At this time of year in the garden, it's important to clear the ground
of weeds, and get the seeds planted at the correct time, especially if
you dream of self sufficiency like me.
Being a member of a local gardening organisation like SALGA, then buying seeds at a very reasonable price is very easy. You fill in an order form for King's seeds, take 45% off the catalogue price, send the form off to SALGA and the seeds arrive in January. Interestingly I've just looked up the link to King's, they say they have such a high volume of orders, they have to open their website at 7am and then close after they have as many orders as they can cope with. One of the benefits of the lockdown is an increase in people growing their own food.
Looking through the seed packets, I came across some Sugar Ann peas which according to the front of the packet are an 'early and high yielding sugar snap variety of pea, producing an abundance of round, fleshy, pale green, sweet tasting succulent pods'. However when I looked at the back of the unopened packet, they were packed in July 16 and sown by September 17, making me 3 years too late. Having plenty of time to conduct and experiment, I took7 peas and put them on some wet kitchen roll and waited to see what happened. As you can see in the photo blow, 5 out of 7 seeds germinated, why didn't I try 10 seeds? Anyway, that's a 71% rate of germination which isn't too bad.
And they do sound really good, they are a quick maturing dwarf variety and sound delicious, so I will be sowing them very soon.
There's a great site called Gardening Know How which says the following about using old seeds:
3 major things affect a seed's viability:
Age generally after the first year, viability declines.
Type of seeds, some seeds aren't viable after the first year, notably parsley and parsnips, also according to the article you can add sweet corn and peppers. Peas, beans, tomatoes and carrots are generally viable for up to 4 years, and lettuce and tomatoes for 6 years.
Finally storage conditions are important, some people store their seeds in biscuit tins and the fridge.
It can seem like a waste of time sowing non viable seeds and waiting for them to come up, only to have to resow, but I'll give these a try and consider them an experiment. Photos of the results of the second experiment to follow.
Being a member of a local gardening organisation like SALGA, then buying seeds at a very reasonable price is very easy. You fill in an order form for King's seeds, take 45% off the catalogue price, send the form off to SALGA and the seeds arrive in January. Interestingly I've just looked up the link to King's, they say they have such a high volume of orders, they have to open their website at 7am and then close after they have as many orders as they can cope with. One of the benefits of the lockdown is an increase in people growing their own food.
Looking through the seed packets, I came across some Sugar Ann peas which according to the front of the packet are an 'early and high yielding sugar snap variety of pea, producing an abundance of round, fleshy, pale green, sweet tasting succulent pods'. However when I looked at the back of the unopened packet, they were packed in July 16 and sown by September 17, making me 3 years too late. Having plenty of time to conduct and experiment, I took7 peas and put them on some wet kitchen roll and waited to see what happened. As you can see in the photo blow, 5 out of 7 seeds germinated, why didn't I try 10 seeds? Anyway, that's a 71% rate of germination which isn't too bad.
There's a great site called Gardening Know How which says the following about using old seeds:
3 major things affect a seed's viability:
Age generally after the first year, viability declines.
Type of seeds, some seeds aren't viable after the first year, notably parsley and parsnips, also according to the article you can add sweet corn and peppers. Peas, beans, tomatoes and carrots are generally viable for up to 4 years, and lettuce and tomatoes for 6 years.
Finally storage conditions are important, some people store their seeds in biscuit tins and the fridge.
It can seem like a waste of time sowing non viable seeds and waiting for them to come up, only to have to resow, but I'll give these a try and consider them an experiment. Photos of the results of the second experiment to follow.
Three major things
affect a seed’s viability:
Age – All seeds stay viable for at least a year and most will be viable
for two years. After the first year, the germination rates for
out-of-date seeds will start to fall.
Type – The type of seed can affect how long a seed stays viable. Some
seeds, like corn or peppers, will have a hard time surviving past the
two year mark. Some seeds, like beans, peas, tomatoes and carrots, can
stay viable as long as four years. Seeds like cucumber or lettuce can
stay viable up to six years.
