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seeds Not getting a straight answer from the web-Frozen seeds

Gargoyle91

Gargoyle91

I know we store seeds in the frozen vault in Switzerland -- But I'm getting mixed answers from google- So here goes.. Will the seeds from the peppers be viable next year from the peppers I have frozen this year? I'm thinking yes but need a starlight answer to determine how I'm going to harvest seeds for next year.
 
If they were dried properly beforehand..but there has to be no moisture present at all
 
Peppers you put in the freezer--not a chance
 
Kevin
 
I hate all the misinformation and myths out there. Some people were adamant that a) seeds in nature don't freeze, and/or b) frozen seeds implode inside themselves, making them unable to germinate. Hogwash. And hogwash to that they had to be dried first. I had tossed some fresh pods into the freezer several months before and decided to take the seeds out of them and germinate them. I got 100% germination. In fact, I germinated way more plants than I wanted and I couldn't make myself throw any away, so I had a large amount of chile plants that year.
 
THE ONLY THING that is key into whether the seeds will germinate for you (assuming you take the same care with your germination that you would take with any other seeds) is that the pods had to be ripe before you froze them or the seeds. Don't buy into frozen-seed myths that say they won't germinate. 
 
geeme said:
I hate all the misinformation and myths out there. Some people were adamant that a) seeds in nature don't freeze, and/or b) frozen seeds implode inside themselves, making them unable to germinate. Hogwash. And hogwash to that they had to be dried first. I had tossed some fresh pods into the freezer several months before and decided to take the seeds out of them and germinate them. I got 100% germination. In fact, I germinated way more plants than I wanted and I couldn't make myself throw any away, so I had a large amount of chile plants that year.
 
THE ONLY THING that is key into whether the seeds will germinate for you (assuming you take the same care with your germination that you would take with any other seeds) is that the pods had to be ripe before you froze them or the seeds. Don't buy into frozen-seed myths that say they won't germinate. 
Click to expand...
 
Hmm maybe it's how long they were frozen? A couple seasons ago I tried to germinate seeds I had frozen inside pods. They had been in the deep freeze for maybe 8 or 9 months. One of those old freezers that doesn't auto defrost. Thawed out the pods (which were ripe) and planted. I did 10 varieties if I remember correct. Made sure they were good seed, no black, broken or underdeveloped. Out of say 30 or 40 seeds planted I had 4 pop up. Waited three weeks just to be sure since I know some take forever to germ. Just my personal experience here. Nowadays I pull out my seeds and then freeze the pods. helps me save room this way as well.
 
Not sure about peppers but a majority of seeds have a dormancy time built into them. The correct terminology to search for is cold stratification.
Dry for a few days then in a refrigerator from 30-90 days for woody plants.
 
Germination rate will also depend on how much moisture was in the pod/seed when it was frozen -- ie. pods that were frozen straight off the plant will have lower germination than pods that had been picked and sat for a few days before going in the freezer. Freshly picked pods tend to have more moisture in the seeds and when frozen moisture expands and can damage the seed - the more moisture the more likely the seed will be damaged by the expansion of water.  But as mentioned Seeds are frozen all the time in nature so not all of them will be damaged by the freezing just lowers the germination rate.
 
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The pods I took the seeds from were freshly-picked, placed into a Ziploc freezer bag, then placed in the freezer. They were in the freezer at least 6 months before I took them out and removed the seeds from them.

I do not believe in "luck".
 
it really boils down to how much moisture is inside the seed when the pepper was frozen. the problem with freezing seeds that weren't dried is there will be a high chance that the cells inside the seeds will basically rip apart (via micro ice crystals).. when the seeds are dried before being frozen there is no moisture for ice crystals to form to break the cells apart.
 
it's basically a hit or miss when freezing un-dried seeds whether they will germinate or not.. if the seed froze quick enough than ice crystals might not have a chance to form and you might get lucky..
 
i had maybe a half dozen volunteer plants this year from pods that spent the winter laying on the ground.
 
We had several weeks last winter when the temperature barely broke 20° F, and several nights when the temperature was 0° F, so I would say the seeds in those pods were indeed frozen.
 
Percentage-wise, the germination rate for those volunteers was very low, but a few did make it.
 
geeme said:
I hate all the misinformation and myths out there. Some people were adamant that a) seeds in nature don't freeze, and/or b) frozen seeds implode inside themselves, making them unable to germinate. Hogwash. And hogwash to that they had to be dried first. I had tossed some fresh pods into the freezer several months before and decided to take the seeds out of them and germinate them. I got 100% germination. In fact, I germinated way more plants than I wanted and I couldn't make myself throw any away, so I had a large amount of chile plants that year.
 
THE ONLY THING that is key into whether the seeds will germinate for you (assuming you take the same care with your germination that you would take with any other seeds) is that the pods had to be ripe before you froze them or the seeds. Don't buy into frozen-seed myths that say they won't germinate. 
Click to expand...
Ummm just a little myth-information here (Sorry :rofl: couldn't help myself)
Neither side of the argument is completely true. Granted less moisture in a seed = better germ rates and length of time being frozen doesn't matter. The critical point is how quickly that seed can be frozen. People freeze human eggs and bull sperm all the time and they come out fine (so many things wrong with that sentence but I'm gonna leave it anyways)
 
For best results with pepper seeds you need a really cold freezer preferably near or below zero degrees and at least half filled with frozen foods. Pods freeze quickly and seeds retain viability.
On the flip side, if you have an empty freezer set at 30 degrees and shove a bunch of peppers in there you will have dead seeds because they took too long to freeze. There was enough time for ice crystals to form causing the seed to expand and crack.
 
Cryopreservation - It worked for Austin Powers....kinda :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
Hawaiianero said:
Ummm just a little myth-information here (Sorry :rofl: couldn't help myself)
Neither side of the argument is completely true. Granted less moisture in a seed = better germ rates and length of time being frozen doesn't matter. The critical point is how quickly that seed can be frozen. People freeze human eggs and bull sperm all the time and they come out fine (so many things wrong with that sentence but I'm gonna leave it anyways)
 
For best results with pepper seeds you need a really cold freezer preferably near or below zero degrees and at least half filled with frozen foods. Pods freeze quickly and seeds retain viability.
On the flip side, if you have an empty freezer set at 30 degrees and shove a bunch of peppers in there you will have dead seeds because they took too long to freeze. There was enough time for ice crystals to form causing the seed to expand and crack.
 
Cryopreservation - It worked for Austin Powers....kinda :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Click to expand...
I like this answer.
I have a freezer full of pods that I picked,put straight into ziplock bags and then into the deepfreeze.I should really take a few of each variety and see how many germinate.
 
I just cut open a handful of Reapers that have been in the deep freeze for over 6 months,thawed them and sowed the seeds,50 all up.
We will see in a few weeks if the seeds are viable.The Reapers were bagged and thrown in the deep freeze in less than two hours.  :)
 
Yeah I was thinking of the tepin/pequin seeds the birds ate the pods then pooped them out by the bird bath. Ground freezes multiple times over the winter. Spring comes along and seeds sprout. Same thing with weed seeds outside of the smoke shack in high school. Every spring the weed plants started to grow from people throwing seeds on the ground. Froze over the winter........still sprouted in March or April hahahhaa damn hippies :high:
 
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