriate month so I don't forget to sow again!

[Redalder]

I have a long wooden box with a lid, can't remember where I got it had it for years. It is just wide enough to take a standard see packet standing up. Divided into months with card and the seeds stored by sowing time.

[lezelle]

Hi Ya, I store my seeds in envelopes in a four binder by sowing month. I must admit to being a seed a holick and have loads and am loath to chuck any out. I always see to miss some for sowing and that can be sown over two or three months. Maybe I should review the situation but what ever good intentions I have they all seem to fall by the way side at sowing time. I must get more organised next year

[Russell]

I store my seed in alpabetical order in packets in a tightly closed food box in my fridge and they remain usable for several years. If I buy too many new seeds I have to throw away some perfectly good older seeds. It's a discipline.

[Paulines7]

I have my seeds in shoe boxes which I have covered with pretty wrapping paper and then have labels on them.  I keep beans and peas in one box, tomatoes, cues, chillies and peppers in another.  I have a box with squash, pumpkin and courgette seeds, another for lettuce and other similar type seeds as well as another box for root vegetables and one for herbs.  Anything that doesn't fall within these categories goes into another box and I write the contents on the box label.  My flower seeds are a jumbled mess in a large storage box.  Hopefully I will get them in some sort of order eventually. 

I also have spread sheets which have all my vegetable seeds in alphabetical order, with a separate entry for herbs.  I also have a separate spreadsheet for flower and shrub seeds.  I have columns for the date they are due to be sown, the date sown and their final location ie greenhouse, plot 2 etc. I have a spare column for notes.  I bring the spread sheets up to date annually in the winter months so I can see which seeds I need to buy for the next season.

[cambourne7]

sounds like were all pretty much in the same boat :)

HAHA

[johhnyco15]

this is how i store mine all in one box no method if anybody asks me if i have something i say look in the box oh and box is kept in the fridge  and the wife's dispare

[Tee Gee]

Nothing fancy for me just an empty bicuit tin:



And this is how they are sorted out on paper before placing them in the tin/s

 

The number in the fourth column is the week in which I plan to sow them.   

The fifth column is whether I cover the seeds or not, or to take cuttings  if the case needs be.

The sixth column is the propagator temperature required.

The Comments column is for any special procedures such as soaking or chilling the seeds prior to sowing.

The sheet is hung up on a clip board in my greenhouse during the propagation period.

I have always used this method and more so now that my memory is beginning to fail me!

Here is a bit more information on how I deal with any thing that relies upon a good memory.

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Computers/Computers%20and%20Gardening.htm

[johhnyco15]

tg i knew you wouldn't let me down lol