This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Tuesday 28 January 2014

Do seeds expire?

Do seeds really expire? Should they be thrown out? I was watching a gardening programme on TV and they said it was a good time of year to go through your seeds and dispose of any that are out of date (i.e. last year). Looking at the box of seeds (three boxes of seeds) in the corner of my office on the shelf... I wondered how important is the date on seeds? Lifting some seed packs, some say sow by 2016 and some are clearly out of date. Should I use them anyway? The thought of throwing out seeds  saddens me. 


I was planning on going through my 100 or so seed packs and giving any I can't use or don't want to the garden club I belong to. Would they complain if they were 'out of date'!? 


And even though I have numerous seed packs already... I still find I occasionally buy magazines that offer free seeds like the Kitchen Garden magazine above - it came with 11 free seed packs! Even though I was only really interested in the yellow tomato 'lldi' I was so excited about my free seeds!


Do you throw out your old seeds, or sow them in the garden?


Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

14 comments:

  1. Good question. I tried some old zinnias and they came up. However, I tried out of date radishes and I only got two or three. There must be a reason, but sometimes an expiration date, as in food or medicine means you still have a little time before they are really out of date.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have been using the same packet of peas for the last three years.. I tend to sow at the earliest possible date, if they germinate fine, if not I have time to go and buy a new packet. It's always worth a try.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I sow mine and figure if they don't grow it's not the end of the world. I never throw out of date seeds away.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I did for the first time ever go through my seed boxes. I only chucked away opened seed packets that a) I knew had been opened for more than two years or b) I knew I wouldn't sow this year. I do buy new parsnip seeds as standard each year but everything else gets a chance.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think maybe the expiry date means that you won't get as good a level of germination rather than that they won;t grow at all. For some viability is very short lived. WE always sow fresh parsnip seeds as it seems a pity to risk poor germination when the seeds take sow long to get going anyway and leave little chance of a second try if the don't take.

    I think it also depends how the seeds are stored/whether the packet is open etc.

    As for seeds that have expired it depends what they are. Salad seeds can be sown thickly and used as baby salad leaves (I include beetroot and seeds that produce edible leaves and aren't traditionally sown as salads. Annual flowers I sow just mixed in with fresh seed.

    Some does get thrown away though as seed packets often contain just too many seeds to use.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I carry on using seed past the expiry date, apart from parsnip which I buy fresh every year. I think the sow by date is like best before dates on food, you can still use them but they may not be quite as good, lower germination rates etc.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I went to a seed starting seminar the other day, and she said if the seeds were properly stored, some (maybe not all, though) could last up to 20 years! She said not to throw away old seeds, but to be aware that the longer they were stored, the fewer that might be viable - you may just have to sow more. Still, better than throwing them out! Unless, of course, you specifically want a certain number of plants.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My view is seeds last a lot longer than Seed Merchants would have us believe. It is in their interest to spread the myth, so that we buy more of their seeds! The average amateur gardener doesn't NEED every one of the hundreds of seeds in the pack they buy (except if we are talking about the very expensive F1 seeds). I sometimes keep my seeds for many years. I just sow a bit more thickly than I would otherwise do, if they are old.
    BTW I have grown "Ildi" a couple of times, and they performed well, producing huge quantities of fruit. The trusses are like great big bunches of grapes!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I certainly feel happier reading the comments above and knowing that others aren't disposing of their seeds so freely, as some TV shows would suggest that we do. I think I'd much rather give older seeds a go rather than throwing them out!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Never throw brassica seeds away. They last forever, and because they are transplanted you can sow them in a pot and see what happens. I've experimented with the notorious parsnip and found that the fresh seed every year rule is not strictly necessary. As Sue points out though, by the time you conclude that the seed is not viable its way too late to sow again! So I tend to sow two rows - last years and this years just for insurance. Then I end up with far more seed than I need. So you may as well sow all fresh. You (or I) feel mean offering someone an opened packet of seed (I have tried), so I tend not to pass seed on for fear of offending. Plants are different. The recipient can see what is on offer.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Kelli, I was wondering about the same thing! Unfortunately I have been known to be an enthusiastic seed buyer, but often don't get around to plant everything that I buy. I know that Sweet Pea seeds are longer fertile than one year, but it might vary from plant variety to variety. I also hate to throw seeds away, but on the other hand it is annoying, when you sow them and they are not viable anymore and nothing sprouts.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think seed were found in the tombs of the Pharos that germinated centuries later, so sow them. Like Susan, we plant old seeds, but always with not the best results. And it seems that theses days the seed packets are getting skimpier. Sometime brand new seeds don't germinate either.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I've read that the older they are, the lower the germination rates. I've started throwing my old seeds into the scraps I feed my worms to see if they'll germinate in the compost.

    ReplyDelete