If you’re serious about prepping, you need to look into a survival seed vault.

A survival seed vault is a location that is optimized for storing seeds for the long term. The seeds will become valuable as a food supply in a survival situation. If stored properly, seeds can last for decades and produce an almost endless supply of food.   

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as putting some extra seeds into a zip lock bag in the back of the shed. If you want to have a well-rounded and reliable survival seed vault, it will take just a little more work than that.

Survival Seeds Can Provide Almost Endless Benefits for Emergency Preppers 

Most preppers already store a mixture of dehydrated, dried and canned foods in their deep pantry. This variety is great, even essential, for short-term survival, but it isn’t so great for the long term. The problem is that eventually, the food runs out. The only way to prep for an endless supply of food is to have a comprehensive survival seed vault.

If there is a world-wide crisis (perhaps like another pandemic) being able to grow natural food for yourself and your family is invaluable. Once you grow a single plant from a seed, you can propagate the plant and turn it into multiple plants, harvest and dry the seeds, and of course, get delicious food from the plant that is growing.

Of course, a survival seed vault must actually work in order to do all of that. If your seeds aren’t stored properly, you won’t be able to grow anything and will be out of luck. However, a well-managed survival seed vault can be the difference between surviving for the short term, and thriving for generations to come.

Types of Survival Seeds to Keep Inside of Your Vault

There’s really two different options when it comes to curating the specific seeds for your vault.

The first option is to purchase a commercially made survival seed vault that already includes a variety of seeds. These seeds are usually fairly common and can grow in many different climates. The seeds are usually sealed in individual airtight bags and then stored inside a larger airtight container.  This works to protect the seeds from any air, light or moisture.

The second option is to pick and choose your own specific seeds, and then create a seed vault to safely store them for the long term.

I’ll discuss the pros and cons of both below.

The pros and cons of commercial survival seeds

Commercial survival seeds are great if you don’t want to spend a lot of time prepping your seed vault. Some preppers really love planning every single crop that they will grow, but others just want a good variety. Commercial seeds are the best option for people that aren’t really sure where to start with choosing seeds.

Usually the manufacturer has already analyzed the specific seeds to make sure that they are suitable for a wide range of growing regions. Oftentimes these particular plants are easy to grow, like tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and squash.

Another great benefit of commercial seed vaults is the benefit of having a commercially made vault. It is hard to completely seal and make airtight a container on your own, so having one already made to store the seeds for decades is a great perk.

The main downside to commercial seed vaults is that they are usually expensive and difficult to carry in the long run. While a bucket with a handle might seem convenient, having your hands free for stability during a long hike is invaluable.

For some, it’s worth the peace of mind to buy a commercially made survival seed vault. For others, it is definitely worth their time. If that sounds like you, I’ve listed out a few great options below.

The best commercial survival seed vaults out there

There are so many companies that sell survival seeds in packs, but without the actual vault. This is great if you want a variety of seeds, but it’s no help at all if you don’t know how to store them. Since storing your seeds is more important than the seeds that you choose,  you should make sure to choose a commercial option that has a good vault included. If not, be prepared to make your own.

ARK makes the best survival seed vault, in my opinion. The main reason is because of the design of the PVC tube. It is small and compact, but still sturdy and durable enough to endure the elements. It has a great variety with over 70 different plants including medicinal and culinary herbs. It’s a viable option for survivalists that want to harness the power of plants to not only eat, but also work as basic and off-the-grid medicine.

Another great option is Survival Essentials variety ultimate heirloom seed vault that includes instructions on the best way to store the seeds for the https://www.yahoo.com/long term. It has close to 23,000 seeds and c https://www.bing.com/omes in a secured ammo can as the vault, with each pack of seeds in a laminated bag. This extra security ensures that the seeds can be safely stored for decades.

True Leaf Market also makes an excellent survival seed vault that is specially prepared to prevent moisture from contaminating the seeds. It is a hermetically sealed 1 gallon bucket on the outside, and the seeds are contained in a heat sealed 3 layer bag for extra protection. True Leaf Market guarantees storage for at least 4 years, but have tested the storage with success for over the past decade.

The pros and cons of homemade survival seeds

Preparing homemade survival seeds is a great way to have control over what crops you grow. Instead of purchasing a one size fits all commercial kit, you can specifically source seeds that will be of use to you. This is desirable for those preppers that want to have access to certain heirloom variety plants that may not be around for much longer. It is also great for those who want to grow more than just crops, and focus on certain plants for their medicinal properties.

The main downside to homemade survival seeds is that you must meticulously prepare the seeds, and seed vault, so that the seeds actually stand the test of time. This can be time consuming and leaves much room for error.

