I have a quick question about old seeds, a friend of mine left to Japan and gave me a bunch of her seeds, vegetables, flowers. Well my question is, I have some packages of sugar snap peas among other types which sais to plant them directly on the ground. I own 4 earthboxes and want to start some sugar snap, carrot, and radishes this winter, I am hoping to use some of these old seed packages so they do not go to waste. Can I plant the seeds in small jiffy pots that way I can see whether they are still good and then replant it? Some seeds are dated 2003, 2004. I keep them in the freezer, I read in one of the forums that it is a good way of keeping your seeds.
old seeds
Seeds that were from the 1800's have germinated... so have ones found in mummies tombs!
So trial first... soak large seeds in the hottest tap water you have in tightly covered jar 24 hours, make sure you keep them in a warm _not hot_ location while soaking. then sow into your chosen soil.
HTH
~* Robin
Thanks Robin, but wouldn't the hot tap water hurt the seeds, and also how big do the seeds have to be for this procedure?
No hot tap water should not be at the boiling point!
But by using hot tap water it stimulates the embryo in the seeds to start waking up and the water is also to help waken it too. I do it to alot of seeds, except those that are to too tiny or daisy like seeds.
If you want to test the germination rate; after you soak them in tightly covered jar 24 hours; then take 5 seeds and put in a wet paper towel, stong like bounty; put the seeds in a ziplock baggie and put on top of a soil heat mat, or tape the baggie to a brightly sunlit window with boxing tape. Germination should be 5 to 7 days... maybe a little longer depending on the seed type.
More questions?
~* Robin
Thank you so much nature walker. sorry for the late reply but I have not checked this site for a while. I will try your method next year when I am ready to start my new plants. This year since it was my first I decided to purchase the plants intead of starting them from seed.