Seed organizing

User avatar
MissS
Reactions:
Posts: 5598
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2019 4:55 am
Location: SE Wisconsin Zone 5b

Re: Seed organizing

#41

Post: # 37847Unread post MissS
Thu Jan 07, 2021 6:55 pm

Tormato wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 2:43 pm Seed organization???

I have a choice between a maelstrom and a tornado filing system. I choose the down and in over the up and out.
You need a secretary.
~ Patti ~

User avatar
wykvlvr
Reactions:
Posts: 460
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2020 11:36 am
Location: Southeast Wyoming

Re: Seed organizing

#42

Post: # 38359Unread post wykvlvr
Thu Jan 14, 2021 7:36 pm

Yall just had to chatter about this didn't ya.... Started a spreadsheet went nope no way will I be able to find anything in this... learned how to make a database. Made a data base, got all the veggies EXCEPT tomatoes in the database. Got all my flowers in their own database... All the veggies and flowers EXCEPT tomatoes sorted and stored so I can find them easily...
Got storage for the tomato seeds, will start adding to the data base tomorrow...
Friend says did you get my white marigold seeds.... oops three new seed orders later her white marigold seeds have been ordered plus some Runner beans, more marigold, more nasturtiums, and of course more lettuce...
Wyoming
Zone 5
Elevation : 6,063 ft
Climate : semi-arid
Avg annual rainfall = 16 inches

User avatar
habitat-gardener
Reactions:
Posts: 446
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 1:56 am
Location: central california, Sunset zone 14

Re: Seed organizing

#43

Post: # 38371Unread post habitat-gardener
Thu Jan 14, 2021 8:49 pm

I've thought about making spreadsheets.

User avatar
Rockoe10
Reactions:
Posts: 556
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:36 am

Re: Seed organizing

#44

Post: # 38384Unread post Rockoe10
Thu Jan 14, 2021 9:54 pm

Highly recommended. I just started mine a few weeks ago, and it's already paid for the time to put it together, through the time is saved me just in sharing with friends the information on my seed collection and more easily working out what to send them.
- - - - - - - -
Rob, ZONE 6A with 170 days between frost dates, Western Pennsylvania

User avatar
AZGardener
Reactions:
Posts: 761
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:12 am
Location: Arizona, USA

Re: Seed organizing

#45

Post: # 38407Unread post AZGardener
Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:37 am

TLC333 wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:48 am I also do the binder method. I alphabetized by basic name squash, tomato, bean, pea etc. Then after the most recent swap since my binders are now 3 and counting I have the corresponding spread sheet. This gives me the deeper info like size, shape, color etc. Works for now. Keeps stuff organized and easy to store for the winter on a shelf in my shed.
I like the idea of adding a binder to correspond with the spreadsheet. I may tackle that myself.
Thanks for the idea.
USDA Zone 9b, Sunset Zone 13
Average Rainfall 9.5 inches
Climate: Sonoran Desert

User avatar
Amateurinawe
Reactions:
Posts: 1484
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2020 1:11 am
Location: Emsworth UK

Re: Seed organizing

#46

Post: # 38426Unread post Amateurinawe
Fri Jan 15, 2021 1:23 pm

I've created my spreadsheet, now how do i get my seeds filed into it ? Can't seem to upload them...
The behaviour of light means you observe me as i was then, and not as I am now.
I cannot change history, so I do hope i gave you a good impression of myself

Gardadore
Reactions:
Posts: 841
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:15 am
Location: NE PA zone 6

Re: Seed organizing

#47

Post: # 38614Unread post Gardadore
Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:55 am

Don’t think I could live without my spreadsheets. Years ago I created a master Tomato Seeds I Have sheet which I add to every year and just change the year date in the title. Seeds I no longer have are highlighted in Red. Then I know what I need to order. One column has the colors so I can quickly see what I have if someone requests some orange seeds for example. Under type of variety I have color coded Oxhearts and Cherry to find those easily. As new packets arrive I update the sheet by either notating the new date for a variety I already had or adding the variety. On the computer I put in a new file for the year and put the updated copy in it. I keep the older copies under the older year files. I also make a list of what I am growing each year and where they are planted since I have three garden areas. Helps if I lose a marker!
Also keep spreadsheets of who I gave seedlings to.
By duplicating an old spreadsheet I don’t have to start from scratch creating the new one. Just delete what I no longer want and make any additions.
I do the same for Eggplants.
I also have separate sheets for all other vegetables, another for Flower Seeds and one for Plants I Have. Don’t duplicate those just add new dates to the main sheet. Then I highlight the varieties I am growing this year in blue and change ones I’m not back to black. Doesn’t take much time.
Storage is similar to many of you using Ziploc bags, storage boxes, etc. I gave up on albums as had to move packets if I used up a variety to avoid empty spots. Like the envelope system so may take packets already alphabetized but loose form to keep from losing the little packets under the others!
Great ideas here. Once you get used to using a spreadsheet you will find it to be a very efficient system.
Last edited by Gardadore on Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:24 am, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
asmx92
Reactions:
Posts: 457
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 5:01 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Seed organizing

