Planting 'old' - out of date seeds

jap200

If like me, you rarely use up a whole packet of seeds but are unsure as to whether it is worth trying them out for the second/third/tenth year, when they are past their 'plant by' date, then I suggest the following:

Plant some of them as usual at the very earliest time suggested on the packet e.g. if it says to plant March - May, try at the end of Feb, early March. You then have time to see if they are going to germinate. If they do, you have a nice early crop/flower, if not, then you still have time to buy fresh seed and try again.

If you are trying again, you need not waste the compost from the first attempt, just put it in a plastic bowl, cover and microwave on full power until piping hot (to kill any nasties), allow it to cool and it is effectively sterilized.

In my experience, many (although not all) seeds will germinate even years out of date. This does depend on storage conditions though, and even though the best advice is to store them in sandwich box in the fridge (i.e. cool, dark and dry) - I don't have room for that, so mine are subject to swings of temperature in our garage.

I have used the same packet of 'salad bowl' mixed lettuce leaves every year since my first son was born - and he now 8! There must have been thousands of tiny seeds in the packet and I always sow in modules first rather than straight into the ground to get a better germination. I have probably got another 2 years worth of seeds left in the packet - so 10 years worth of salad leaves for 99p - not bad!

It might be a good idea to post any other successes (or not) with old seed here to build up our collective wisdom.

annie123

If you are trying again, you need not waste the compost from the first attempt, just put it in a plastic bowl, cover and microwave on full power until piping hot (to kill any nasties), allow it to cool and it is effectively sterilized.

Not tried that before, Good idea,Thanks:D

I keep seeds for years too, in a shoe box in the garden shed. Never had any fail on me yet.

jennifernil

Tomato seeds stay viable for several years.

Liney_2

This is very handy information I have a huge box of various seeds and decided against planting them this year as we are hoping to move very soon. I want to save them for my new place and its good to know that they are worth hanging on to and trying with again next year.
PS Great tip on the compost!

lucycat_2

I had 18 assorted packets of flower seeds aged about 5-10 years. I mixed them altogether and sprinkled them in an out of the way but sunny place and I had the most gorgeous array of flowers far better than if I had planted them the correct way.

House_Elf_2

Got some Narcissi, Amyrillis and Hyacinth bulbs for 10p each in IKEA today. :j Thought it was worth a try. Any tips for this season or should I store for next year?

jean48

I found a pkt of leek seeds 5 years out of date planted them and got 130 leeks not bad when you see the price of them in the shops

jap200

House_Elf wrote:

Got some Narcissi, Amyrillis and Hyacinth bulbs for 10p each in IKEA today. :j Thought it was worth a try. Any tips for this season or should I store for next year?

Plant them now! - even if it is just in pots. If you store them, they will probably srpout anyway, thereby using up their stored energy - then shrivel and die - or they may go mouldy. You have absolutely nothing to lose by planting them - and everthing to gain.

Many people give/receive amarylis bulbs for Christmas, so it is certainly not too late to plant those anyway (indoors for those). The narcissi and hyacinth may just flower a little later than usual - giving you lovely flowers out of season. They will flower at the normal time the following year.

Caroline2CV

House_Elf wrote:

Got some Narcissi, Amyrillis and Hyacinth bulbs for 10p each in IKEA today. :j Thought it was worth a try. Any tips for this season or should I store for next year?

Ask other gardening friends if they have any Bulb Compost left over. Think you can make your own by adding some Charcoal to ordinary compost but fogotten the ration. Can anyone help out here?

russetred

I remember watching the victorian kitchen garden a good few years back and they found some dried peas that were around 100 years old they turned out to be an extinct species of pea and kew planted and raised them with almost 100% success rate.Always worth a go with out of date seeds,you may not get 100% germination but you usually don't do too bad.

alanobrien

On "A year at kew" (8pm beeb 2) tonight they have a section where they found some 200 year old seeds and are trying to germinate them..looks like they managed it from their www site so worth a go !