15 year old seed
 

So happy! 15 years ago I was given a few seeds of a really great tomato. I have grown it out a number of times and have much fresher seeds but I had four of the original ones left and decided to see if they would germinate.
Paper towel soaked in dilute (1%) food grade hydrogen peroxide, placed in a baggie and kept warm. 3 days later, 3 out of 4 seeds showing a radicle!
Now to see if they grow well for me. I will pot them up today.
Zena's gift, a tomato that keeps on giving.
H2O2 is unstable and easily degrades producing water and oxygen. I believe the enhanced oxygen environment aids in germination along with the moisture and warmth.

KarenO:yes:

It is always fun seeing older seeds germinate and grow. My first one was Alston's Everlasting. The seeds were from 2003. I grew them in 2015. The taste was average, but still fun growing them.

Good luck with them, Karen. How satisfying to know you've given them the right start! I might try your method on some very old seeds that I've not had success with so far.

Yes, good luck with them. I was flipping through my seed notebooks last night and realized I have many seeds going on seven to eight years old. They are varieties I do hope to grow/grow again someday, and posts like this remind me I may still have plenty of time.

Thanks for the information. Always interesting to see someone getting older seeds to germinate. Hope you are successful this season.

The oldest seeds I ever woke up were 22 yo but right now I can't remember the name of the variety, but it's possible I might remember it

decided to google it and found it.:D

(I've awakened were 22 yo seeds of September Dawn)

Carolyn, just noting that when Craig L and I were getting seeds from the USDA station at Geneva,NY, when it was still possible to do that,many of the were DOA , I mean really dead.

One was Magnus, which was on the cover of the 1900 Livingston catalog, after several months I did get that one going and I just posted about that recently here at TV. The seeds from Magnus led to all seeds of Magnus known today.

[url]http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Magnus[/url]

Carolyn

Nothing spectacular about 15 year old seeds.
I have came to the conclusion due to the complaints about Burpees seed germination that they sell 15 year old seeds all of the time.
The expiration date really is the expiration date NOT one year old seeds.:lol:
I think my oldest is 25 years old from a Texas mountain laurel seed.
It is now growing in my yard I collected the seed in 1987 from the wild.

Worth

micturate on my little parade all you like, Not only did it work but it worked in 72 hours on 3 out of 4 seeds.

:P

KarenO

I am trying 10 year old seeds in h202, so far no progress.

The seeds I am growing were saved by me so I know how old they are and I also know that is was a good batch of seeds properly saved and stored from the get-go
Age of the seed is a factor but only one of many. Even "fresh" seed won't germinate if improperly handled or stored.
KarenO

[QUOTE=KarenO;618324]The seeds I am growing were saved by me so I know how old they are and I also know that is was a good batch of seeds properly saved and stored from the get-go
Age of the seed is a factor but only one of many. Even "fresh" seed won't germinate if improperly handled or stored.
KarenO[/QUOTE]\
Stored in hot garage in packet no protection what so ever.
The still sprouted years later.

I'm happy your seeds spouted but what did you expect?
You know what you are doing.:)

Worth

[QUOTE=slugworth;618322]I am trying 10 year old seeds in h202, so far no progress.[/QUOTE]

Hi there, what specific way are you going about it? I presume you are speaking about tomato seeds as I am?

KarenO

Tomato seeds in an old pill bottle with straight peroxide on a warming tray.
50% of the seeds are still "floaters" and didn't sink to the bottom.
1 Dozen seeds to play with.Day 5

[QUOTE=slugworth;618383]Tomato seeds in an old pill bottle with straight peroxide on a warming tray.
50% of the seeds are still "floaters" and didn't sink to the bottom.
1 Dozen seeds to play with.Day 5[/QUOTE]

Most folks I know use peroxide just to treat seeds before they are sown, and that to eliminate any surface pathogen contamination.

When I posted above I think I mentioned what I do to wake up old seeds and sometimes I've had to wait several months before seeing anything and sometimes nothing germinates.

Old seeds are dehyrated so they need to be treated to rehydrate them first.Always stirring a couple of times a day.

I never treat old seeds under about 10 yo,but over that I will double sow,but these are usually seeds I've saved myself.

And yes, I do know that some advise using peroxide first, but that never worked well for me.

Carolyn

[QUOTE=slugworth;618383]Tomato seeds in an old pill bottle with straight peroxide on a warming tray.
50% of the seeds are still "floaters" and didn't sink to the bottom.
1 Dozen seeds to play with.Day 5[/QUOTE]


Perhaps try a couple of seeds on paper towel moist with 1% in a baggie as per the way I suggested in my original post.
Nothing to lose and it's quite different from placing seeds in liquid full strength peroxide. What strength and what kind? 3% standard drugstore type?


Best wishes.
KarenO

Seeds are supposed to bubble when put in h202,these didn't.
The seeds look starchy,like looking at uncooked spaghetti;no guts.
h202 is standard 3% which I never had problems with before.I used to soak newer seeds all the time before planting.

I got a couple of 15 year +/- commercial tomato seed up this year. Added a drop of liquid houseplant fert to the soak. Seems to me they took some time to come up but a few of each germinated.

I am not a seed sprouting expert but I think that moisture and warmth are what most tomato type seeds are seeking. Other seeds with tougher seed coats may need additional help.

The seed coat is a barrier against dehydration of the embryo inside. Once the embryo inside becomes dehydrated it is dead but until that point, if you can rehydrate the seed coat to the point that it allows the moisture to penetrate to the inside then the embryo will most likely grow.