#48

Post: # 38691Unread post asmx92
Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:24 am

A very good system.
My knowledge from using a computer is not much.
My system is in my head...... ;)

roper2008
Reactions:
Posts: 74
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2020 5:07 am
Location: Virginia 7b

Re: Seed organizing

#49

Post: # 38700Unread post roper2008
Mon Jan 18, 2021 7:10 am

I am not a very organized person, never have been. This is all the ways I have stored seeds.
698ED53E-333C-4815-851A-F3197CC98E29.jpeg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Gardadore
Reactions:
Posts: 841
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:15 am
Location: NE PA zone 6

Re: Seed organizing

#50

Post: # 38732Unread post Gardadore
Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:25 pm

Unfortunately my head is getting too old to hold any system! Hence in my case thank goodness for the computer! But whatever system works for you is a good system! 😀

User avatar
JRinPA
Reactions:
Posts: 1539
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2020 1:35 pm
Location: PA Dutch Country

Re: Seed organizing

#51

Post: # 47954Unread post JRinPA
Wed Jun 02, 2021 2:14 pm

THIS is the post I was looking for...I'm starting to get a little nuts here with all the seeds, and I often can't find the ones I want. I was gonna call out Tormato since he has to be the biggest seed librarian I know of. Now I hope to read this thread tonight and find that he posted here already....

User avatar
JRinPA
Reactions:
Posts: 1539
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2020 1:35 pm
Location: PA Dutch Country

Re: Seed organizing

#52

Post: # 47955Unread post JRinPA
Wed Jun 02, 2021 2:19 pm

Tormato wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 2:43 pm Seed organization???

I have a choice between a maelstrom and a tornado filing system. I choose the down and in over the up and out.
Uh Oh.... :lol:

User avatar
Shule
Reactions:
Posts: 2729
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 3:29 pm
Location: SW Idaho, USA

Re: Seed organizing

#53

Post: # 47973Unread post Shule
Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:14 am

Yeah, the thing about organizing is, once you get stuff out to plant, you have to put things back where you got them, and odds are, they didn't all come from the same place. I think Tormato's method is probably about as effective as any.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

User avatar
JRinPA
Reactions:
Posts: 1539
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2020 1:35 pm
Location: PA Dutch Country

Re: Seed organizing

#54

Post: # 47985Unread post JRinPA
Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:29 am

I basically had a shoebox, sorted by season/type. All lettuce, all spinach, all beets....all peppers, tomatoes...ending with squash and melons. A clip around the bags of each different vegetable. I was saving tomato and pepper seed but that was about it.

Then I got a Tormato special delivery a half decade back. And started buying seed in bulk for my brother and I, peas, corn and such by the pound or 5, large bags. And saving lots of beans, hoping they look true to type. It was about then that the seeds hit the fan. At some point it became a cardboard box, two plastic bins, and a thin aluminum stock pot. Now, bags are strewn everywhere. I find something, it's here and gone in 5 minutes.

Yesterday I couldn't find my wildfire lettuce mix that I used three days back. I sowed the lettuce with radish row markers and parsnips for long term. Then it started raining so I grabbed the seed and ran to keep it dry. Gone now! After searching unsuccessfully, I had to take a break and cool my thoughts and try to find a method, hence the bump here. It dawned on me last night that it might be slipped inside the parsnip bag (brown paper bag with many, many thousands of parsnip seed from a single plant last year) but I just as soon forgot that lead until this minute. So many brown bags of seed... I went and used a different lettuce seed yesterday, anyway, so at this point there is no need to find them right now. Until next time...

