seeds Freezing your seeds before planting

[AJ Drew]

There are many seeds other than peppers that benefit from being frozen before you plant.  Ginseng and sweet grass come to mind.  Has anyone tried it with peppers?  I think it is an evolutionary thing to prevent seeds from growing too late in a season.  Not sure it would effect peppers due to their historic origin in a warm climate.

 

[t0mato]

I know it is possible as long as there is no moisture content in the seed before hand.  If seeds are frozen before that magic dried out state I think that the germination rates would be very sporadic at best.  I personally have never tried freezing seeds of any kind.

 

[floricole]

The Capsicum seeds don't need Stratification https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratification_(botany)
 
Like @t0mato said seeds need to be dry before freezing them, I know that it will keep seeds viability for a longer time. At the Svalbard Global Seed Vault all seeds are kept at −18 °C (−0.4 °F).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault

 

[AJ Drew]

floricole, that is the word I couldnt remember: stratification.  Nature is absolutely amazing,timing seeds so they dont start till they winter.  Was reading about organic Preen.  Evidently some plants have evolved to have an anti germination substance in the seed. It acts like a time delay so that if one season is crap, the seed from the previous season will pop up the next season.

Even the damage to damp seeds from freezing is amazing.  Ice crystals will tear them up, so the plants just about time drying out the seeds before the cold weather.

Sorry, rambling.  Too much coffee.

 

[bpiela]

So, for peppers that I might have frozen, if I thaw them and then pull seeds from them, since the seeds were never officially dried, the germination would be sporadic at best.  Right?

 

[floricole]

So, for peppers that I might have frozen, if I thaw them and then pull seeds from them, since the seeds were never officially dried, the germination would be sporadic at best.  Right?

Right, 
How about freezing seeds (for example, long-term germplasm collections are stored at 0ºF)? Freezing will work very well if seeds are dry. If they have picked up significant moisture, they can be damaged in the freezing process. Also, freezing and thawing cycles can be damaging to seeds so remove seeds to be used and place the remainder back in the freezer quickly.
https://agdev.anr.udel.edu/weeklycropupdate/?p=2967
 
and nice explanation on how to save seeds
http://howtosaveseeds.com/store.php

 

[AJ Drew]

Water is weird in that as it freezes it forms crystals and expands.  The expansion rips the seeds apart from the inside.

 

[BearDown]

So, for peppers that I might have frozen, if I thaw them and then pull seeds from them, since the seeds were never officially dried, the germination would be sporadic at best.  Right?

I've throw a few peppers in the freezer before and then tried to plant the seeds months later. "Sporadic" is exactly how I'd describe my results when planting seeds that came from frozen peppers.