How long seeds are viable

Can you freeze seeds to make them last longer? What temperature will kill seeds? Should you vacuum seal seeds? Do seeds need air in storage? Do seeds expire? Kim January 26, at pm. Linda Ly February 5, at pm. You just never know! Julius December 31, at am. I thought seeds are like diamonds… they last forever Reply. Linda Ly January 3, at pm. Only in the deep freeze. Ruel May 6, at am. Julius i need a woman last forever lol Reply.

Linda from Garden Betty November 15, at am. Nannie February 29, at pm. Linda from Garden Betty March 9, at pm. Joe Norris June 16, at pm. Linda from Garden Betty August 4, at pm. Wow, impressive lifespan for those seeds! Rogue Girl May 15, at pm. Linda from Garden Betty June 9, at pm. David Robertson March 30, at pm. Linda from Garden Betty June 10, at am.

Nancy T. Saner January 9, at am. Linda from Garden Betty January 10, at am. Happy planting! Lynn July 23, at pm. Linda from Garden Betty October 13, at am. Jake Sonoma June 23, at pm. Linda from Garden Betty June 27, at am. Carrot Top September 27, at am. Linda Ly of Garden Betty October 15, at am. Linda Ly of Garden Betty November 5, at pm. Again thank you. Debbie Tegart September 9, at pm.

Linda Ly September 9, at pm. Obsession with seeds? Linda Ly September 15, at pm. Aaron Wolfe October 11, at pm. But if you save your own seed or need to store purchased seed, you can keep it fresh for the maximum amount of time by taking these steps to store it properly. There's an easy way to determine how viable your saved seed is and what percentage of it you can expect to germinate.

Moisten a sheet of paper towel so that it's uniformly damp, but not dripping wet. Place the 10 seeds in a row along the damp paper towel. Roll or fold the paper towel around the seeds so that they are covered. Place the paper towel with the seeds into the plastic bag and seal it. If you are testing more than one type of seed, also label the bag with the seed type and variety. Check daily to be sure the paper towel does not dry out.

Start checking for germination in about five days. To do this, gently unroll the paper towel. You may even be able to see sprouting through the rolled towel. Very often the roots will grow right through it. Check your seed packet for average germination times for your particular seed, but generally, 7—10 days should be enough time for the test. After 10 days, unroll the paper towel and count how many seeds have sprouted. Alchemically, folks need equal unity with polarity and being whole.

For a long time, some individuals have associated the date palm with the god of sun, Ra and as resurrection figurehead. Female date palms bear fruit if a male tree is nearby, but not all species bear fruit that is good for human consumption.

Like many different plants, palms have been threatened by human intervention and exploitation. Human use of palms is as previous or older than human civilization itself, beginning with the cultivation of the date palm by Mesopotamians and different Middle Eastern peoples years or extra in the past. I bought a bunch of seeds from through I was surprised by the high onion germination.

All the crucifers held their longevity. Big seeds, no surprise they last longer. I store mine in zip-lock bags in the freezer and have done it for years. Your email address will not be published. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Our gardening obsessed editors and writers choose every product we review.

We may earn an affiliate commission if you buy from one of our product links, at no extra cost to you. Tips for Storing Seeds Storing unused vegetable or flower seeds does require some care. Very helpful information. Thanks for doing the legwork for us. Now I can toss those five-year-old corn and parsley seeds. I love seed catalogs and ordering new stuff, yet, there is this box in the back with packets of seeds.

I really need to sort this out. Thanks for all your information. You are a breath of fresh air. Onion seeds are always said to be good for only one year.

Last year I had a package that expired 4 years ago. I had onions out the kazoo. No special storage here, even would say bad storage, old farm house, inadequate air conditioning, tons of humidity.

I no longer pay attention to the age of seeds. Happy to hear. In all my 50 plus years of gardening I have never given any credence to seed longevity lists with perhaps the single exception of parsnip seed which I can keep perhaps two or three years at most.

It only comes out of the freezer for a very short time for planting or for inventory in December or January. Many of my seeds are well over 10 years old including onions and germinate with vigor. My garden is 10, square feet and my seed inventory is large. Is there a way to tell if a seed has been treated with a systemic pesticide?

I know that certified organic seeds are neonic free, but what about the rest? I have some old cosmos seeds that do not say certified organic, but look good. I wrote about that a few springs ago in The New York Times and elsewhere. Can you direct me there in some other way? Whoops, it worked when I used the link in your article online, just not when I typed the URL that appeared when I printed out your article.