Pepper seeds in particular. I harvest my own seeds from grocery store peppers and the ones I grow. Are the seeds from 2011 still going to be viable in January when I start my plants? I will have some from this years crop but I think I may have waited too long and will not have all the varieties.
Thanks
MJ

In article ,
" wrote:

Pepper seeds in particular. I harvest my own seeds from grocery store peppers
and the ones I grow. Are the seeds from 2011 still going to be viable in
January when I start my plants? I will have some from this years crop but I
think I may have waited too long and will not have all the varieties.
Thanks
MJ

Depends on how they are stored - and the only real way to know is to try
them. If you have excess seed from the 2011 batch you could run a
germination test - if not, either buy seeds or just give them a try when
the time comes.

Tomato seeds have very long viability - I've gotten 90% out of 10 year
old packets stored less than ideally. I dislike peppers of all sorts, so
I don't grow them, so I have no idea how long their seeds might last.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

On Wednesday, September 11, 2013 9:15:38 AM UTC-4, Ecnerwal wrote:
In article ,

" wrote:



Pepper seeds in particular. I harvest my own seeds from grocery store peppers

and the ones I grow. Are the seeds from 2011 still going to be viable in

January when I start my plants? I will have some from this years crop but I

think I may have waited too long and will not have all the varieties.

Thanks

MJ



Depends on how they are stored - and the only real way to know is to try

them. If you have excess seed from the 2011 batch you could run a

germination test - if not, either buy seeds or just give them a try when

the time comes.



Tomato seeds have very long viability - I've gotten 90% out of 10 year

old packets stored less than ideally. I dislike peppers of all sorts, so

I don't grow them, so I have no idea how long their seeds might last.



--

Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

I store all my seeds (after drying) in plastic vials with lids on a dark shelf. Think medicine bottles.
MJ

On 9/11/2013 9:00 AM, wrote:
Pepper seeds in particular. I harvest my own seeds from grocery store peppers and the ones I grow. Are the seeds from 2011 still going to be viable in January when I start my plants? I will have some from this years crop but I think I may have waited too long and will not have all the varieties.
Thanks
MJ


Easy to google up a lot of this stuff:

http://awaytogarden.com/estimating-v...-do-seeds-last

On Wednesday, September 11, 2013 10:17:16 AM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 9/11/2013 9:00 AM, wrote:

Pepper seeds in particular. I harvest my own seeds from grocery store peppers and the ones I grow. Are the seeds from 2011 still going to be viable in January when I start my plants? I will have some from this years crop but I think I may have waited too long and will not have all the varieties.

Thanks

MJ





Easy to google up a lot of this stuff:



http://awaytogarden.com/estimating-v...-do-seeds-last

Thanks for the link but I would rather learn from folks that have had experience of their own. I am also not using "commercial" seeds.
MJ

On 9/11/2013 10:39 AM, wrote:
On Wednesday, September 11, 2013 10:17:16 AM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 9/11/2013 9:00 AM, wrote:

Pepper seeds in particular. I harvest my own seeds from grocery store peppers and the ones I grow. Are the seeds from 2011 still going to be viable in January when I start my plants? I will have some from this years crop but I think I may have waited too long and will not have all the varieties.

Thanks

MJ





Easy to google up a lot of this stuff:



http://awaytogarden.com/estimating-v...-do-seeds-last

Thanks for the link but I would rather learn from folks that have had experience of their own. I am also not using "commercial" seeds.
MJ


I don't have a lot of experience but always figured tomatoes and peppers
were good for at least 2 years. Last year, I collected seeds from a
local heirloom tomato and every seed I planted grew and I figure the
rest will be good until next year.

I don't know about commercial peppers but I'd be concerned with hybrids
that won't breed true.

wrote:
Pepper seeds in particular. I harvest my own seeds from grocery store
peppers and the ones I grow. Are the seeds from 2011 still going to
be viable in January when I start my plants? I will have some from
this years crop but I think I may have waited too long and will not
have all the varieties.
Thanks
MJ

You can find tables of expected viability by specie on the web. This is
probably a maximum and doesn't take into account if all the seeds were ripe
when you picked them or if your storage conditions were appropriate. Also
the expected lifetime is not a sudden end, the proportion of germination
will decline with age progressively. If you have a hundred seeds you have a
better chance of getting 5 to grow after 3 years than if you have only have
ten. In any event there isn't much you can do about it now.

As for this year's crop, in what way are you too late? Even a stunted late
season fruit on a dying frost-struck plant that you wouldn't eat may yield
viable seeds provided it reached maturity.

David

On Wednesday, September 11, 2013 6:50:04 PM UTC-4, David Hare-Scott wrote:
wrote:

Pepper seeds in particular. I harvest my own seeds from grocery store

peppers and the ones I grow. Are the seeds from 2011 still going to

be viable in January when I start my plants? I will have some from

this years crop but I think I may have waited too long and will not

have all the varieties.

Thanks

MJ



You can find tables of expected viability by specie on the web. This is

probably a maximum and doesn't take into account if all the seeds were ripe

when you picked them or if your storage conditions were appropriate. Also

the expected lifetime is not a sudden end, the proportion of germination

will decline with age progressively. If you have a hundred seeds you have a

better chance of getting 5 to grow after 3 years than if you have only have

ten. In any event there isn't much you can do about it now.