Storage conditions – Your old vegetable seed packets and flower packets
will have a much better chance of keeping their seeds viable if they are
stored well. Seeds will stay viable much longer if stored in a cool,
dark place. Your produce drawer in the refrigerator is a good choice for
storage.
Read more at Gardening Know How: Planting Old Seeds – Can You Use Out-Of-Date Seeds? https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/seeds/planting-old-seeds.htm
Read more at Gardening Know How: Planting Old Seeds – Can You Use Out-Of-Date Seeds? https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/seeds/planting-old-seeds.htm
Three major things
affect a seed’s viability:
Age – All seeds stay viable for at least a year and most will be viable
for two years. After the first year, the germination rates for
out-of-date seeds will start to fall.
Type – The type of seed can affect how long a seed stays viable. Some
seeds, like corn or peppers, will have a hard time surviving past the
two year mark. Some seeds, like beans, peas, tomatoes and carrots, can
stay viable as long as four years. Seeds like cucumber or lettuce can
stay viable up to six years.
Storage conditions – Your old vegetable seed packets and flower packets
will have a much better chance of keeping their seeds viable if they are
stored well. Seeds will stay viable much longer if stored in a cool,
dark place. Your produce drawer in the refrigerator is a good choice for
storage.
Read more at Gardening Know How: Planting Old Seeds – Can You Use Out-Of-Date Seeds? https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/seeds/planting-old-seeds.htm
Read more at Gardening Know How: Planting Old Seeds – Can You Use Out-Of-Date Seeds? https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/seeds/planting-old-seeds.htm
Three major things
affect a seed’s viability:
Age – All seeds stay viable for at least a year and most will be
viable for two years. After the first year, the germination rates for
out-of-date seeds will start to fall.
Type – The type of seed can affect how long a seed stays viable.
Some seeds, like corn or peppers, will have a hard time surviving past
the two year mark. Some seeds, like beans, peas, tomatoes and carrots,
can stay viable as long as four years. Seeds like cucumber or lettuce
can stay viable up to six years.
Storage conditions – Your old vegetable seed packets and flower
packets will have a much better chance of keeping their seeds viable if
they are stored well. Seeds will stay viable much longer if stored in a
cool, dark place. Your produce drawer in the refrigerator is a good
choice for storage.
Regardless of the date on your seed packet, germinating old seeds is
worth a shot. Using old seeds is a great way to make up for last year’s
excesses.
Read more at Gardening Know How: Planting Old Seeds – Can You Use Out-Of-Date Seeds? https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/seeds/planting-old-seeds.htm
Read more at Gardening Know How: Planting Old Seeds – Can You Use Out-Of-Date Seeds? https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/seeds/planting-old-seeds.htm
Three major things
affect a seed’s viability:
Age – All seeds stay viable for at least a year and most will be
viable for two years. After the first year, the germination rates for
out-of-date seeds will start to fall.
Type – The type of seed can affect how long a seed stays viable.
Some seeds, like corn or peppers, will have a hard time surviving past
the two year mark. Some seeds, like beans, peas, tomatoes and carrots,
can stay viable as long as four years. Seeds like cucumber or lettuce
can stay viable up to six years.
Storage conditions – Your old vegetable seed packets and flower
packets will have a much better chance of keeping their seeds viable if
they are stored well. Seeds will stay viable much longer if stored in a
cool, dark place. Your produce drawer in the refrigerator is a good
choice for storage.
Regardless of the date on your seed packet, germinating old seeds is
worth a shot. Using old seeds is a great way to make up for last year’s
excesses.
Read more at Gardening Know How: Planting Old Seeds – Can You Use Out-Of-Date Seeds? https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/seeds/planting-old-seeds.htm
Read more at Gardening Know How: Planting Old Seeds – Can You Use Out-Of-Date Seeds? https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/seeds/planting-old-seeds.htm
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