Then, last night, I was on Johnny's site looking for germination temp data for red beets. Too many weeds at one spot to go from seed, hard to water daily, so I'll pre-sprout. 86F, says Johnny's. Okay, but then I found a spreadsheet they have for fall crop planting (calculator-planting-dates-fall-harvest-crops.xls on their website), adjusted for day to avg frost. It tells me I still have time for brussel sprouts. A vegetable I have sworn off not once, but twice due to bug infestations. But they taste so good...I relent and look for the packet which I have seen a dozen times this spring. After digging here and there like a December squirrel, I finally found the packet and took it out to plant the tray I had prepared.

There were TWO seeds in it.

And now, I just remembered, that tray was going to be Sarah's Choice Cantaloupe. My brother mentioned cantaloupe last weekend, and I just saw that pack. Another sworn off, this due to striped cucumber beetles wilting the vines. But maybe I can protect it this year... So that tray is still sitting empty of seed. By the time I get to it I'll probably think of something else to put in.

User avatar
Tormato
Reactions:
Posts: 3699
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 3:14 pm

Re: Seed organizing

#55

Post: # 47991Unread post Tormato
Thu Jun 03, 2021 12:56 pm

JRinPA wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 2:14 pm THIS is the post I was looking for...I'm starting to get a little nuts here with all the seeds, and I often can't find the ones I want. I was gonna call out Tormato since he has to be the biggest seed librarian I know of. Now I hope to read this thread tonight and find that he posted here already....
I'm of no use to you in looking for a system. All of my seed knowledge is kept in my head. I don't know how (nor question how) I retrieve it, I just do it.

User avatar
Tormato
Reactions:
Posts: 3699
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 3:14 pm

Re: Seed organizing

#56

Post: # 47993Unread post Tormato
Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:33 pm

roper2008 wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 7:10 am I am not a very organized person, never have been. This is all the ways I have stored seeds.

698ED53E-333C-4815-851A-F3197CC98E29.jpeg
From my point of view, that is highly organized.

User avatar
Amateurinawe
Reactions:
Posts: 1484
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2020 1:11 am
Location: Emsworth UK

Re: Seed organizing

#57

Post: # 48001Unread post Amateurinawe
Thu Jun 03, 2021 3:17 pm

I'm disorganised. I 'm still learning. I can find my underpants and matching socks now (although do I care unless it's formal wear), but this seed thing - I have a big full seed tin (full thanks to tormato and mmm m and all you folks). I find I have to thumb through everything each week to make sure I try and maximise growing opportunities. I don't have acres, I have aches, brain aches, but I wouldn't change a thing. Now , can I slip in a few more plants in that little gap in the corner of the bed.....

This week, I planted some peas, broad beans and sunflowers in my asparagus bed. I think there is some logic there.
The behaviour of light means you observe me as i was then, and not as I am now.
I cannot change history, so I do hope i gave you a good impression of myself

User avatar
Tormato
Reactions:
Posts: 3699
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 3:14 pm

Re: Seed organizing

#58

Post: # 48004Unread post Tormato
Thu Jun 03, 2021 3:37 pm

I'm an unparalleled expert at finding one sock.

Seven Bends
Reactions:
Posts: 511
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:25 pm
Location: Northern Virginia

Re: Seed organizing

#59

Post: # 48007Unread post Seven Bends
Thu Jun 03, 2021 5:37 pm

Amateurinawe wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 3:17 pm I'm disorganised. I 'm still learning. I can find my underpants and matching socks now.....
If you're matching your socks to your underpants, you're way too organized! If you're just matching your socks to each other, that's probably a good idea. I avoid that problem by buying huge packs of the same gold-toed white cotton socks and wearing them with everything. They all match! Caution: this approach is only suitable for people old enough or odd enough to feel immune to social judgment.
Amateurinawe wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 3:17 pmThis week, I planted some peas, broad beans and sunflowers in my asparagus bed. I think there is some logic there.
I've been considering sneaking a few eggplant plants into the corner of my asparagus bed because I've nearly run out of room in my plot. So, I see your logic.

User avatar
JRinPA
Reactions:
Posts: 1539
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2020 1:35 pm
Location: PA Dutch Country

Re: Seed organizing

#60

Post: # 48029Unread post JRinPA
Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:54 pm

I did pole beans last year in the corners of the asparagus bed. I thought it worked really well.

But I stopped buying gold toe socks long ago. They used to be made right here in town, we knew a lot of people that worked there. There was a small outlet store also. I miss those good orlon socks... think I grew up wearing a lot of 2nds that were just fine. They moved down to one of the Carolinas, early or mid 90s I guess, and long since moved from there for even cheaper labor, from what I heard. Some people went with the company, but came back later.

Post Reply

Return to “Seed Saving Methods, Tips & Discussion”