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Re: Old seeds

At 06:43 PM 2/2/97 -0800, you wrote:
>Hello everyone, As I mentioned recently I'm new to gardening and when my
>sister-in-law heard that I was going to be making an honest effort at it
>this year she sent me a huge box of assorted garden seeds.  Seems that she
>has inherited these from deceased relatives.  I opened up this box yesterday
>and what a surprise I found.  There are hundreds of packages of seeds of all
>types, flowers and veggies.  The only thing is some have dates as far back
>as 1962, what a hoot to see the price per packet of 10 cents.  I wonder if
>any will germinate.  Does anyone know anything about old seeds.  I thought I
>might try to germinate some in damp tissues first.  Any suggestions?

Greetings,

I can't help you much except to say that germination and yield decrease
significantly as the seed gets older.  It also depends on how carefully the
seeds were stored.  If they were not allowed to get too cold or too hot,
they might still germinate.  I know that archeologists have succeeded in
germinating seeds that were thousands of years old so I would at least try.

BTW, I went to the general store today and the seed packets are indeed only
ten cents. :) Some things never seem to change out here in the country.

Francine
Highland Rose Ranch
Montrose, Colorado
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