The Muddy Bucket Farm Way

[ContainerTed]

I grow a lot of plants with old and very old seeds. This morning I had one finally come up. The seeds were from 2006 and came to me from North Carolina. I received them in 2016. It took 21 days to germinate. For most people, they only use fresh seeds and may not have the patience to wait, but I deal in trying to keep some seed groups from going extinct and at my age, I have a lot of patience. I planted seeds for 81 varieties and now have 76 up. More than half of them were seeds at least 7 years old.

Most folks who do not use a heat pad may have to wait a while for germination. But, isn't the object to get a plant or plants for your garden or container. Don't waste your time and precious seeds by quitting on them too soon. Plant another cell if it makes you feel good, but don't abandon the first one. Set it aside somewhere and keep it watered. It might just surprise you.

Re-introducing Sneezy F2 from the Cross Hemisphere Dwarf Project (Pic #1). Hopefully, we'll get a good harvest of seeds and can then go looking for Non-dwarfs that until recently were simply thrown away. But we're trying to find and preserve some of them.

SneezyF206-12.jpg

Pictures (#2,#3) are of one of those "Non-Dwarf" types that I have now given a working name of "Blushing Beast". It comes from the "Beastly" Dwarf Family and does have a bit of a blushing pink area on the blossom end (Picture #3)

BlushingBeast2.jpg

BlushingBeast3.jpg

And, finally, many of you will know what variety this is. But some of the new to gardening folks may not. This variety doesn't get much attention from the press.

Stick.jpg

[dmforcier]

Here I thought I was adventurous going back 7 years. Well done!

[Lee]

Had some good success this year with some 11 year old seed.
Anyone remember Ernesto and Rinaldo? Those were from 2005.
Also growing out Serendipity from Millard Murdock from 2009....


Good advice for those older seeds Ted!


Lee

[retiree]

Yes, I sure remember Ernesto and Rinaldo and Divine Maltese.

In fact I planted a couple of my saved Rinaldo seeds from 2005 on April 6 and the first one is up this morning.

Neil

[retiree]

Ted has mastered the techniques for germinating older seeds and it's good to hear

excellent results like these. I like reading these posts about older seeds.

Thank you Ted

[ddsack]

Oh yeah! Ernesto is my little avatar picture. I should probably find the seeds and re-grow it next year, no more room for this season. We must have gotten the seeds from the same trader, mine are both from 2005 too!

[retiree]

Quite likely-I grew Rinaldo in 2005 from 1992 seeds I received from B. and the seeds

were from those saved ones.

Probably should have planted a few Ernesto as well.

Neil

[mcsee]

I've had mixed results with older seed over the years, but patience is the key, nothing surer.



Persistence pays off Ted, well done.

[hl2601]

Thanks Ted for posting about this. I had two varieties come up from 2012 and 2013 seeds. I have never tried seed that old before. Both were later to germinate but at least I have a viable plant now to get fresh seed from for this year. Patience does pay off!

[Father'sDaughter]

Nice work!

I have a lot of 7-9 year old seed that I keep hoping to get to some day... you give me hope that I'll still have a chance with them when someday comes.

I too remember Ernesto and Rinaldo as I grew them in 2013 along with two other Italian gentlemen, Romeo and Rocky. They shared space that year with George O'Brien. While I did not grow most of them again, I've held on to seeds for them and others that did not do well with the hope of trying them again now that I'm grafting due to soil disease.

[ContainerTed]

Thanks to all for your kind comments. I always hope that even if only one person gets some, even trivial benefit from me describing my encounters with this passion we all have, then it is worth sharing my story.

Take care. Stay safe. My best to you all for your gardening adventures this year.

[nancyruhl]

Crazy how seed age is not a good predictor of germination. Two years ago I planted Polish from seeds from 2006 and every one popped right up. This year I planted 2006 seeds for Red Penna for the Carolyn tribute and got adequate germination. But some seeds really do take more patience. Every year I pull out my hair waiting for Martina to germinate. I was going to make a list for myself so I wouldn’t fret next year when those varieties didn’t come up with the rest. I know a couple of the cherries I grow, Pink Princess and Rev. Michael Keyes take forever. Funny thing is that Martina is my go to early variety but it takes a couple extra weeks to come up.

[NewWestGardener]

Would the slowly germinated seedlings/plants grow with similar vigour or it could be affected too?

[ContainerTed]

Originally Posted by NewWestGardener

Would the slowly germinated seedlings/plants grow with similar vigour or it could be affected too?

I've made some observations about this and the answer is Yes and No. Most are not affected at all, but a few seem to emerge and then run out of steam, so to speak. But that is true of all seeds. Some are just born and harvested with a handicap of not having all the things necessary to be vigorous and so forth.

A few years back, I began using lightly fertilized water for the whole process, from wetting the initial mix to transplants. I take an amount that would maybe cover a dime with one thin layer of crystals and add that to 1.5 gallons of water that has had time for the chlorine to outgas. My purpose is to give some extra nutrients to all the seeds, but especially those that may be handicapped. My thoughts are that while the Cotyledons contain the energy and chemicals to make a plant, some of those cotyledons are more than likely to be imperfect.

Now I'm not a scientist or anything. But this has worked well for me and I'm convinced that there is validity in my procedures. Results don't lie.

Back in 2009, I was successful in getting one seed which was harvested in 1987 to germinate. It produced one 7 oz tomato from which I saved seeds. From that I was then able to get thousands of seeds from the crop of 10-12 oz fruits the next season.

All that I wrote above is why I only take seeds from the very ripest fruits. That gives the tomatoes the best chance to give you their best. I've taken seeds from tomatoes in a lot of conditions from "First Blush" to "Half Rotten". Guess which group does the best.

Hope this helps. It all adds up to "it's okay to give the seeds a little help".

[NewWestGardener]

Very informative ContainerTed.
I do believe giving seeds a little help works too from my recent observations. I used Promix potting soil to start some tomato seedlings, which grew way healthier than my usual seedling mix, giving me more time to pot up as I am behind. This is in the delayed pot-up situation, not "the first true leaf stage" potting up comparison.