Another newbie question re: "packed for" dates

I've seen some seed trading lists mentioning a "packed for" date, ie. Packed for 2006. Does that mean the seeds were collected in 2005 to be sown in 2006?
Thanks! I just want to make sure I'm not misusing some common lingo when I start my own organization system for seeds.

Yep, you got it right. If they were packed for 2006, they were harvested in 2005, these are usually store bought packets. When I put a date on seeds I have havested, it is the date of harvest. I assume fellow traders know this since I don't say 'packed for'.

I know some seeds have to be pretty darn fresh to germinate, and even though I've never seen those packets from stores, I would hope they would have a 'harvested date' on them.

Good Luck,
toofew

Not necessarily.... A lot of seed companies will sell seeds that are up to 5 years old, maybe more... they just test the germination rate, and if it still seems reasonable, they package the seed for sale.

Tomato seeds, for example, are generally good for at least 5 years, and after that the germination rate may start dropping... If you get tomato seeds from a trade marked "collected 2005," you know they'll probably be good until at least 2010... but if your purchase tomato seeds marked "packed for 2007," they could be 5 years old already, and if you wait a year or two to start them their germination rate might be pretty low.

For your own organization system, I agree with twofew that it's best to mark the year when the seeds were collected (or the actual date, for any seeds where freshness is a big issue)... My seed packet labels say "Critterologist 2006" at the bottom for any seeds that I harvested last year, and I figure people know what that means.

Yup....critter beat me to it...her info is correct.

I probably learned it from you!

:-)

Thanks a bunch, I'll just mark mine with the year they were harvested. I just didn't want to tick anyone off once I start trading! :)

In the defense of commercial seed companies...their storage facilities are generally state of the art....we home gardeners do not have the resources to store seeds in the same manner that they do.

I always mark my seeds with the year that they were harvested too...

Melody, that's true... but I still get annoyed when I get 30% germination on a packet purchased just one year ago, and I know I'll get no satisfaction if I call Burpee's... they only stand by their seeds the year they were purchased, which I know makes sense since they have no control over how people store seeds etc., and yet... humph.

Hey Wicked, I stand corrected. That is good information that I didn't know from critter. But I chuckled when I came back this ... I waited 4 days before I answered you hoping someone else would answer. Then critter answers not 15 minutes after me with a correct answer. Guess I will stand back and wait longer next time.
toofew

Hey, I probably only saw the thread because you bumped it up! But you had the right answer for how to mark packets of your own collected seeds...

:-)