Storing Banana seeds
 

Hey my order of 4000 banana seeds arrived today from Rare Palm Seeds Co ---- 6 months after I placed my order.

Im out of room to do any more planting. Is it wise to store the seeds till next March when it becomes nice and warm here?

If so what temperature is ideal? Would the refrigerator be a good bet? The house at 75 degrees?

thanks

Re: Storing Banana seeds
 

Out of my 200 seeds (sikkmensis) i got 12 to sprout! I'm guessing that would be fine. You could probably even freeze them? Seems to be fine for most other seeds. What did you order?

Thats a lot of seeds!

Re: Storing Banana seeds
 

I can't even remember all the varieties - and don't want to open the package. I would gues that there are about 1000 eac of three of the less expensive varieties they offer and 100 each of 10more varieties. As I said it was six months ago.

Re: Storing Banana seeds
 

I wouldn't place them in the fridge or freezer. Room temperature should be fine, but just remember that the longer the seeds are stored, the more difficult it is to get them to germinate (typically...there are exceptions). Once the moisture content of the seed has dropped to about 10-12%, it can be difficult to imbibe the seeds. You just have to soak them longer, making sure to change the water every day.

I think I've read somewhere that prolonged exposure to cold temperatures will kill the embryo of Musa seeds (but please don't take my word for that, I'm not positive).

Re: Storing Banana seeds
 

Big dog are you saying I should take all the seeds out and store them in a wet bag of sorts instead of leaving them as they are? How wet should they be?

Re: Storing Banana seeds
 

NO!! That will just cause them to either rot or sprout. Absolutely don't do that, and sorry I left you with that impression (although how did I do that?)! I'm merely saying that the longer they are stored (dry, of course), the more difficult it can be to imbibe them when you are ready to try to germinate them.

Re: Storing Banana seeds
 

Yeah after I thought about it - I realized one can't leave seeds wet for all that time. Maybe Ill put some in trays and store the rest for 6 months.

Next time I want something from Rare Palm seeds Ill know about the 5 month lag time.