seed saving
seed labelling and storage
Mint box seed containers
Mint boxes make ideal seed storage containers.  They do an excellent job of dispensing the right amount of seeds where you want them plus they are rodent proof, can hold large numbers of seeds and stack easier than standard seed packets.  These days most of my seeds are stored this way.  Not only do I store my saved seeds in them but I also transfer bought seeds from the packaging they came in to them.  If you have a sweet tooth you might consider saving these boxes to store your seeds in.

what are mint boxes?
Mint boxes are small boxes with flip top lids.  They are usually filled with small mint sweets (candies) though they also come in fruit flavours.  The main mint box brands in Australia are Tic Tac, Eclipse, Jila and Mentos, though there will be a wider range of brands available in other countries.

Whatever the brand they can be loosely divided into two categories; clear plastic and metal.  Below is a comparison of the two types of mint boxes giving their relative advantages and disadvantages as seed storage boxes.
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Photo of Four different brands of mint boxes that are available in Australia
Four different brands of mint boxes
that are available in Australia.

Photo of four mint boxes with their flip top lids open.
The same four mint boxes with their flip top lids open.

Large photo of planting pea seeds using a Tic Tac mint box.
Planting pea seeds using a Tic Tac mint box
plastic boxes (tic tac)

advantages
  • Cheaper than metal mint boxes.
     
  • Come in three different sizes, the two larger sizes are ideal for large seeds like corn and peas.
     
  • The clear sides and bottom allows you to see how many seeds you have left.
     
  • The small flip top lid gives you excellent control when dispensing seeds.
     
  • Easy to attach a label to.

disadvantages
  1. The clear plastic means that the box will heat up rapidly when left in direct sunlight.  If the temperature gets hot enough it will reduce the fertility of the seeds.


metal boxes (Jila, eclipse and Mentos)

advantages
  • Very sturdy.
     
  • The flip top covers the entire top of the  box, which allows you to store larger seeds in them than plastic mint boxes.
  • Don't heat up quite as quickly as clear plastic mint boxes.

disadvantages
  • Generally more expensive than plastic mint boxes.
     
  • Usually only contain sugar free mints, which can be a problem if you don't like the taste of sugar free sweets (candies).
     
  • Don't come in as bigger a size range as plastic mint boxes.
     
  • Some of them have rounded fronts which make them harder to stack and attach labels to.



PAGE created 30th May 2016