The most important point to remember when making your own homemade survival seed vault is that the seeds must be completely clean and dry before being stored. If you are harvesting seeds from current plants growing in your garden, you must remove all of the flesh of the plant from the seeds before drying. You can do this by soaking the seeds for several hours in a bowl of water. This is an easier task for some seeds than others, but it must be done.

If any flesh is left on the seeds, then you risk mold and bacteria entering your seed vault and contaminating the survival seeds. It also means that moisture will be introduced into the vault, which is an enemy to long term seed storage.

After cleaning the seeds, dry them thoroughly in room temperature air for a day or two to ensure that the seeds contains no more moisture. Then you can store the seeds in your survival seed vault.

Keeping Your Seeds Fresh in Long-term Storage

If you only take one thing away from this post, let it be this: your survival seed vault, must actually be a vault.

It is far less important what seeds you choose to store, and much more important how you choose to store them. You might have the most well-rounded seed choices representing the best calorie crops, but it doesn’t matter if the seeds go bad before you plant them.

Do not cut corners when it comes to storing your seeds. You will regret it if you ever find yourself in an emergency.

Dry, cool, dark location

The number one rule is that you must store your seeds in dry, cool and dark location.

If your seeds are exposed to moisture, they will mold, rot and become unusable. Similarly, if the seeds are exposed to prolonged light, you will risk them sprouting prematurely and wasting its potential.

To avoid moisture, I recommend collecting the silica moisture packets that come in common products like pill bottles and shoe boxes. Instead of dumping these into the trash, you can store them in your seed vault next to the seeds. They will help to absorb any excess moisture that might make its way into the survival seed vault.

If you’d rather have more security, you can also purchase them new online. These ones are pretty cheap and are food safe, so you won’t need to worry about any cross contamination.

It is also very important that seeds be kept cool and the temperature is regulated. You can even store the seeds in a freezer or the refrigerator. It is best that the seeds stay below 40 degrees and at a consistent temperature.

The only downside is that in an emergency, you may not have electricity or power to keep a freezer running. If you do freeze your seeds, you must fully thaw them at room temperature before planting. Frequent fluctuation in temperature changes risks your seeds going bad, so don’t remove them from the fridge or freezer unless you are ready to plant them.

If you are worried about electricity, as you should be, you can store your seeds in a cold basements or root cellar. Even if the lights go out, your seeds will be safe and cool. Just make sure that there isn’t any excess moisture in your cold storage.

Use Your Survival Seeds Efficiently to Maximize Yield

When you ultimately decide to plant your survival garden, it is important to use your survival seeds efficiently to maximize crop yield. Even though you can continually harvest seeds from a mature plant, you don’t want to waste any seeds in case something unexpected happens. Sometimes crops don’t grow as planned, or disease and pests destroy them. It’s possible you may not be able to immediately harvest new seeds, so be cautious to treat each seed with care.

This includes not overplanting out of zeal. It might be tempting to use four or five seeds in a single hole when you have thousands in your seed vault. In the beginning it may not actually matter, but in the long run you will just be wasting seeds.

I also recommend researching how to grow plants from seeds and practicing in your garden at home. Understanding how to sprout seeds, grow seedlings, transplant, harvest and cultivate crops is an art form. It is actually quite difficult and many people spend their whole lives mastering a single type of crop. A little practice will go a long way, and you’ll be happy that you know how to anticipate a frost, identify pests, make natural compost and prune correctly when the time comes to jump into action.

Check Your Seeds Regularly and Conduct Quality Control Tests

Of course, it is important that you check your survival seed vault regularly to make sure that there has been no water, light or heat intrusions. This is especially true for preppers who are making their own homemade seed vault that might be susceptible to contamination.

Seeds should be inspected once yearly for sprouting, mold and moisture. If you packed extra seeds into your vault (which I recommend), you should test a few seeds periodically to make sure that it is good. This will serve as a representation for the rest of the seeds in the vault. Think of this like quality control for your seeds.

If you also properly date and label your seeds, it is easier to track them. You can add more to the vault as time goes on, to make sure that you always have relatively fresh seeds.

Remember To Do What Works for You

No matter if you decide to purchase a commercially made survival seed vault, or to make your own, always remember to focus on what works best for you. As preppers, we are often influenced by what others are doing. We don’t want to miss out on the best product, technique or preparedness plan.

However, emergency preparedness ultimately comes back to you and your ability to effectuate the plan. Don’t feel pressured to make your own survival seed vault if you don’t have the time and won’t do a good job, and don’t feel pressured to buy one just because a company claims that they have the best product out there.

As usual, reflect on your own needs and experience, and then decide what is best for your individualized prepping plan.