Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Seed life
On 28/05/2014 10:25 PM, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
On 5/28/2014 1:42 AM, Fran Farmer wrote: On 28/05/2014 12:23 AM, Moe DeLoughan wrote: On 5/26/2014 11:30 PM, SteveB wrote: My wife is the daughter of a depression baby, and has a sometimes bad habit of keeping things she should throw away. We planted some Bush contender string beans last year, nice germination time, and great growers and producers right into frost. We had seeds left over, which she kept in a plastic ziploc in the garden shed, temps sometimes very hot, and then through a freezing winter. This year, it seems they to be taking a long time to germinate. Is there a good estimate of how long seeds are good for? I would say to buy just enough for what you need each year, but perhaps you find a strain that you really like, and don't know if they will carry that at the seed store next year. And tips on storage from season to season would be appreciated. Seed companies just keep their bulk seed in the warehouse/bulk storage facilities, where it stays dry and safe from wide temperature swings. The following year they'll perform germination testing and if necessary add fresher seeds to bring the germination rate up to what is stated on their package labeling. All seed companies do this, which is why the label says, "Packed for calendar year", instead of "grown for" or "harvested in" calendar year. For home gardeners dealing with small amounts, the seed company I worked for suggested storing the left-over seed packets in clean, dry glass jars indoors to ensure the seeds were kept dry. Whew! Sounds like I'm doing the right thing. I store my seeds in my large walk in pantry in the middle of the house where the temperature stays not too hot and not too cool. I store my saved seeds in recycled glass pill bottles or, for purchased seed, in the original packets in metal boxes. Properly stored - i.e. kept dry and safe from temperature swings - most vegetable seeds will retain most of their germinating ability for at least a couple more years. And some gardeners prefer older seeds too - pumpkin is one seed that I've been told a few times does better if the seed is older rather than fresh. The owner of the seed company I worked for told me that was true of tomato seeds, too. That's interesting. I hadn't ever heard that before. I'll tuck it into my memory banks and try it next year with some older seed. Though I did the germination testing for the company, I can't say if that was really true, because I never saved a specific sample for long-term testing. We just tested what was held over every year and adjusted with fresh seed as necessary. Oh - and when a customer complained about poor germination, we'd ask for a sample of the seed (assuming there was any left) and tested that, too. Invariably, it met specs, meaning the poor germination was due to environmental conditions, not that it was non-viable seed. Ironically, the fad now is for 'organic' seeds, most usually meaning seed that isn't treated with a fungicide to reduce the risk of decaying before it sprouts. If you want untreated seed, fine, but if the weather doesn't cooperate it will have a greater chance of rotting rather than sprouting. Thankfully, seeds in my part of Australia are more in danger of failing to sprout due to dry conditions rather than rotting. |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Bare root strawberries (shelf life, indoor life - to survive in thefrost, ready to plant outside)? | Gardening | |||
Lawn Patch, Grass Seed, Fertilizer Shelf life | Lawns | |||
seed to seed regions, US vs UK | Gardening | |||
Grass Seed Shelf Life | Lawns | |||
maturity of clover seed and trefoil seed? | Plant Science |