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any ideas for silica gel homemade packs?

18 years ago

I have a large bag of silica gel. (I'd say its about a pound and a half!) I would like to use it to keep my seeds dry. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas (other than cutting up panty hose & tying it in little bits - which is the only thing that I can think of....) to make little gel packs for keeping seeds dry?

Also is this something that I should put on a trade list? Would people be interested in this?

Thanks, Renee

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Comments (10)

brenda_near_eno
18 years ago
Should work. Be careful with ventilation when you bag it - the "fines" get airborn and can hurt your lungs.
crankyoldman
18 years ago
I use coffee filters with a rubber band around them.
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Here is how I make mine: In a small pan, dissolve 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in 1 cup of cold water. Cook over a medium flame, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from getting lumpy. Once it starts to boil and turns into a translucent gel-like mixture, remove it from the stove, and let it cool to room temperature. Get some paper towels, leaving the sheets attached to one another, and tear off a section of about five feet. Cut the length of the towels into long strips that are about 1/2 to 3/4 inches wide. Take the cooled cornstarch mixture and put a few spoonfuls into a small plastic bag. Work the gel mixture toward one corner of the bag, removing as much excess air as possible, then seal the bag. Next you'll need to snip off the corner of the bag to create a pastry bag like tool, similar to those that bakers use to ice cakes. At this point it's a simple matter of dabbing on the gel at the right spacing (You can use a ruler and pre-mark lightly with a pencil) and putting the seed in each dab. If your seeds are very small, you may want to put the seed into the cornstarch gel mixture (after it's cooled) before even placing it into the bag. Then you can mix them together and seed the tape by simply dabbing in the right spots. The other option is to buy one of those small seed planting gadgets and use it to direct seed into the soil.
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That seems very odd; I know some of my silica gel is 5 yrs. old, or older. The color crystals don't show in mine anymore either, but other than that, I haven't noticed any difference. I usually dry my gel in the microwave, but I'm not using the large amts. that you are. I use glass containers and full power in an 800 watt oven. If you are doing a lot of flowers, I think you may need to dry your gel out more often than once a year. I usually dry mine after 4 batches or so, but that may not be feasible for lger. amts, and I'm in a pretty humid area. Maybe you could try microwaving a small amt. and testing a bloom in to see how it does. I don't know what container you're using in the oven, but I would use the shallowest one possible to be sure all the gel is getting heated.
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Great tip - Nancy. I do have some empty tea bags, that I ordered some time ago. They were originally intended for mint, but found that mint is great stored dried/frozen, and then put in a tea "ball" add hot water for making a combination of black/mint tea. These bags, however, can be ironed shut, and perhaps they could best serve with the dried milk content. I use dried milk a lot in making bread anyway. Linda Lou - about my dehydrator - it is Excaliber, and I admit it seems a bit slow on the low setting, but preferred to wait a bit longer if necessary, so as not to have stuff over-dry - tasting like grass. Admittedly, I am still experimenting with it - as I find some things work better in other ways - as we all have found from experience. But perhaps those scapes could be cut a bit thinner too - like thick-walled peppers, which dry better when cut into rings. I'm not familiar with "mylar bags" - or "O2 absorbers" - unless by other names. The dessicant packets can be ordered over the Web - fresh without previous use I note. They seem awfully expensive - after adding the shipping cost, which is almost as much as the item itself - bummer. But will certainly try the dried milk - if it works, that's all that is necessary. Bejay
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harlgr8dane
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks Brenda - good thought!
and crankyoldman - great idea ;)
Thank you both!
luv2gro
18 years ago
harlgr8dane,

May I ask where you got the silica gel from in bulk? I'm wanting to do the same thing and wasn't sure where to find it?

Thanks
Shauna
harlgr8dane
Original Author
18 years ago
Shauna - the bag came in with some tool DH bought (contractor)- a compressor or some large item. There is probably more in the garage (or will be at some time in the future)...if you are interested email me. Renee
luv2gro
18 years ago
Thanks, Renee. After reading your response, I phoned my brother, who works as a power engineer. He's going to check to see if he can find me some. If he can't, expect mail. : )

Shauna
garden_witch
18 years ago
Look for generic crystal-type kitty litter (unscented) Its pure silica gel =)
=^..^= GW
crankyoldman
18 years ago
garden witch is right about the crystal kitty litter. If you want the fine powdered stuff, you can get it at craft shops.
grannymarsh
18 years ago
I have a suggestion: Go to the local "Mart"'s shoe department and ask the associate if they would save the silica packets for you. EVERY single pair of boxed shoes has a packet(s) in it when it is received by the store. And every single box has to be cleaned because there is stuffing and other packing materials in it. Be nice, smile and be sure to go back and pick up the saved items when you say you will. Don't phone them, speaking from experience, sometimes it is hard to get to the phone. Again, pick them up when you say you will.
luv2gro
18 years ago
Typically, I didn't hear back from my brother but I ended up finding a jar of it in the floral craft section of Wally's Mart. I, too, thought of asking an associate in the shoe department to save me packets and just picked them up today. With no trouble at all, they saved me about a hundred of them. : ) Might be a good idea to get them now, though. Many of the shoe boxes are now being packed with a plastic clear strip and it looks like they are phasing out the silica packets. The plastic strips would probably work, but I think the seed would stick to them from static.

Also, another little find in the craft department. They have a tray for sorting beads, about $3, sort of like something the pharmacists' use for sorting pills. Picked one of those up and it works great for separating seed from chaff and then putting it into the envelopes. Needed a bit of googone to get the label glue off and then I also rubbed it with a dryer sheet to make it less static.

Shauna

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