Max,
I was hoping for some experianced replies for you,but in my short time with seed experiments,I can take a guess or two.
Seems seeds are ok kept in the open,not sealed up,at room temp.,and can be kept for a month or two. After that,it may be questionable to obtain germination.
However,(I think) it may also depend on the seed producing plants good health regarding how long seed remains viable.And too,different genera/species may also have different viable seed life. These are areas I'm not sure of.
I have no information on refrigeration,not having tried it.
From other seed topic postings in the past,there seems to be a common concensus that the sooner you use it,the better your chances of germination.
Hope this helps,and experianced advice is welcomed.
Bob

I'll follow Bob,I think some seed especially the types that are carried by the wind are best planted as fresh as possible. I think the ones from arid, dry areas probably store well, since they would require water to germinate, and from the time they are dropped to when that happens could be quite awhile.

Generally most seeds store well if they are dry, and cool. If they are moist they will either germinate or rot, and most seeds seem to germinate between 70 and 80 degrees F. Too cold they continue to rest, too warm and moist they will rot.

Seeds are for the most part supposed to wait until conditions are just right to germnate. I reworked a daylily bed last year, and this year lots of Rudbeckia and Cleomes came out of nowhere. Looking through dated photos, it had been 5 years since we grew Cleomes, and that particular Rudbeckia. I believe what happened is when I planted the first daylilys in that bed, I buried the seed too deeply, then when I dug out a bunch and planted new ones I brought it back to the surface.

I have stored seed in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator for years. I recently planted some overlooked daylily seed that was 5 years old and it still germinated with a 75% germination rate, at 3 to 4 years it is still at around 90%.

I have not stored any bromeliad seed for any period of time, I too hope someone like Lisa will let us know more.

Actually, I was hoping Devo would have something to say about this, because he has apparently had good success freezing seeds for long periods. I was very surprised to hear this because I had always assumed that even though you can freeze pollen, live seeds of tropical plant species were another story.

What I have been told previously is that that the seeds must be stored in something that can breathe (paper, not plastic or glass) and even so, they will still lose viability fairly quickly (within a few months). I have ordered seeds from the seed bank in the past, and some have germinated while others haven't, so I do believe that fresher is better.

Thank for everybody's guidance
Seed Some fresh seeds ,I will try to keep And the experiment Have an opportunity to exchange with everybody,
The one that fetched is 'Blushing Tiger', since the flower pollinates fruits to insert this time
And then the real work should just begin ^^

Better late than neverÂ.just thought I would wait to see what other methods were around before I burst into print.

First, fresh is best. Generally the quicker you can get Bromeliad seed onto growing media once it is ripe, the better the germination percentage will be. This percentage of germination will then decline in proportion to the age of the seed.

If seed is to be stored for a sort period of time (as most Brom Society seed banks do) then the accepted method is to dry the seed, and store in paper envelopes. Stored in this way, the seed will remain viable for a few weeks to a few months depending on the type.

A few years ago I was advised that Bromeliad seed could be frozen when fresh, and stored for use at a later date. So, over the last few years I have built up a collection of frozen Bromeliad seed. Mainly my own hybrid seed, but also a few species. To date, I have had success germinating seed that has been frozen for up to 12 mths for Alcantarea, Neoregelia, and Werauhia. Most experiments have been with the Neo seed, as I have had a fair bit to play with. Generally I have found that the germination percentage would be good when using frozen seed that has been stored for anywhere from a few weeks, up to 12 mths. The percentage of germination drops rapidly from 12 to about 18 mths. Seed stored longer than this has not germinated at all.

I am currently experimenting with ways of storing frozen seed to try and extend this period of viability. My current method is to clean & dry the seed, just as you would for normal use. Then it is put into a small zip lock plastic bag, with all air squeezed out. Each batch of seed will be in its own, labelled plastic bag, then a group of these plastic bags will be put into a small plastic container with an air tight lid for long term storage in the freezer.

It would be interested to know if anyone else has used this method to store seed, and how long it has remained viable.

Uh oh, I guess there will be a flood of Blushing Tiger F2s now! Just FYI: most of them won't be worth keeping.

HA HA I know,I only hope to choose good var.
This fund f2,externals will degradate very serious?
Perhaps I should rethink Seed Figure,
Because many seeds will come out ,I will have no space to plant them and select @@

I suspect that seed must retain some moisture to remain viable. I have not stored any Bromeliad seed, but I have used paper envelopes (for a wide variety of seed), until it gets chilled. Unless you have an old refridgerator, that is not a frost free model they probably should be in plastic of some sort or they will loose al the moisture inside and the embryo will die.

I am not surprised that Bromeliad seed can be frozen.

Bambi, I thought that the fact that the seed does have moisture in it would be the reason you couldn't freeze them. It seems like the ice crystals would expand and burst the cell walls. Pollen is dry, so it wouldn't be affected.

Max, very few of BT's F2 seedlings will have the dark bands. I have grown out a lot of them and so far I have only found two that had good strong banding. Of those two, one turned out to be a very weak plant-- the leaves keep turning brown and dying back, so I finally had to give up on that one even though the markings were very nice. Neither of them turn red when they bloom either.

I honestly don't see the point in freezing seed, if you just keep it cold it will remain fresh a long time. I also don't think it is possible to dry the seed completely, and there will always be some moisture inside. I have bben told that if you are drying seed to freeze it needs to be dried longer.