Propagation: A survey on the oldest seeds you have ever germinated., 1 by

wrote:
A great thread and perfect with great timing for me since I am testing some of my old seeds. These are seeds large enough to handle, not tiny.

I have Datura inoxia seeds from 2002 that I collected from my son's plants before I moved from NE to WY. I also have the same variety of seeds from 2004 gathered from the sowed 2002 plants. The 2004 seeds I have in a plastic container stored in the refrigerator.

While looking for something in my garden shed, I came across a plastic shoe box full of different varieties of old seeds I had forgotten about. All are hardy perennials. I had given my daughter a bunch of seeds 2 years ago thinking I had given her all of them. Gosh, this must be a sign of aging!!

I haven't started plants from seeds for a few years. This year I wanted more plants since I am redoing my borders. Likewise is my daughter. Since I found all those seeds, I figured I may as well test them out using the damp paper napkin method. I ususally sow seeds in my coldframe but I am out of space in there. Nor did I want to waste seeding mix if the seeds weren't going to germinate.

The first variety of seeds I sowed were the C. macrocephala from 2004. I placed 10 seeds in a moist paper towel and placed it in a ziplock bag. Left the ziplock bag on top of my refrigerator where it is warmer than the house temperature. Seven out of 10 germinated in 7 days. The average time is 5 to 10 days. I have already potted them up 2 to a 3" pot, since I was unprepared for such fast germination, if at all. Next came Datura with the same method. I tried both the 2002 and the 2004, without any difference. Germination count was a bit lower. Six out of 10 seeds have germinated but others may be stragglers.

Now I am on a roll. I have 26 varieties of seeds so far in little packages of paper towels in baggies. Some I am stratifying in the refrigerator, other not. All were started between 2/18 and 3/1. To mention a few:
Scabiosa---2 varieties, germinated
Geranium 'Vision'---2 so far
Dianthus plumarius---in frige
Armeria---in frig
Euphorbia polychroma---in frige
Asclepia tuberosa---in frige
Callirhoe involucrata---in frige
Catananche caerulea
Salvia argentea---4 so far
Heliopsis helianthoides---9 germinated
and more to do

I hadn't planned on that many seeds germinating. Forget window space. I will have to drag out my 4ft long plant light and set it up again over a shelf. Too early to plant outdoors. Once through the real baby stage, I can bring them over to my daughter's sun room.

I came to the conclusion: never toss out old seeds. They do not have to be fresh to germinate. Also, I just want a few plants of each so this method prevents oversowing and wasting seeds. Love it!!!

Caption: Photo of germinated seeds of Centaurea macrocephala just prior to potting up.







This message was edited Mar 3, 2009 1:08 AM

This message was edited Mar 3, 2009 1:16 AM