how old is too old for flower, herb, and vegetable seeds?

[habitat-gardener]

There are some local garden swaps coming up, and I'm wondering if it's worth trying to give away some of the older flower, herb, and vegetable seeds I probably won't want to grow again, along with instructions on waking up older seeds, or if I should just compost them. I know that tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds can be viable for 10 years or more; I'm wondering about other kinds of seeds. I seem to have a whole bunch dated 2004-2011 and a few older than that, as well as more recent seed. It's all been stored indoors, away from heat and moisture.

[agee]

Do you have to put a lot of effort in, like packaging and labeling?

I think if you disclose the year or give an estimate, it should be fine, especially since the seeds were well taken care of and you are going to provide an instruction sheet.

[MissS]

My best advise would be to do a germination test on them before sending them out. I have heard that flower seeds can be viable for 8 years. I myself have germinated seeds that were 6 years old. Anything older than that I threw away.

[lee53011]

i've been told onion seed is only good for one year. My 8 year old seed didn't get the memo! I keep all my seeds in the freezer though.

[rxkeith]

pepper seeds are pretty much kaput after eight or nine years.
i have had three pepper seeds sprout from maybe 10 packs of seeds that were nine
years old. i did the wet paper towel method underneath our wood stove.
i have one pepper alive from either golden cali. wonder, purple beauty, sweet chocolate or cali. wonder.
it is growing very slowly.
i have had two long thin cayenne peppers sprout from nine year old seeds. i broke the rootlet on one of them,
and planted the other seed that was just sprouting. i am giving them three to four weeks to sprout or until mold
starts growing on the paper towel. all seed varieties are easily replaceable. this has been an exercise of lets just
see what happens. it was either continue to keep old seeds or toss them.
my experience has been that some hot pepper varieties last longer than most sweet pepper varieties.


keith

[Rockoe10]

You're giving them away? I wouldn't throw them then. Like others have said, disclose the information and hand them out.

[Tormahto]

Anything rare/exotic in the herbs?

[habitat-gardener]

Anything rare/exotic in the herbs?

Uncommon, but not rare or exotic. But you may have a different definition of rare / exotic.

[habitat-gardener]

By the way, I received 10 year old Sweet Sue seeds in the MMMM swap and got great germination. I did soak them overnight.

[bower]

IMO it's important to put the year on the seed packet. Even though survival varies, it gives a ballpark for what to expect. Lots of us have seed collections, more than we can grow. Having a date on it means you can prioritize something special that might be on its last. Or temper your expectations and whether to start some extras in your plans, just in case. Otherwise it is disappointing for the person who receives it, to invest time in seeds that don't come. If I know I have older seed, I'll put more seeds to sprout in hopes to get a couple.

As long as the date is on though, I'd say it's fine to share, even if there are too many varieties to go through and germination test.

[Tormahto]

By the way, I received 10 year old Sweet Sue seeds in the MMMM swap and got great germination. I did soak them overnight.

By the way, If I the swap doesn't get any back, the stash will then be 11 years old.

[Setec Astronomy]

How long are pea seeds considered to be good for?

[Spike]

How long are pea seeds considered to be good for?

I am hoping that they are good for at least 2 years!

[steve ok]

Here is the Seed Viability Chart from High Mowing Organic Seeds

Proper seed storage conditions are cool and dark. The moisture content within the seed greatly affects germination rates. Seeds should be stored in their original packaging in a cool (below 50 degrees Fahrenheit), dark place where their moisture content will stay relatively stable. Here at High Mowing we keep our seed cooler at around 45 degrees Fahrenheit with less than 40% humidity.
Seed Type Longevity Under Proper Seed Storage Conditions
Artichokes 5 years
Arugula 3 years
Beans 3 years
Beets 4 years
Broccoli 3 years
Brussels Sprouts 4 years
Cabbage 4 years
Carrots 3 years
Cauliflower 4 years
Celery/Celeriac 5 years
Chard 4 years
Collards 5 years
Corn 2 years
Cress 5 years
Cucumbers 5 years
Eggplant 4 years
Endive/Escarole 5 years
Fennel 4 years
Kale 4 years
Kohlrabi 4 years
Leeks 1 year
Lettuce 5 years
Melons 5 years
Mustard 4 years
Okra 2 years
Onions 1 year
Peas 3 years
Peppers 2 years
Pumpkins 4 years
Radish 5 years
Rutabagas 4 years
Spinach 2-3 years
Summer Squash 4 years
Tomatoes 4 years
Turnips 5 years
Watermelon 4 years
Winter Squash 4 years

[Tormahto]

How long are pea seeds considered to be good for?

