Older Seeds: Are They Still Viable?

Photo by PreparednessMama.com

Seed shopping is exciting for the passionate gardener, and even the beginner. Having all those colorful catalogs spread open and making your seed choices is the first sign that Spring is right around the corner. Soon you will be nurturing your sprouting seedlings into a flourishing, delectable harvest. But how many times have you been over zealous and bought more seeds than you could possibly plant in the garden space you have? There are probably more of us than we may think.

So now with your left over seeds from last year, and maybe even some from the year before, can you still plant them? Your seed storage practices may be efficient to keep them dry and safe, but are they really still viable for growing? Most seeds are probably still good after one year, but with certain seed saving techniques you can keep some seeds for many more years.

We came across this great article on How To Test Old Seeds for Viability over on Preparedness Mama's blog. Shelle Wells shares a time tested method for proofing old seed. Testing can take as little as three days and as long as two weeks, depending on which seed you are trying to germinate. Shelle gives you the step-by-step on the materials you will need and how to carry out the process of determining if your seeds are still good for planting.

Hop over to the Preparedness Mama and learn how to test your seeds. You wouldn't want to put in all that work in planning and planting your garden only to discover that your seeds won't grow. Gardening is for smiles, not frowns. Get it right the first time and don't lose any growing time this season.

Thank you Shelle, for sharing your gardening knowledge and experience with our readers.

Happy Gardening!