Topic: Old seeds

[aquilegia]

I've got lots of old seeds. Tried sowing a few, but nothing came up. Is it worth perservering with some of the others? They are anywhere up to 10 years out of date (although some are only one year out of date).

Things like: lettuce/salad, herbs, toamtoes, beans (french, runner, broad), peas, herbs. carrots.

[Plot 18]

Try chitting (aka pre-sprouting) a pinch of each, in the warm, between some damp kitchen roll in a Tupperware container, to see if you get any germination. That way you'll know which seeds are viable and which aren't.

[johhnyco15]

I've got lots of old seeds. Tried sowing a few, but nothing came up. Is it worth perservering with some of the others? They are anywhere up to 10 years out of date (although some are only one year out of date).

Things like: lettuce/salad, herbs, toamtoes, beans (french, runner, broad), peas, herbs. carrots.

as plot 18 said its sound advice there is a seed viability table to give you a rough guide   google seed viability table and it will show you hope this helps

[squeezyjohn]

How long a seed stays viable is down to many things.  Obviously age comes in to it ... but how it's been stored, what variety it is and just a bit of luck all come in to play as well.

There are some useful rules of thumb when it comes down to what type of vegetable it is too:

Carrots, parsnips and all in that sort of family including parsley and celery ... forget it after 2 years, you might get the odd one or two emerging  but they're very short lived seeds.

All brassicas have a chance if they're under 5 years old and maybe longer if stored in ideal conditions.

Big seeds like peas and beans are probably worth a try no matter how old they are.  Tomatoes seem to germinate after a long time too although often the seed is compromised and will make a poor plant if they're too old.

It's not always the case that the smaller seeds are short lived though, if you have Nicotiana flower seeds, it's worth bearing in mind that seeds of a variety of tobacco was found in a 1000 year old burial ground in America and some germinated!

[aquilegia]

Thanks for all those tips.

I'll look up the viability chart. They have probably not been stored too well, anyway.

I've tried two lots of carrots and got nothing, so I think I'll bin those.

One lot of peas did nothing, sowed second last week.

I might try chitting the brassicas.

[Vinlander]

Try chitting (aka pre-sprouting) a pinch of each, in the warm, between some damp kitchen roll in a Tupperware container, to see if you get any germination. That way you'll know which seeds are viable and which aren't.

This is a good system if you have enough seeds - there are some advantages to sandwiching the seeds like this - but if they are precious then putting them on top of a single layer of tissue means you can see them without the risk they will root into both sheets and be damaged when you pull them apart. For single layers it's also worth using the worst tissue you can find so it's easier to get the roots free of it for transplanting - cheap paper napkins have almost no wet strength.

Tiny old seeds may be failing because they can't push through the soil (parsnips seem to suffer from this), so there's no point sowing such seeds when only the root is visible - better to let them open their seed leaves before planting them properly - yes it's a lot more work... Even big seeds have more challenges in the soil than they have in the box - and the extra work is much less for 10 squash seeds than 1000 lettuce.

If you're going to put the work in to get little plants then you need to be vigilant for drying out.

Tissue on a platform dipping into a mm or so of water gives you a week or more without opening the box.

It's worth microwaving the setup and letting it cool before you put the seeds in. Some fungi will get in on the seeds themselves so you still need to be vigilant - the clearer the plastic the easier this is - microwavable boxes are cheap and some are quite clear - or just choose your takeaway/readymeal supplier carefully...

On a related subject, I find that seed collected from my own plants lasts years longer than bought stuff.

I don't collect everything but it's especially noticeable with beans and parsnips.

In the case of beans there's a case to justify selling old seed - they can dump the holey ones after the weevil has moved on, and sell nice-looking seeds.

But that's not necessary if you freeze the dry seed for 24 hours - it kills the pest - and I don't see shop seeds improving since this was discovered.

I'm going to have to put my Mr Cynical hat on:

Monsanto spent millions developing the "Terminator" seeds, making plants that produce no viable seeds at all.

Ordinary seedsmen make millions from selling old seed that only works properly in they year they sell it.

Some seedsmen are notorious for selling rare seeds that don't work at all (Taming no Mames, and not mentioning any chotels - especially not  Hiltern), presumably either too mean to buy good quality regularly or too sloppy to test them every year. I only use them in an emergency now... so they may have improved.

Cheers.

PS. I don't normally collect brassica seed - some of the crosses are useless - like the couve tronchuda x sprout - though seedsmen will still try to sell you something similar - the "flower sprout" - wtf.

[PondDragon]

I find the easiest way to test or pre-germinate seeds is on top of a damp/wet kitchen towel on a small plate, covered with clingfilm and placed in the airing cupboard (or somewhere light/warm for seeds that prefer to germinate in the light). That way you can easily check on them without unwrapping.

It's not always the case that the smaller seeds are short lived though, if you have Nicotiana flower seeds, it's worth bearing in mind that seeds of a variety of tobacco was found in a 1000 year old burial ground in America and some germinated!

Some ancient seeds have germinated, but the tobacco story looks dubious.

[aquilegia]

My first sowing of french beans all rotted. Just looked and it said sow by 2011! No wonder! I've got another variety to try.