Seed viability
 

I used to have a list of various seeds and their viability in years, I think I printed it from an online source. It was a general reference for things like beans, melons, etc. I was just curious if I should order some back-up seed for some things that I've had for a few years. I bought all new bean and pea seed but have collected quite a few different melon, pumpkin and various other things. I'm going to put a few through a germination trial but was curious if anyone had a list of what I'm describing.

My last order from Victory included a seed storing guide. I can't say that I totally agree with all of it but it's just a guideline.

Short lived seeds (1-2 years): Corn, onion, parlsey, parnip, pepper (I've seen that okra seed doesn't keep very long either)

Intermediate seeds (3-4 years): Asparagus, bean, broccoli, carrot, celery, leek, pea, spinach (I would not keep spinach seed longer than two years)

Long lived seeds (4-5 years): beet, chard, cabbage family (I guess other than broccoli since they listed it above), turnip, radish, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, muskmelon, pumpkin-squash group, tomato, watermelon

I think that is where I may have printed it from, Thanks Michele. I may have to give these pepper seeds a trial and see what happens. GASP if I waited and no germination!!

I know I've grown peppers from seeds that were older than two years but I'd have to agree they don't last as long as tomato or eggplant seed.

I have a bit of problems with some things on this list:I keep pepper seeds for 4-5 years, they remain viable; leek should be in the 1 year category (neither can I keep onion seeds for two years, one year is a maximum), they dont store for longer than one year.Next are carrots and celery: one year only!And I don't see the point in making a difference between broccoli and other cabbages, after six years, my broccoli seed is still viable. Lots depends on the storing conditions though, try to keep the seeds dry and avoid great temperature contrasts, this will help a lot,
Frank

I think that the way seed is stored and dried adds variables onto this that makes generalizations difficult. Some data from this year and last -

Tomato - I am doing a test this year on seed as old as 22 years, stored in vials in my office (no special drying or storage). Last year I had near 100% germination from 11 year old seed.

Pepper - I find in general that hot peppers store longer with retained viability than sweet peppers. I had 80% germ. from 4 year old sweet pepper seed last year - my record keeping prior to last year wasn't good, so I can provide data.

Eggplant - last year I got 90% germination on 4 year old Eggplant seed.

I may do some germination tests on older pepper and eggplant seed next year.

Lettuce - I am growing some from Tomaddict's 5 year old seed that seems to be germinating fine - he dries his seed down with silica gel.

Basil - I am getting good germination with 6 year old seed.

No comment on anything else, since I tend to use what I have pretty quickly on squash, melons, beans, etc.

I don't totally agree with their list either. They're just guidelines. The list is actually from Oregon State University, BTW, not Victory, so it's not about trying to get us to buy more seed. :) Mileage will vary for everyone.

From the short-lived category, I would bump corn and peppers into the medium category.

Hello Shelleybean,

That list of seed life expectancies is very conservative and it is my opinion that it assumes that many gardeners make no special effort at providing an appropriate storage environment for their leftover seeds.

The more cycles of temperature and humidity that the seeds are subjected to, the more they metabolize their food reserves and ultimately will die or be so weakened that they will not be able to develop.

If you also follow the storage instructions on that same sheet you mention, that is, store in airtight glass vessels (Canning jars :) ) with a bit of desiccant and placed in the fridge, your seed will likely remain viable and maintain high germ rates for many, many years. Again, it does depend on the types of seeds.

There is an old book from Vilmorin that has what I feel are more realistic seed life estimates. But these estimates are geared towards the farmer / gardener and not the seed trade.

You can view the pages here:

[url]http://www.saveseeds.org/library/books/veg_garden_vilmorin.html[/url]

Some of the links at the top of the following page may be of interest to you as well:

[url]http://www.victoryseeds.com/information.html[/url]

Have a great gardening season,

Mike

Thanks for the links, Mike. Those tables do seem more accurate to me. I keep my seed in the produce drawer in the fridge and that seems to work pretty well. I'm about out of room in there though! I buy new seed for parsley, any onion, and spinach each year. Someone had mentioned carrot but I can usually use those for at least two season. Thanks again! :)