I have not tried to grow really old seeds. I usually only keep my seeds for 4-5 years but if seeds are stored in an environment that is not too hot and dry then I don't see why growing older ones would be a problem.

[QUOTE=Sun City Linda;618477]I got a couple of 15 year +/- commercial tomato seed up this year. Added a drop of liquid houseplant fert to the soak. Seems to me they took some time to come up but a few of each germinated.[/QUOTE]

Linda, that's close to what I do and I just did a search and found the method that I use, please see post #11 and the importance of having high nitrate really is that important as I noted below .


[url]http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=34973&highlight=Method+wake+seeds+Peters[/url]

Carolyn

[QUOTE=carolyn137;618488]Linda, that's close to what I do and I just did a search and found the method that I use, please see post #11 and the importance of having high nitrate really is that important as I noted below .


[url]http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=34973&highlight=Method+wake+seeds+Peters[/url]

Carolyn[/QUOTE]

Just adding info on the importance of high nitrate on seed germination of older seeds re breaking seed dormancy.

[url]https://www.google.com/search?q=nitrate+and+seed+germination&hl=en&biw=1402&bih=788&site=imghp&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQqdXhsI3SAhVjqFQKHSIaAyoQ_AUIBygA&dpr=1[/url]

Carolyn

[QUOTE=carolyn137;618495]Just adding info on the importance of high nitrate on seed germination of older seeds re breaking seed dormancy.

[URL]https://www.google.com/search?q=nitrate+and+seed+germination&hl=en&biw=1402&bih=788&site=imghp&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQqdXhsI3SAhVjqFQKHSIaAyoQ_AUIBygA&dpr=1[/URL]

Carolyn[/QUOTE]

Yes I was pretty sure I got that tip from you and it seems to work well!

[url]https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.830270550447468.1073741870.165594393581757&type=3[/url]

If anyone is interested to see how my project goes, I will post in this album as they grow. I placed the germinated seeds into potting mix at 4 days yesterday. 4 days to germinate fresh seeds is pretty good. 4 days for 15 year old seed might mean there is something to my method I think
I will save seeds again and share them. It's a great and unknown tomato the story of which can be found here in a thread called "Big Mystery" :)
KarenO

Sounds great Karen!

I should try my hand at waking up some old Moneymaker seeds (from Woolworths) which were 19 years old the last time I looked at them {LOL}

Linda

[QUOTE=Labradors2;618539]Sounds great Karen!

I should try my hand at waking up some old Moneymaker seeds (from Woolworths) which were 19 years old the last time I looked at them {LOL}

Linda[/QUOTE]


nothing to lose. try other methods too if you can get some specifics

Specifically What I used was 10 % food grade hydrogen peroxide (purchased and used for sprouts) diluted 10-1 with filtered water for a final concentration of one percent. Soaked a paper towel in it wrung it out to still very moist, placed the seeds on it placed that in a ziplock and set it in a dish (not directly) on my heat mat.
3 days later 3 out of 4 seeds showing a radicle. those 3 potted up in moist seed starting mix. will see how they do. Germination is only the first step. They are not growing yet.

I diluted the h2o2 mix with water and added a touch of miracle grow.
I also added an air pump from an aquarium as a bubbler.
Liquid temp is 75F degrees.

[QUOTE=Labradors2;618539]Sounds great Karen!

I should try my hand at waking up some old Moneymaker seeds (from Woolworths) which were 19 years old the last time I looked at them {LOL}

Linda[/QUOTE]

Moneymaker was that good a variety that you'd want to try and wake up seeds?

[url]http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Moneymaker#tab=General_Info[/url]

It sure wasn't for me. I used to buy seeds from two seed firms in England,Thomas Etty and Suttons, and grew quite a few English ones, and I don't know exactly how I can explain the taste, but, well, it wasn't good for me at all.:?:

Carolyn

[QUOTE=KarenO;618533][url]https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.830270550447468.1073741870.165594393581757&type=3[/url]

If anyone is interested to see how my project goes, I will post in this album as they grow. I placed the germinated seeds into potting mix at 4 days yesterday. 4 days to germinate fresh seeds is pretty good. 4 days for 15 year old seed might mean there is something to my method I think
I will save seeds again and share them. It's a great and unknown tomato the story of which can be found here in a thread called "Big Mystery" :)
KarenO[/QUOTE]

That's really cool KarenO. I hope you'll keep us informed of your progress on this thread too.:). I'm interested! :yes:. Jimbo

[QUOTE=carolyn137;618596]Moneymaker was that good a variety that you'd want to try and wake up seeds?

[url]http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Moneymaker#tab=General_Info[/url]

It sure wasn't for me. I used to buy seeds from two seed firms in England,Thomas Etty and Suttons, and grew quite a few English ones, and I don't know exactly how I can explain the taste, but, well, it wasn't good for me at all.:?:

Carolyn[/QUOTE]

Ha ha Carolyn! You are quite right that they probably are not worth waking up!

For me, it's the memories. My mother always grew them from plants that she bought from Woolworths. When I moved to Canada, she would send me seeds (Suttons) from Woolies. I didn't even know about OP seeds in those days!

One day, I had tasted tomatoes from some other varieties that I was growing, and I realized that Moneymaker didn't really taste all that great!!!!!

Anyway, it would be a fun experiment to revive my 20+ y.o. Moneymaker seeds - unless some of them actually make it {LOL}.

Linda

And one is up so far. :)
KarenO

Nice!!!!