Testing Old Seed

crmauch · June 6, 2013

Thought I'd post a little about testing some old seed I'd found I had from 2007, with one seed variety from 2006, and a few varieties of saved seed that somehow I didn't note the year.

I thought almost all the seed would be dead, or just a low percentage on a few. I was actually pleasantly surprised how viable some of the seed was. To test the seed I wet a paper towel, wrung it out folded it and placed the seed inside the folded area and put the paper towel in a ziplock sandwich bag. Also (and I should know this from past experience), a 'germination test' ends up me rescuing the new seedlings and planting them up into pots or trays.

Some of my results:
Blacktail Mountain Watermelon (2007) [20 seeds]: 100%!

Royal Golden Watermelon (2007) [17 seeds]]: 59%

Orangeglo Watermelon (yr?): 0%

Baker Creek Wonderberry (2007)[20 seeds]: 50%

Birdhouse Gourd (yr?) [20 seeds]: 25%

Scarlet Runner Beans (2011?) [8 seeds]: 100%

Golden Hubbard Squash (2006) [16 seeds]: ~15%

So, I'd say if you have older seeds and time, it may pay you to try the seeds out to see if they're viable.

June 6, 2013	#1
crmauch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Honey Brook, PA Zone 6b Posts: 399	Testing Old Seed Thought I'd post a little about testing some old seed I'd found I had from 2007, with one seed variety from 2006, and a few varieties of saved seed that somehow I didn't note the year. I thought almost all the seed would be dead, or just a low percentage on a few. I was actually pleasantly surprised how viable some of the seed was. To test the seed I wet a paper towel, wrung it out folded it and placed the seed inside the folded area and put the paper towel in a ziplock sandwich bag. Also (and I should know this from past experience), a 'germination test' ends up me rescuing the new seedlings and planting them up into pots or trays. Some of my results: Blacktail Mountain Watermelon (2007) [20 seeds]: 100%! Royal Golden Watermelon (2007) [17 seeds]]: 59% Orangeglo Watermelon (yr?): 0% Baker Creek Wonderberry (2007)[20 seeds]: 50% Birdhouse Gourd (yr?) [20 seeds]: 25% Scarlet Runner Beans (2011?) [8 seeds]: 100% Golden Hubbard Squash (2006) [16 seeds]: ~15% So, I'd say if you have older seeds and time, it may pay you to try the seeds out to see if they're viable.