November 26, 2015
Planning next year’s garden and wonder if you can use last
year’s left over seeds? You most certainly can.
Information on seed packets lists: vegetable variety, whether
it is an open pollinated or a hybrid, brief description of the veggie, days to
maturity (from seed or transplant), in the case of tomatoes, if it is a
determinate or indeterminate, then somewhere on the seed packet will be listed
the lot number, germination percent and year.
Most seed is viable from one year up to five, also the
smaller the seed the shorter it remains viable. The biggest culprit that
shortens a seeds life expectancy is humidity.
Not necessarily the West Texas variety of humidity but the
East Texas kind. After a new to West Texas transplant (pun intended) has lived
in West Texas for any time, 20% humidity feels repressive. This is why the
folks from East Texas look at us strange when we mention the HIGH humidity.
Off the subject but this does make the point about our local
humidity. When I went to forestry tech school we operated a lumber drying kiln.
The target humidity in the “dried” lumber was 20%. During the winter and spring our humidity can
be single digits. This is why your wood furniture is not quite as solid as it
was in East Texas. All of the joints have loosened up due to the low humidity.
I digress. Yes all of the charts that you find on line take
this extreme (to us) humidity into account for the longevity of veggie seeds.
Why is this? Moisture is crucial to germinate seed. No
moisture, No germination.
In humid climes gardeners have to take special precautions to
protect seeds from humidity. This added humidity activates the seed enough and
it loses viability in a short time, as noted by the seed viability charts. Some centuries old seed found in desert
archaeological digs has been found to be viable.
When I lived in more humid places, I would take extra
precautions at preserving my veggie seed. Since I have moved here I have become
a lot less restrictive. I only put my
seed in a dark dry place.
I have found with this minimum care that I have seed to be
viable well beyond these chart dates.
Not sure if your seeds
are good, what to do? If you have a lot of seed, set (precisely) 100 seeds in a
damp paper towel placed into an open plastic bag. Then place the bag in a warm
area like on top of the water heater. Check on it to make sure the towel does
not dry. Keep it moist but not dripping and after a few days start counting the
germinated seed and note the time to germination. Continue until all the seed has germinated or
you feel the rest is unviable. The
numbers that germinate is your percent germination and days to germination lets
you know vitality. Fewer seeds divide germinated seeds by the total seeds set
to germinate.
Questions? I can be
contacted at markdirtfarmer@gmail.com. Or more
garden notes at redwagonfarm.blogsot.com
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