My own experience is that 3 years is good, 4 years is a roll of the dice, and five years is out of luck. That is with direct sowing in cool to cold soil. I think I will try some indoor sowing with my older seed from now on.

[slugworth]

12 year old marglobe tomato seeds never popped,in soil on a warming tray.

[Shule]

Muskmelon, watermelon, and squash seeds can last a long time.

I hear purslane can remain viable for like 45 years in the soil, I think it was. I'm not sure how long it keeps indoors.

[habitat-gardener]

I put all the old sunflower seeds (2011 and earlier, and undated ones that were probably that old) in the compost bin, and found lots sprouts within a week! I was surprised, because I recalled trying to germinate some sunflowers that were only a few years old, several years ago, and had spotty germination.

The anticipated seed/plant swap I was saving the old seeds for has not happened, but there are other swaps coming up. Maybe someone will want the seed packets. Maybe I will find a spot to put a bunch of old seeds and see what happens.

My germination this year was all over the place.
Since I started only 3 seeds of most varieties, perhaps this isn't a fair test, but here's what I got.
For some tomato varieties I purchased in the past year, only 2 out of 3 sprouted (and one was 1/3), but most were 3/3.
The oldest tomato seed was 2012, Sweet Sue, and I got 4 strong seedlings (8 total) out of about 20 seeds, though it took 9 days for the first seedling to pop up.
But 1/6 for 2015 seeds; 1/5 for 2017 seeds; 5/5 for 2016 seeds, all different tomatoes.
For eggplants, most were 3/3. One 2020 packet was 0/3; another 2020 1/4, a third 1/8.
For peppers, one 2021 packet was 1/4, but that seedling was weak and didn't survive.
Two other 2021s were 1/3. An older one, 2016, 0/8. All the preceding were purchased seeds.
Most purchased pepper seeds were 3/3 or 2/3. Traded/saved seeds similar; the oldest were 2019: 2/4 , 1/3, 2/3.
Beans (2021) from SSE, 0/6, 1/6, and 4/6 (these were for the bush bean trial, using heat mat). I will try again for a fall crop.
I did one batch of other beans without a heating mat, since it was in the 70s-80s in the daytime outside, and got abysmal germination, but I may have soaked them too long as well.
A second batch got better germination on a heat mat. The long beans dated 2018 did the best: 9/12 without, 6/6 with.
I started a bunch of marigolds on heating mats. For 2022 seeds, 8/10 and 2/6. Tashkent was 4/8, but all other traded seeds were 0.
Dill seeds from 2014 had great germination!
Cilantro from 2017 did about the same as cilantro dated 2021, both very good.
I got pretty good results from the basils, but the seeds are so tiny it's hard to count. Anyway, I ended up with dozens of seedlings from 2021 seeds; 3 plants from 2016 Siam Queen seeds; and 1 cinnamon basil from an undated packet from a recent swap.

[BettyC-5]

I went through my bean seeds and listed all the ones that are 2015 or older, I have about 50 pole beans and 17 bush beans. I need help picking which ones to grow. I can do 16 of the poles and dozen or so of the bush. I will put the list in the bean thread.

[Tormahto]

Muskmelon, watermelon, and squash seeds can last a long time.

I hear purslane can remain viable for like 45 years in the soil, I think it was. I'm not sure how long it keeps indoors.

Blackberries can last an estimated 200 years in the soil. When there is a rare clear cutting of small patches of forest, around here, blackberries often shoot up, due to all of the sunlight now getting through to the ground.