As for this year's crop, in what way are you too late? Even a stunted late

season fruit on a dying frost-struck plant that you wouldn't eat may yield

viable seeds provided it reached maturity.



David

Too late in that I wasn't paying close enough attention and that I think some of the plants I need seeds from are all done producing.
MJ

Farm1 wrote:
....
This will be the first season that I've tried growing capsicum (peppers)
from seed saved last year so I don't yet know by 1st hand experience how
viable saved capsicum seed may be. I did however check what my 2 seed
saving books say.

The 1st book which is USian but which I don't like a lot is 'Seed to Seed'
and it says 50% viabiliy at 3 years if stored correctly. The Australian
book 'The Seed Savers Handbook' says they remain viable for 5 years if
stored correctly.

Sounds like you should be OK if either or both of them are right.

does either say anything about freezing as a
possibility for pepper seeds? i would suspect
not, but ...

one correspondent uses the refrigerator and
reports acceptable germination rates for some
peppers after almost 20 years.

i don't do my own pepper or tomato starts
here... would rather keep worms i guess.


songbird

On Wednesday, September 11, 2013 9:14:33 PM UTC-4, songbird wrote:
Farm1 wrote:

...

This will be the first season that I've tried growing capsicum (peppers)

from seed saved last year so I don't yet know by 1st hand experience how

viable saved capsicum seed may be. I did however check what my 2 seed

saving books say.



The 1st book which is USian but which I don't like a lot is 'Seed to Seed'

and it says 50% viabiliy at 3 years if stored correctly. The Australian

book 'The Seed Savers Handbook' says they remain viable for 5 years if

stored correctly.



Sounds like you should be OK if either or both of them are right.



does either say anything about freezing as a

possibility for pepper seeds? i would suspect

not, but ...



one correspondent uses the refrigerator and

reports acceptable germination rates for some

peppers after almost 20 years.



i don't do my own pepper or tomato starts

here... would rather keep worms i guess.





songbird

Thanks everyone,
I have decided to do a little test of my own. I have enough vials to be able to keep both new and old seeds. So in January when I am board and itching I will start both and see what happens.
MJ

songbird wrote:

does either say anything about freezing as a
possibility for pepper seeds? i would suspect
not, but ...

Most seeds can be stored at freezer temps long term, IF they are thoroughly
dry (seed banks test a sample) and stored in a vapor-tight container. I
know Seed Saver's Exchange uses heat sealable bags rather like the
"seal-a-meal" ones, but heaver and with a foil layer.
In just cool/dry conditions, peppers only last a few years for me, as
opposed to 8 or 10 or more for brassicas and tomatoes.

--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

On Thursday, September 12, 2013 3:09:11 PM UTC-4, Gary Woods wrote:
songbird wrote:



does either say anything about freezing as a

possibility for pepper seeds? i would suspect

not, but ...



Most seeds can be stored at freezer temps long term, IF they are thoroughly

dry (seed banks test a sample) and stored in a vapor-tight container. I

know Seed Saver's Exchange uses heat sealable bags rather like the

"seal-a-meal" ones, but heaver and with a foil layer.

In just cool/dry conditions, peppers only last a few years for me, as

opposed to 8 or 10 or more for brassicas and tomatoes.



--

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic

Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

They may be oxygen barrier bags that they use. We used those for Hops when we had the Brew Store. They work very well for long term stuff
MJ

"songbird" wrote in message
news
Farm1 wrote:
...
This will be the first season that I've tried growing capsicum (peppers)
from seed saved last year so I don't yet know by 1st hand experience how
viable saved capsicum seed may be. I did however check what my 2 seed
saving books say.

The 1st book which is USian but which I don't like a lot is 'Seed to
Seed'
and it says 50% viabiliy at 3 years if stored correctly. The Australian
book 'The Seed Savers Handbook' says they remain viable for 5 years if
stored correctly.

Sounds like you should be OK if either or both of them are right.

does either say anything about freezing as a
possibility for pepper seeds? i would suspect
not, but ...

I've just checeked and neither mention freezing as a storage option - just
the cool dark place option.

one correspondent uses the refrigerator and
reports acceptable germination rates for some
peppers after almost 20 years.

i don't do my own pepper or tomato starts
here... would rather keep worms i guess.

I'm waiting for a little more heat to do either and i"m also going ot do
physalis at the same time.

Farm1 wrote:
songbird wrote:
Farm1 wrote:
...
This will be the first season that I've tried growing capsicum (peppers)
from seed saved last year so I don't yet know by 1st hand experience how
viable saved capsicum seed may be. I did however check what my 2 seed
saving books say.

The 1st book which is USian but which I don't like a lot is 'Seed to
Seed'
and it says 50% viabiliy at 3 years if stored correctly. The Australian
book 'The Seed Savers Handbook' says they remain viable for 5 years if
stored correctly.

Sounds like you should be OK if either or both of them are right.

does either say anything about freezing as a
possibility for pepper seeds? i would suspect
not, but ...

I've just checeked and neither mention freezing as a storage option - just
the cool dark place option.

ok, thanks.


one correspondent uses the refrigerator and
reports acceptable germination rates for some
peppers after almost 20 years.

i don't do my own pepper or tomato starts
here... would rather keep worms i guess.

I'm waiting for a little more heat to do either and i"m also going ot do
physalis at the same time.

our first frost warning is for tonight. brr!
but the cooler weather means i'm getting outside
again today.


songbird