Topic: Question about defrosting bean seed

[earlypea]

I put a lot of effort into re-saving several heritage bean varieties in good quantities this summer and unfortunately they have become infested with bean weevils. 

I only seemed to have a few affected at first so I picked those out in the Autumn (or so I thought!) and bagged my beans all in the same tin in a cool cupboard.  Took a look at them at Christmas and they were all crawling with them.

It's only now I've had a chance to sort it out.  I've chucked the worst of them and put the rest in the freezer.

I understand that will kill them and their eggs, but it's after that I am unclear about.

Can I take them out, leave them to defrost and dry and put them back in tins or will they disintegrate after freezing so that I can only take them out to sow them?  Will they store as long after freezing or do I need to think about growing them all out again and re-re-saving 

[galina]

Earlypea,  sorry you had the bean weavil.  Horrid things.     Fortunately they don't happen too often in UK.  Checking for them is always a good excuse for playing with bean seeds during the dark days of winter ..........

but as you say, the correct way of dealing with the problem is packing them airtight and sticking them into the freezer for at least 2 days. 

On taking them out again, the very cold tin (or glass jar, I use jam or sauce jars) must first come up to room temperature completely, including the seeds inside.  This will take several hours or the best part of the day if the tin is big.  Once everything is a room temperature, individual packets can be taken out, sown, rest of packet replaced and then put back in the freezer again. 

Moisture is the problem and cold surfaces attract moisture.  By letting the seeds get to room temperature before unpacking you keep them dry. 

The beans will not disintegrate. When you start sowing note the rate of germination.  If that is good or normal, they can stay in the freezer, but if they were frozen a little too moist, then germination might be down a bit.  An indicator to renew your varieties a little sooner than you had planned.  Good luck   

[Vinlander]

Even the beans that show signs of attack are worth freezing (especially if they are as valuable as you say), because right now they are probably 90% viable - the weevil "maggot" attacks the beans randomly and the only beans seriously damaged are the few where the maggot has gone right through the seed embyo - the odd hole in the bean's 'food supply' shouldn't bother it any more than a black chip from the chippy would stop you eating the rest.

But there might be another maggot on the way out so freeze 'em.

Cheers.