using old seeds - help!!

[rachel43]

Can anyone tell me if it's viable to use 2 year old seed which has been opened the previous year? The packet says 2011 is the sow-by year but does that still count if the packet was opened last year - there are lots of seeds left so it seems a waste to throw them away.

[becks77]

you could always try a small scale trial sow and see if anything comes up
hth

[oldjerry]

Depends what it is Rachel..........................................what is it?

[okra]

After 2 years most seeds still have a 50% viability

[Odsox]

There's a very easy way to tell Rachel.

Take an old margarine container or similar (with a lid), put a layer of folded kitchen towel in the bottom and moisten, sow a pinch of the seeds in question and put in your airing cupboard.
Leave for 4 days and then start checking every day to see if any have germinated. If none have after 3 weeks then they are probably dead as most vegetable seeds will have germinated between 1 week and 10 days.
If the seeds are large(ish) you can count how many germinated and get a percentage ratio (then you can get really technical)

[yvette]

I think I read somewhere on here that it partly depends on whether the seeds have been kept cool and dry - if they have it is probably worth a try.

[Millymollymandy]

Most veg seed should still be good only one year after being opened. Parsnip seed is the exception but should still give about 50% the following year and best to buy new the year after that (or you won't get much at all!).

[merv]

Evening all.

This question comes up every year and I am always pleased to post the same advice :

The life of a seed

You have in your drawer since Candlemas day,
All the seed packets you daren’t throw away,
Seed catalogue cometh as year doth it end,
But look in your drawer before money you spend.

Throw out ye parsnip, ‘tis no good next year,
And scorzonera if there’s any there,
For these have a life that is gone with ye wynde,
Unlike all ye seeds of the cabbagy kind.

Broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, cabbage and kale,
Live long like a farmer who knoweth good ale;
Three years for certain, maybe four or five,
To sow in their seasons they stay in ye drawer.

Kohl-rabi lasts with them and so does peltasi,
The winter cos lettuce to sow in July,
But short is the life of ye turnips and Swedes,
Sow next year only, enough for your needs.

Mustard and cress for when salads come round,
Sows for three seasons so buy half a pound,
Radish lasts four years, both round ones and long,
Sown thinly and often they’re never too strong.

Last year’s left lettuce sows three summers more,
And beetroot and spinach-beet easily four,
But ordinary spinach, both prickly and round,
Hath one summer left before gaps waste ye ground.

Leeks sow three Aprils and one has gone past,
And this is as long as ye carrot will last,
Onion seed keeps till four years have flown by,
But sets are so easy and dodge onion fly.

Store marrows and cucumbers, best when they’re old,
Full seven summers’ sowings a packet can hold,
Six hath ye celery that needs frost to taste,
So hath celeriac before it goes to waste.

Broad beans, French ones, runners, sown in May,
Each hath a sowing left before you throw away,
And short peas, tall peas, fast ones and slow,
Parsley and salsify have one more spring to sow.

Then fillen your form that your seedsman doth send,
For novelties plenty, there’s money to spend,
Good seed and good horses are worth the expense,
So pay them your poundies as I paid my pence.

Lawrence D Hills, 1963
From “Grow your own vegetables” 1971


Have fun

Merv

[rachel43]

thanks everyone - I'll give the margarine tub idea ago and let you know!

[Millymollymandy]

Good poem Merv, thank you that's pretty handy!

[greenorelse]

I asked on FreeCycle for any old seeds that:

1) people thought weren't viable/too old
2) were unlabelled
3) just unwanted

We threw them all in a bag and mixed them up, then scattered them over a patch around 4 square metres or so. We ended up with a wonderful patch of flowers and veg (too many to list) which just added colour and variety to the garden and kept several birds happy. It was simply a crazy idea and we'll do it again this year, in another patch.

[Millymollymandy]

I think that's a great idea for any spare patch whether in a flower bed or veg patch.