Chances of 92-year-old seeds?

I was wondering what the chances for seeds from a a 92-year-old seed packet would be? I know Beth did a similar experiment some time ago, but none of the germinated seeds did survive...which may also have been caused by the wrong treatment of the respective gardeners, the seeds were given to, she admitted...


Beans that were found in an Egyptian grave -- alledgedly 2000 years old -- were successfully planted by some archeologist.

I would think it depends on how the seeds were stored, too. If they were exposed to extreme heat or cold, they will hardly have a chance.

Hippeastrum seeds, for example, don't store very long at all...

Martin


Here is the ebay link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/BURT-LG-SEED-PACKET-CLIMBERS-MORNING-GLORY-SWEET-PEAS_W0QQitemZ260167439657QQihZ016QQcategoryZ1333QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
Martin

The link to the offering on ebay is for empty unused packets...

Thanks Ron! Confused "unused" with "unopened".

I feel like ripping out this georgeous Kao vine, this spider mite is driving me nuts. You can see the yellow leaf in the right bottom corner.

I think I'll try to root the shoots and replace the soil...

In the future, I shall also try the d.... earth that you suggested in a previous link (I found out that people also use siliceous earth in Germany to get mites of their chickens (Kieselerde)); this product would be easier to obtain for me from Germany.

I have tried finely ground egg shells thinking they would have the same effect.
Also, I am gonna try coriander seeds, which are companion plants that are supposed to deter/distract the enemy...

PS. By the way, the Kao is the one Renate posted with a SOH picture. As you can see it is a purpurea and not a nil. She is now advertising another type of nil (Keyru or Suigetsu, I believe) with a Flying Saucer photo...

Hi Martin - Hmm...seems a bit extreme to 'rip the entire plant out'...have you exhauseted all other options...

The eggshells would be difficult to grind to the same extremely smalll micron size as the diatomaceous earth...maybe the silicaceous earth (kieselguhr) from Germany will do the trick...

Coriander oil dissolved into some alcohol and applied as a spray may be more effective if you can locate it...

TTY,...

Ron

Isnt Coriander Cilantro? Perhaps make a distalltion of Cilantro leaves if they are available fresh, like a tea?
wandering mind passing by....
:Darren

I got zero germination from a packet of ipomoea purpurea from 1976, however I have had success with 5 year old packet of species, ipomoea amnicola, ipomoea macrorhiza. You can tell if they are "dead" or not when you soak on paper towel, after 2 or 3 days they pop open with a split down the middle and start to smell ! (ewww)