Out Of Date Seeds

[patchworkperson]

Good morning all from a currently sunny Buckinghamshire.

I've come across some out of date seeds & wondered if they might still be usable. Most are unopened & have been stored in a cool, dry room.
Swede (Best of All) - sow by Feb 2011
Kale (dwarf green curled) - sow by Feb 2013
Cabbage (Primo) - sow by Mar 2009

There are others with an oldest sow y date of Mar 2009 which thinking about it co-incides with my first attempts at growing our own in baskets & containers.

Is it a lost cause or a case of bung 'em in & see what happens?

[patchworkperson]

[taurus]

Bung am in, you've nothing to lose and its amazing how many do come up.  My HO is always ''tidying me up'' and I find things months and years later.  Usually when looking for something else.  Lost at the moment 2 boxes of meadow mixture, he means well but it drives me nuts at times.

[grannyjanny]

I sometimes think that use by dates are put on seeds so they will be replaced. I have grown tomatoes from 10year old seeds. There are some that must be fresh but I think they are few.

Taurus my OH is dreadful. I don't like him washing up because I can't find where he's put them & he can't remember. It took me 15 minutes to find my straighteners the other day .

[pumkinlover]

Just eating raddish seeds use by 2005! Brassica s especially seem ok.

[cornykev]

As said most brasssicas are ok, any that are opened I'd bin and always get good dated parsnips.   

[kt.]

Hit n' miss with out of date seed.  As they get older germination rates will reduce year on year but its worth sowing until you have used all the seed or getting zero germination.

[artichoke]

The usual advice is to put some in a plastic container with some damp kitchen paper or similar and see if they germinate over the next few days.  Then you know if it is worth sowing them properly or not.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Seeds do have a limited life, but brassicas are fairly long lived so you should be OK as long as they've been stored somewhere dry and reasonably cool. You can't go wrong my giving it a try!

[sleepymrsp]

I've done better with out of date seeds this year than in date ones!

[patchworkperson]

Thank you for the advice. I'll give them a go I think.

[Pescador]

Deliberately sowed a row of 2011 parsnips alongside a row of new seed this year.
Good germination and growth from both batches.

[chriscross1966]

I hardly use anythgin but out of date seeds as I generally get mine in the Wyevale sales in late August/early September.... Cabbagey things tend to be excellent, tomatoes adn peppers pretty good, even when they're everal years out of date, as long as they've been kept cool adn dry then they should be fine for several years..... THe only one I never did out of date was parsnips, but seeing as someone else has reported good results I might give it a go.... my module-grown nes this year are booming away on the plot....

[patchworkperson]

Thanks Pescador & Chriscross.