Just a quick note to say that most of my test germinations have proved to be fully viable. It took just a few days sitting in a warmish spot in the kitchen, to produce quite a forest of sprouting.
Failures have been, quite predictably Parsnips, which are well know for having a short shelf life, some ancient seeds I've had lurking in the bottom of the box for simply aeons, and rather more suprisingly some chillies and aubergines.
I think these latter two may be looking for warmer temperatures/ longer germination period, so I will give them a bit longer before consigning to the bin. Just goes to show though, most seeds are viable for far longer than one season, these ornamental gourd seeds for example are dated best before 2008 and still have at least 50% viability !
So whilst I wouldn't advise keeping them longer than two or three seasons, it's always worth checking before binning.
I have found that too! I have also bought new seeds and nothing came up.
ReplyDeleteMe and my purple thumb! :-)
Hi,did you ever plant your sprouting acorns from last year? You reminded me to do my seeds too hoping to have better luck this year, last years was very disappointing for tomatos
ReplyDeleteYou are so on top of things -- I just open the package and throw them in the ground!
ReplyDeleteIt all works out somehow -- looking forward to seeing how your garden shapes up this year! :)
you are so patient with this sort of thing! Yes more pics of your plots this year please!
ReplyDeleteBack when I had room for a garden, I'd save the extra seed year to year in the freezer! Never had a problem with them germinating. Yours are certainly looking good!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading about your trials and triumphs.
ReplyDeleteFrom one true gardener to another,
Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island
Dear Kathy, I didn't do the germination test yet on my old seeds. Spring seems too far away here. The results are always so interesting. I still buy too many though. P x
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ReplyDeleteHi Teawithonesugarplease, I'm afraid my lovely acorns made a winter snack for resident mice or voles, so I will have to wait for next year, when I will try again and keep the sprouted acorns somewhere rodent proof!
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