On May 23, 2:02 pm, "R.A.Omond" wrote:
I recently found an old packet of Mr Fothergill's
Cayenne Pepper seeds marked as "Packed in July 2004",
"Sow by 2006". Though, what the heck... sow them
anyway (4th May).

Lo and behold, there seems to be plenty of them
sprouting :-)

Do I risk death if I continue ? ;-)

Every time a new road is dug and you see masses and masses of poppies
(or every time a war is fought and the craters get covered in
poppies), some of those will be from decades earlier. Some seeds have
to be able to last for ages. There are urban legends of seeds
surviving in pyramids but that may be just rumour. So some seeds do
last ages, especially if kept cool and dry. The best by dates are to
cover themselves in case of people trying to grow old seeds and
nothing coming up. I have also had the reverse happen. Fairly fresh
seed that just went off (got damp or just dried out too much) within a
year of buying.
It just occurs to be that tomato (and I guess pepper) seeds can
survive passage through humans so they are tough.

As for death, you do know you risk coconut Gdang Gdang worms by eating
old pepper seeds.

Des