A family member gave me a ton of seed packets last year from 2017. I tried to grow them but only the tomatoes germinated and I wasted a lot of seed trays. How can I give these guys the best chance this year?
You probably can’t. Unless seeds are stored properly they have a very short shelf life, and even with proper storage germination rates decline year over year.
medicfourlife
The older seeds are, the worse their germination rates get. I would try overseeing each cell 3-4x more than usual just to try and give any viable seeds a chance at life.
MyNameIsNotRyn
Depends on the seed.
Tomatoes are ridiculously hardy. I’ve sprouted 10+ year old seeds with barely any drop in germination rates.
Now, onion seeds? A waste of time if they are more than a year old, lol.
If you have a lot of old seed, you can test them by taking 5-10 seeds on a moist paper towel to estimate their viability.
Or just plan more than you need and cull the rest.
4 Comments
You probably can’t. Unless seeds are stored properly they have a very short shelf life, and even with proper storage germination rates decline year over year.
The older seeds are, the worse their germination rates get. I would try overseeing each cell 3-4x more than usual just to try and give any viable seeds a chance at life.
Depends on the seed.
Tomatoes are ridiculously hardy. I’ve sprouted 10+ year old seeds with barely any drop in germination rates.
Now, onion seeds? A waste of time if they are more than a year old, lol.
If you have a lot of old seed, you can test them by taking 5-10 seeds on a moist paper towel to estimate their viability.
Or just plan more than you need and cull the rest.
I would soak them in water 12 hours at least