Very Old Seeds

[flowerpower]

My friend bought a big bag of seeds at a yard sale. When I looked through them, I found unopened seed packs from 1978. lol She wanted to trash them. Naturally, I want to start them in pots.

I am curious to see how high/low the germination rate is. My friend thinks none will sprout b/c they are so old. I think that I will get something, so i am going to be planting today. :) Wish me luck

[dirtundernails]

I don't have an answer, but needed to ask the same question. Maybe we will be the ones with the answer in the end. ;)

dun

[bluelacedredhead]

Luck!!
Can't wait to hear the results.

[Brook]

At almost 30 years it's gonna be rough. But there are ways to increase the odds; a whole list of chemicals that tickle any remaining germplasm to start growing.

If you're interested I can put you in contact with a friend who knows which chemicals do what.

BTW, what sort of seeds were they?

[winter_unfazed]

Is it a rare variety that you are trying to save from extinction?

[flowerpower]

There were seeds from 78, 79, 91-96. Mostly they were flower seeds. I only found one veggie- Acorn Squash from 91. The pack is open but there are at least 30 seeds. They looked fine. So I will start 10. Why not? There was one herb- lemon basil from 96 but it is open.

The flower seeds were all very common things. Sweet William, annual Pinks, wallflower, snapdragon, california poppy (orange) ,& a few wildflower mixes. I do think that some of the dianthus will germinate and some of the wildflowers too. I am not so sure about the poppy. I am not going to use any chemicals at all. These are all things I have grown from seed before. I'll keep everyone updated on my progress or lack of it. lol

[dirtundernails]

I bought a book copyrighted 1969 that had a pack of Zinnia seeds from Gurney in it. "Mound-O-Bloom" with no date, but "Large Packet" is 29 cents. Says on the back Gurney's company is "over a whole century".
I can't decide what's more fun, the perfect package or planting them to find out.

dun

[flowerpower]

OK I did attempt to start these seeds twice. There was Zero germination on the flowers- Annual Pinks, Baby's Breath and wildflowers. These were the oldest ones from 78-79.

The only seed to sprout was an Acorn Squash from 1991.But that was one seed out of the 30 I planted. That is around 3% germination rate for the squash. I am happy anything came up.

[bluelacedredhead]

If you get a harvest from that one seed it will be worth the effort. Here's hoping.

[johno]

Adding to brook's post # 4; use weak chammomile tea when germinating seeds. Works wonders for me!

[lovetogarden]

A weak solution of seaweed helps germination too.
http://www.microtechph.com/seaweed.php

[Amaranthos]

Don't give up, there's always hope for germination! :D

If you don't believe me, read about this amazing seed:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/12/MNGJND7G5T1.DTL

[winter_unfazed]

My goodness! That's a long time!

I know of less spectacular germinations from the 20th century. In 2002, a farmer in Michigan was cleaning out a shed of the farm he had just bought, when he discovered a jar of pumpkin seeds labelled 1957. Three of the seeds sprouted. (If 1957 doesn't seem like a long time ago to you, realize that at the time those seeds were collected, Alaska was not yet a state, Hawaii was not yet a state, and at least 71% of married American women did not work outside the home.)

[Joan]

I read a question like this once and it was answered " as long as seed is stored in paper, not plastic, it can last indefinitely". Sure hope you post the results and they are good ones!

[winter_unfazed]

The ones from Michigan were stored in glass.

[johno]

Hydrogen peroxide is good for giving any seeds a kickstart.

[tashak]

Johno, how do you use it, and what strength?

[johno]

Well, that's exactly what I wondered when I read it in my botany textbook, but it didn't say. I have experimented with it, and I found that full strength H2O2 for about half an hour works well. Alternatively, adding a little shot to your regular soaking routine helps. Sorry I can't be more specific.

[flowerpower]

Try to find PharmerPhil's thread on growing giant pumpkins. I think its called "here come the giants" or something like that. I believe he said to just soak the seeds in regular hydrogen peroxide overnight.

[bluelacedredhead]

This is the info I have from the Giant Veggie club I belong to. Some of those giant veggie seeds are difficult to germinate as well. Not because they are older seed, but because they have such thick skins...
'soak the seeds for several hours in a mixture of water, with a 10% solution of 3% hydrogen peroxide. This will kill of any fungus and revitalize the seed....place the (drained) seed on damp paper towel in a cereal bowl covered with plastic wrap. Put on top of the refrigerator to await germination. '