Silly question...how much does age affect seeds ability to germinate?

I have some left over herb seeds from 2005 and 2006. Is it worth trying to
plant or will they fail and are my efforts best spent on buying new and
planting those.

Anyone have experience?

--
ie
ride fast, take chances.

On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:08:36 -0500, "oldhickory"
wrote:

Silly question...how much does age affect seeds ability to germinate?

I have some left over herb seeds from 2005 and 2006. Is it worth trying to
plant or will they fail and are my efforts best spent on buying new and
planting those.

Anyone have experience?

Sometimes greatly reduced germination rates, sometimes not. Seeds are
cheap enough, always best to use fresh seed for sure.

Old or outdated seeds are far more viable than you might think. I have a
gardening bag that has unused seeds dating back to the eighties. I do buy
some fresh seeds but seem to always end up with leftovers. Last year I
planted some Israeli melons from a 1998 crop and they came up as if they
were fresh and produced beautifully. I once read about an old desk that was
found in an agricultural extension office that had a bunch of seed in a
drawer from the 1940's. (I read this in the mid '80's) They planted several
of the seeds and if I remember correctly there was about an 85+% rate of
germination. Naturally seed companies are going to always tell you to buy
fresh, but why would you buy seeds if you grew a crop the season before and
saved your own seeds from the biggest and best you grew? That is if you are
not growing hybrids. My 2 cents worth.

"oldhickory" wrote in message
...
Silly question...how much does age affect seeds ability to germinate?

I have some left over herb seeds from 2005 and 2006. Is it worth trying
to plant or will they fail and are my efforts best spent on buying new and
planting those.

Anyone have experience?

--
ie
ride fast, take chances.

Vern wrote:

Old or outdated seeds are far more viable than you might think. I have a
gardening bag that has unused seeds dating back to the eighties. I do buy
some fresh seeds but seem to always end up with leftovers. Last year I
planted some Israeli melons from a 1998 crop and they came up as if they
were fresh and produced beautifully. I once read about an old desk that was
found in an agricultural extension office that had a bunch of seed in a
drawer from the 1940's. (I read this in the mid '80's) They planted several
of the seeds and if I remember correctly there was about an 85+% rate of
germination. Naturally seed companies are going to always tell you to buy
fresh, but why would you buy seeds if you grew a crop the season before and
saved your own seeds from the biggest and best you grew? That is if you are
not growing hybrids. My 2 cents worth.

"oldhickory" wrote in message
...

Silly question...how much does age affect seeds ability to germinate?

I have some left over herb seeds from 2005 and 2006. Is it worth trying
to plant or will they fail and are my efforts best spent on buying new and
planting those.

Anyone have experience?

--
ie
ride fast, take chances.

"Ride fast, take chances"? Take a chance: sow 'em thicker than usual,
but be prepared to thin like a maniac if they all germinate. Be
prepared to go buy new seed if they don't; it's still early.

DT

I should varify what I said. It is better AT THIS LATE DATE to start
with old seeds not knowing their germination rate, particularly if
they are for vegetables which count on certain temperatures to develop
fruit.

They found two thousand year old lotus seed in an Egyptian tomb, it
may have been when they found in King Tut's Tomb, and then there seeds
from a date palm, tought to be extinct found in Kibbutz Keutra,
Israel. They were two thousand years old as well, and they
germinated. So, your point is taken, but if this is for tomato
plants, it is too late to test out.

On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 14:15:00 GMT, "Vern"
wrote:

Old or outdated seeds are far more viable than you might think. I have a
gardening bag that has unused seeds dating back to the eighties. I do buy
some fresh seeds but seem to always end up with leftovers. Last year I
planted some Israeli melons from a 1998 crop and they came up as if they
were fresh and produced beautifully. I once read about an old desk that was
found in an agricultural extension office that had a bunch of seed in a
drawer from the 1940's. (I read this in the mid '80's) They planted several
of the seeds and if I remember correctly there was about an 85+% rate of
germination. Naturally seed companies are going to always tell you to buy
fresh, but why would you buy seeds if you grew a crop the season before and
saved your own seeds from the biggest and best you grew? That is if you are
not growing hybrids. My 2 cents worth.

"oldhickory" wrote in message
.. .
Silly question...how much does age affect seeds ability to germinate?

I have some left over herb seeds from 2005 and 2006. Is it worth trying
to plant or will they fail and are my efforts best spent on buying new and
planting those.

Anyone have experience?

--
ie
ride fast, take chances.

Thanks, y'all!

--
ie
ride fast, take chances. (bicycle ;-)


"dt" wrote in message
...
Vern wrote:

Old or outdated seeds are far more viable than you might think. I have a
gardening bag that has unused seeds dating back to the eighties. I do
buy some fresh seeds but seem to always end up with leftovers. Last year
I planted some Israeli melons from a 1998 crop and they came up as if
they were fresh and produced beautifully. I once read about an old desk
that was found in an agricultural extension office that had a bunch of
seed in a drawer from the 1940's. (I read this in the mid '80's) They
planted several of the seeds and if I remember correctly there was about
an 85+% rate of germination. Naturally seed companies are going to
always tell you to buy fresh, but why would you buy seeds if you grew a
crop the season before and saved your own seeds from the biggest and best
you grew? That is if you are not growing hybrids. My 2 cents worth.

"oldhickory" wrote in message
...

Silly question...how much does age affect seeds ability to germinate?

I have some left over herb seeds from 2005 and 2006. Is it worth trying
to plant or will they fail and are my efforts best spent on buying new
and planting those.

Anyone have experience?

--
ie
ride fast, take chances.

"Ride fast, take chances"? Take a chance: sow 'em thicker than usual, but
be prepared to thin like a maniac if they all germinate. Be prepared to
go buy new seed if they don't; it's still early.

DT