Topic: Old seeds

[bigdumbird]

I have packets and packets of out of date seeds.... 2008/2010

  Should i plant them or am i wasting my time?     Lettuce chilli basil calabrese...

[grawrc]

Yes give them a go! Nothing to lose! They surely won't grow if you bin them!

Check where they are comfortable, plant some outdoors, plant others in tray. Be kind to them - light and water - and move on the ones that germinate. If you have too many give them to friends/ other plot holders. Be prepared to sow more (younger) seeds if they fail to germinate.

For the future (and totally in contradiction to A4A practice): DON'T BUY SO MANY SEEDS! Or pass them on when you've sowed what you want!

[lottie lou]

Try chitting your seeds on damp kitchen roll.  If they germinate sow them in trays.

[Jeannine]

Siaking them in a dilute mixture of fertilser or liquid seaweed can often wake up very old seeds.

Using Miracle Grow,( I tnink you can bu it there) or any general soluable fertilser,use 1/.4 teaspoon to a gallon of water, split into smaller amounts for sepearte veggiesm add seeds and  soak overnight. This adds some nitrogen.

There are more intensive methods using seaweed extract, tea bags if you have some very old very preious ones but the above should be Ok.

After soaking them  continue by putting on paper towels atc.

XX Jeannine

[GREGME]

I have packets and packets of out of date seeds.... 2008/2010

  Should i plant them or am i wasting my time?     Lettuce chilli basil calabrese...

Hi of the ones you listed basil would be the most short-lived I think the others should be fine with a bit more care depending on how they were stored but with lower germination rate.
If you net-search for vegetable seed life or similar you should get a few sites that show longevity tables by vegetable type.
good luck- it's a shame to waste them as I often do !

[goodlife]

If/when I have accumulated number of seedpackets that have gone out of date..I usually open them all and empty them into one bowl, mixing with some compost and sand and sow them on spare bit of land. Then its upto them to either germinate or not.
Couple years ago I had very old lettuce seeds and in theory nothing should have germinated anymore...but I ended up with mix herb and lettuce 'jungle' 

[Obelixx]

What an excellent idea.  I shall do that in my new black and redcurrant patch as ground cover and see what I get.

[Digeroo]

I am sure you will find that lots of them will germinate just fine.  I make expensive brassica packets last several years, and courgettes go on for years and years.  Beans just rot after a while.  Sometimes sowing in light wakes things up as if they have just come to the surface.

I even sowed some out of date parsnips last year, which are notorious for their short life and got loads of plants. 

[okra]

Its always worth a try. If seeds are stored in dry conditions they will still germinate many years past their use by date although the germination rate will reduce. I recently read that somebody had germinated 10 year old tomato seeds.

[markfield rover]

Having a good sort through of my seeds my very out of date ones rather than sling I gave them a last chance and sowed all sorts in punnets of vermiculite  indoors  all germinated except the onions  so I now have micro greens including fennel,raddish and pea shoots.

[InfraDig]

Does the age of the seed affect the quality of the plants?

[Digeroo]

Not as far as I am aware, but if one seed starts to rot I like to get rid of it since it can spread to the others.

[davejg]

10 year old tomato seed germinated for me, every one of them. I dont' throw seeds away anymore worth giving them a go.

[GREGME]

Does the age of the seed affect the quality of the plants?

No either their germinate or they don't -no concept of a less healthy plant germinated from older seed imho

[Robert_Brenchley]

Pouring hot water over them and leaving them to soak can help get them moving.

[marcofez]

As most have said, give them a go, you never know!
Chitting them could be worthwhile as you can then pot up the seed that has germinated.

[George the Pigman]

Well it all depends on the vegetable!
Parsnip, Sweetcorn and Carrot seeds lose viability quickly as do some legumes. Brassica and Lettuce seeds last much longer. The major problem I have found with old seed is that one ends up resowing and wasting time and compost. Secondly old seeds often seem to struggle to grow into strong sturdy seedlings. I wonder if it is because the food store is reduced or damaged by storage. The other thing of course is it depends on how they are stored.
There are sites on the web which give ideas of seed viability for different vegetables.

[Jeannine]

This why the boost of liquid fertiliser helps. XX Jeannine