How to store Citrus seeds over the winter?

[mikkel]

Right now I have a lot of citrus and poncirus seeds. In recent years I have germinated the seeds immediately after extraction and grown them in the house. The problem was that many died this way. I wonder how they can be "stored" until spring. I know they can't really be stored. What I want to is delaying germination. Poncirus can rot outside in the fruit and germinate in spring, that shouldn't be a problem. But what if the seeds are already out of the fruit?
Citrus fruits could be even more difficult because I don't know how cold they can be "stored".
My idea was to put them in a perlite mixture and keep them as cold as possible....

Any advice / experience?

thank you!

[david]

I remove seeds. Wash under warm water till all pulp is gone and seeds are not sticky. Then spread on a towell in a single layer. Let dry for 24 hours only. Put seed in a zip lock bag with a good fungicide, I use Captan. After treatment date and label zip locks ans seal getting most of the air out. Store in the veggie bin in the reefer. I have kept some citrus seeds for over a year like this and had no problem with germination. It is my opinion that each type of seed has its limits as to storage time. I keep veggie bin set on 35 degrees f

[Sylvain]

This is the right way.

[ilya11]

I treat them with pectinase, wash with cold tap water, keep for 10 minutes with 1% bleach, wash and put at +4C in zip lock bags in sterilized perlite.

One year old seeds are still quite viable.

[zap]

Nov 8, 2019 19:56:24 GMT -5 ilya11 said:

I treat them with pectinase, wash with cold tap water, keep for 10 minutes with 1% bleach, wash and put at +4C in zip lock bags in sterilized perlite.

One year old seeds are still quite viable.

Hi Ilya;

could you clarify for me?

Is that;  1 part commercial bleach/99 part water, 

or; 1 part sodium hypochlorite /99 parts water?

Some of the regulations expired here in the USA, and they don't always tell us the concentration of the bleach anymore. 

I buy brands from manufacturers that list the concentration on the label. 

Thanks,

ZAP

[ilya11]

"It should be 1% of the sodium hypochlorite"
I am very sorry,the final dilution should be 0.1% of hypoclorite

[pagnr]

Here is a seed storage protocol for Citrus seed from a commercial rootstock seed supplier USA

To reduce the risk of Phytophthora spp. our seeds are heat treated at 127° F for 10 minutes. The seeds are then treated with a 1% solution of 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate to reduce the occurrence of molds and improve storage life.
The treated seed is stored in poly bags at 35° F to 45° F and regularly inspected for mold or fungus.

Here is a protocol from AusCitrus rootstock seed supply in Australia.
the seed extracted using a macerator and water bath system. All seed is heat treated at 52 degrees for 10 minutes and surface sterilised with chlorine before being dried then treated with Thiram fungicide for cool storage.

In my opinion the 8-hydroxyquinoline sulphate is very effective.