I have a bunch of seeds left over from this year. Is it worth saving them
for planting next year? Are there seeds that are known to be good next year,
and seeds known to not be good next year? Or should I just chuck all of them
and get fresh seeds next year?

Ook wrote:
I have a bunch of seeds left over from this year. Is it worth saving them
for planting next year? Are there seeds that are known to be good next year,
and seeds known to not be good next year? Or should I just chuck all of them
and get fresh seeds next year?

I keep them in the freezer, and just today I ate cabbage planted this
year from seeds bought in 2000.
I have also planted two years old parsnip seeds successfully, even
though they are supposed to last one year only.
In the freezer, they keep indefinitely.

"Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the
Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote in message
...
I have a bunch of seeds left over from this year. Is it worth saving them
for planting next year? Are there seeds that are known to be good next
year, and seeds known to not be good next year? Or should I just chuck all
of them and get fresh seeds next year?


Here's some info, and a chart. As for the other person's comment on
freezing, this won't work for all seeds, although some will actually
germinate better after freezing. Too long a subject to go into here.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07221.html

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the
Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote in message
...
I have a bunch of seeds left over from this year. Is it worth saving them
for planting next year? Are there seeds that are known to be good next
year, and seeds known to not be good next year? Or should I just chuck all
of them and get fresh seeds next year?


Here's some info, and a chart. As for the other person's comment on
freezing, this won't work for all seeds, although some will actually
germinate better after freezing. Too long a subject to go into here.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07221.html

Ah, excellent, that is what I needed to know! I spent a small fortune on
seeds and didn't plant half of them, so I think I'll hang on to them.
However, for critical plants, I think I'll get new seeds. Would not want to
wait 3-4 weeks to find out my tomatoe and pepper seeds were bad

"Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the
Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote in message
...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the
Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote in message
...
I have a bunch of seeds left over from this year. Is it worth saving them
for planting next year? Are there seeds that are known to be good next
year, and seeds known to not be good next year? Or should I just chuck
all of them and get fresh seeds next year?


Here's some info, and a chart. As for the other person's comment on
freezing, this won't work for all seeds, although some will actually
germinate better after freezing. Too long a subject to go into here.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07221.html

Ah, excellent, that is what I needed to know! I spent a small fortune on
seeds and didn't plant half of them, so I think I'll hang on to them.
However, for critical plants, I think I'll get new seeds. Would not want
to wait 3-4 weeks to find out my tomatoe and pepper seeds were bad


Right. In places where you only get one chance per year to plant certain
things, buy fresh seeds.

Here's a google search to investigate:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&h...+packs&spell=1

Get yourself a couple of rechargeable desiccant packs to keep your seeds
dry.

Ook wrote:
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the
Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote in message
...
I have a bunch of seeds left over from this year. Is it worth saving them
for planting next year? Are there seeds that are known to be good next
year, and seeds known to not be good next year? Or should I just chuck all
of them and get fresh seeds next year?

Here's some info, and a chart. As for the other person's comment on
freezing, this won't work for all seeds, although some will actually
germinate better after freezing. Too long a subject to go into here.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07221.html

Ah, excellent, that is what I needed to know! I spent a small fortune on
seeds and didn't plant half of them, so I think I'll hang on to them.
However, for critical plants, I think I'll get new seeds. Would not want to
wait 3-4 weeks to find out my tomatoe and pepper seeds were bad




Pepper, tomato, and squash seeds last for several years. I just tested
the germination of some 15 year old okra seeds that I found (I was gonna
throw them out, but I was curious) and all of them sprouted in about 2
days. I will plant them next spring.

Onion seeds OTOH will give very poor germination after just one year.

Bob

On Sun, 22 Oct 2006 23:47:02 -0500, zxcvbob
wrote:

[...]
Onion seeds OTOH will give very poor germination after just one year.

Bob

Do you mean "regular" onions, or green onions?

On Sun, 22 Oct 2006 20:28:16 -0700, Ook Ook wrote:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07221.html

Ah, excellent, that is what I needed to know! I spent a small fortune on
seeds and didn't plant half of them, so I think I'll hang on to them.
However, for critical plants, I think I'll get new seeds. Would not want to
wait 3-4 weeks to find out my tomatoe and pepper seeds were bad

No need. Do a paper towel test or sand test on a few seeds... damp
but not wringing wet substrate, warm spot, wait a week. Dead seeds
will mold in that time and be ishy-squishy.

If you want to try this out this winter, grab some dried beans from the
kitchen, and rehydrate them in something like damp paper towels overnight.
Take half the beans and dunk them in boiling water and wait for the water
to cool. Plant both the boiled and unboiled... and pay attention to how
easily you can tell them apart just with a finger squish after a day or
three.

Kay