Re: storing corn seed

Posted by LA in WI on April 27, 2013 at 07:54:51 from (64.251.222.158):

In Reply to: storing corn seed posted by Kornfused on April 27, 2013 at 05:57:10:

Now I don"t want to upset some of you, but I feel I need to make some replies to this post.

Saving seed in heated bldgs, freezers, attics, drawers...you guys are trying to make leftover sweet corn NOT be viable for future years.

Store corn seed (field corn and sweet corn) in dry and cool locations. For leftover sweet corn seed I put the package in a plastic bag and then put it in the lowest part of a refridgerator, but not the freezer area. I have sweet corn seed (Incredible) that is now about 3-4 years old and I will plant it soon and it will grow and produce excellent ears of corn. Buying new sweet corn seed every year is just not needed.

Field corns today are 99.9% hybrids, that is why they call them hybrids. Sweet corn varieties are not hybrids, that"s why they are called varieties. That is also why they do not have the vigor, roots, growth and heighth of hybrids. They are bred for taste, not high yields like hybrids.

For those of you who say you have never seen a seed company store seed in climate controlled bldgs, you need to take a tour of a major seed corn company and see their warehouses (for security reasons you might not get in).

Back in the late 1970s we had a terribly hot summer in the midwest, and next spring a lot of carryover hybrids failed germination tests due to excess heat in storage bldgs. That firm added AC to their storage to correct that problem. I do not know if little seed companies use AC bldgs.

If you are surprised that seed companies sell carryover seed corn, what do you think they do with all the carryover seed...destroy it? If they did, the price you pay now would be a lot higher. As long as seed will "cold test" at 95% germination or higher, it will be the same as seed grown last year. (Have a seed rep today explain to you as to the standards for cold testing.)

I would take "old seed" stored in cool bldgs any day over "new seed" stored in hot bldgs any day of the year.

Years ago the people who stored seed in attics meant well, as that is what they were told to do and it became a custom or part of our culture. Ever been in an attic in old houses in August? Or January?

Sorry fellas, but cool and dry is good.
LA in WI

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