On Tue, 01 Jun 2004 05:20:25 -0500, (Pat
Kiewicz) wrote:

Frogleg said:

Germination rates *do* decline over time, but I don't believe I've
ever had old seeds produce inferior plants if they *did* germinate.
And the only old seed I've had zero germination with is grass. Lawn
grass, that is. :-) I must say I've never tried onion from seed or
parsnip in any way, shape, or form.

I've noticed, particularly with eggplant seeds and to some extent with
tomatoes, that old seed that do germinate tend to be weaker, in the sense
that even though the do sprout they seem to be less able to pull themselves
free of the seed coat. Sort of like it was all they could do to start the process.

I've seen that with brassicas.. cabbage, broccoli, they'll come up,
with a ball on the end of the stem.. the seed coat over the seed
leaves.. too tired to spell it. And they don't get any further when
they're like that.

I've grown some tomatoes from seed I bought in 1976.... in 1990. They
were pear tomatoes though. LOL Didn't want to grow many of those,
kind of mealy inside. blech.

Janice