Old Seeds, testing for viability

[Nemesia]

I am sure I read something about the best way of testing old seeds to check if
they are still viable but can someone remind me please.  I seem to remember
it was suggested they were put on damp kitchen paper in a jar. Is that correct?

[Nemesia]

[shirlton]

I put mine on damp tissue in a plastic bag and keep in the warm. Depending on the seed how long it takes to germinate.

[PurpleHeather]

I was given some sweet pea seeds which were dated to be used before 1998. I just planted them as normal in a pot with compost and six weeks later as none had come up, I reused the compost for something else.

A pack of old seeds can contain some which are still viable, by testing a few, you could be testing a duff few or the only ones which will germinate. I do not know how many you have nor the condition they have been kept it but I am sure I read somewhere that seeds had been found in Pharaohs tombs which germinated.

[Digeroo]

I just sow them and if they do not come up they are not viable.  I do test my own bean seeds to check that I am drying them properly.  I used damp kitchen roll for that.

I had some really old bean seeds and they had never done very well and had tended to go rotten.  So I dug a hole and tossed them in and almost every one germinated.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I was given some sweet pea seeds which were dated to be used before 1998. I just planted them as normal in a pot with compost and six weeks later as none had come up, I reused the compost for something else.

A pack of old seeds can contain some which are still viable, by testing a few, you could be testing a duff few or the only ones which will germinate. I do not know how many you have nor the condition they have been kept it but I am sure I read somewhere that seeds had been found in Pharaohs tombs which germinated.

That's a very persistent urban myth, going back to the early 19th Century. There was a craze for all things Egyptian, and seed merchants were soon offering seed which was 'found' in tombs, or wrapped in mummies.  When Tutankhamun's tomb was excavated, the myth transferred itself, and there are varieties named 'Tutankhamun' and 'King Tut'. Strange thing is, these are all 19th Century types, while the real ancient Egyptian peas were wild type.

In fact, conditions in the tombs are not conducive to the long-term survival of seeds. They did find a 2000-year-old Judean palm seed somewhere in Palestine, which germinated, and is genetically very different from anything grown today, but nothing has come from the tombs.

[manicscousers]

funny you should say that, a friend has given me some 'mummy's peas' from the RHS  ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

I'm growing them for the HSL this year, along with one of several 'King Tut' varieties.