The Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan reminds of the rules for storing seeds of forest plants
The Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan recalls the rules for storing seeds of forest plants.
To ensure the safety of the sowing qualities of seeds before use, their storage should be carried out in specially equipped warehouses ‒ seed storages. Such a room should be equipped with racks or bins, have supply and exhaust natural or forced ventilation, installed instruments for measuring relative humidity and air temperature. The relative humidity in the warehouse should not exceed 70%.
Premises, containers for storing seeds and used equipment should be subject to periodic disinfection. Storage of foreign property and substandard seeds in warehouses is prohibited.
Storage of lots of coniferous seeds (except for cedar pine) and small seeds of deciduous plants (apricot, amorph, velvet, euonymus, hawthorn, privet, elderberry, cherry, elm, sheep berry, hornbeam, pear, turf, buckthorn, honeysuckle, juneberry, viburnum, cotoneaster , lemongrass, linden, sea buckthorn, alder, locust, rowan, scumpia plum, currant, chaenomeles, mulberry, apple tree) should be carried out in a hermetically sealed container (glass bottles, plastic containers or metal cans) or in sealed polyethylene bags with a film thickness of 0.1-0.2 mm.
When using glass bottles, plastic containers or metal canisters, ensuring the tightness of the container is achieved by fitting (selecting) its caps (corks) and, if necessary, wrapping the heads with plastic wrap with a tight twine tying or filling (coating) with a sealing material.
Storage of lots of large seeds of deciduous plants (except for oak acorns) and cedar pine for up to one year can be carried out in an open way ‒ in boxes, bins (chests), in bags in dry, unheated rooms. At the same time, protection of seeds from damage by rodents should be ensured by wrapping chests and boxes with metal mesh, using traps or scaring devices.
Before laying oak acorns for winter storage, their preliminary storage should be provided in disinfected, unheated, ventilated rooms or under a canopy. The seeds are scattered in a thin layer and, if necessary (in cases of self-heating or sweating), are mixed. Before laying for winter storage, oak acorns are subjected to flotation (in which emerging, unripe and dry acorns damaged by pests and fungi are removed) followed by drying. Winter storage of oak acorns is carried out in trenches, under snow, as well as in running water.
Storage of maple and ash seeds is carried out in a layer of no more than 50 cm in boxes, baskets or paper bags.