Old Tomato Seeds - Some Are Brown

[TX-TomatoBug]

I have some old tomato seeds that I will try to germinate in Jan/Feb. They are at least 15 years old. There's good reason to believe that they are a lost family heirloom that my late uncle grew for years in Kentucky. So I'm pulling out all the stops to get germination.

A good portion of them are brownish. I wonder if there is any hope for them. Any thoughts? Thank you!

Mystery Seed - Maybe Uncle Howards.jpeg

[Tormato]

I'd do them in stages, not all at once. Some old seeds can take 30 days, or more, to germinate. So, I would start some of them about 1 month before starting fresh seeds. Many recommend placing them on a lightly damp paper towel inside of a zip baggie. A tiny pinch of Miracle Grow dissolved into your water might help.

That's about all that I've got. Others can chime in with the ideal temperature range, or other tips.

Good luck.

[Paulf]

Agreed. Leave the seeds in the damp paper towel no longer than a day or two. Fifteen years is a while but depending on how they were stored your germination could be as much as half or, sorry to say, from zero to just a couple. My advise is start a little early but not too early. The one good one may grow too soon and get too big too soon. Better to plant outside a week or so late than get really leggy early ( but then in Texas it won't matter since you can plant any time.)

[slugworth]

some may be so old they actually look like starch instead of a normal seed.
pasta colored.
Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizer that decomposes into water.
Spray some with that.
You may end up with just 1 seedling.
For precious seeds I clone the plant(s) once it gets big enough.

[MissS]

I always seem to choose to try to sprout the lighter seeds. Sometimes seeds sit too long while being processed and some turn darker than others. I wouldn't worry too much about this, they still have the same viability as their siblings. You really want to use the plumpest seeds first.

[rxkeith]

agree with starting in stages with old seeds.

start a small number about two weeks earlier than you normally would,
maybe all the darker seeds first, doesn't matter really which ones you choose.
after two or three weeks something will usually happen. start a larger number
of seeds when you normally would, and save a small amount in reserve if nothing
comes up, and you need to use additional measures to wake them up.
this past spring i had pretty darn good germination of marlowe charleston seeds
from a tomato given to me in 2008. i had more plants than i knew what to do with.
storage conditions, variety type, some are just tougher than others comes in to play.
start them in a warm spot like beside a heat vent or over a heat vent with a book or
brick under each end of a tray. one old house of ours had cast iron radiators that worked
really well at germinating seeds. there was a platform on top. i put a towel on top of it
before placing the planted seeds on it. fastest germination i ever had with seeds.
let us know how things turn out for ya.


keith

[greenthumbomaha]

Carolyn Male suggested soaking in a pinch of the blue stuff (for nitrogen?) to wake old seeds up. I've had success with this, plus being patient and giving the baggie a little ventilation every day ,or more often, or when I remember.
I am guilty of starting all of the old seeds at once, That is one way to assure fantastic germinataion when only one or two seedlings were desired.
- Lisa

[TX-TomatoBug]

Thank you all - great insights. Glad to know that brown seeds do not equate to dead seeds.

Planting in stages - good idea. Didn't think of that, was planning to do them all at one time. Definitely see the value of doing them in stages.

Cloning - excellent suggestion, especially if I get only 1 or 2 plants.

I've found a lot of great info on handling old seed digging around threads here as well as T-ville. I've read some of Carolyn's posts re: the blue stuff. Also came across soaking in a bleach solution in old blogs (maybe Off the Vine?) on Craig LeHoullier's site. Planning to do some of both as well as suggestions here.

Very thankful for this community!

[slugworth]

Honorable mention but in 1 episode I sliced a donor tomato and removed the seeds and embedded the old seeds in the surrogate mother.
I let the tomato supply the moisture and other juices and slowly rot just like in nature but the seeds may have been too old for this approach to work.

[TX-TomatoBug]

@slugworth, great scott. Ok lol. Well, I'll have to think on that one a bit...

[slugworth]

endeavor to persevere

[Frosti]

In my experience discoloration does not mean the seeds are dead.

I would advise against putting the seeds on wet paper towels inside an air tight zip lock bag. Afaik oxygen deprivation hinders germination.

I'd do it like this:

1. Select a small batch of your seeds, try to select randomly

2. Put the seeds on top of very fluffy aerated seed starting potting mix (no need for strong fertilizers!). The medium needs to be coarse but not too coarse, aeration is key. Sprinkle the medium on top of the seeds, so they are buried shallowly.

3. Put the seeds inside of a mini greenhouse to increase humidity. Don't make it air tight, but allow some ventilation.

4. Put a temperature controlled heating mat below the green house.

5. Immediately remove any germinated seedlings from the green house once you have given them a chance (max 1 day) to free themselves from the seed.
If they can't do it on their own, help them while the seed is still moist.

6. Put the seedlings under grow lights.

[TX-TomatoBug]

@Frosti, thank you. Very, very close to what my tentative plans are. I do plan to experiment with some of the soaking techniques prior to planting them. And, based on helmet-head threads from here and T-ville, will cover with just a tad bit more medium to provide extra friction to remove the coat.

I think I'm looking forward to experimenting as much as harvesting the tomatoes!

And thanks for input regarding the color.

[TX-TomatoBug]

I had hoped to share a photo of germinations, but, alas, none yet. Planted 20 seeds on Jan 4. Planted the remaining 20 on Jan 11. Soaked some in 50-50 bleach solution per Tomato Genetics Resource Center (TGRC), some in water with pinch of MG, some nicked at radicle end (also per TGRC), and some normally with no hocus pocus. Had no idea how hard it would be to wait... But I'm far from giving up hope, endeavoring to persevere.

Mystery Seed sm.jpeg

[MissS]

You usually want the seeds at 72-82 degrees. I find that sometimes with older seeds that allowing them to get rather cool for a few days and then warming them up again helps to sprout them.