Quote:
Originally Posted by rxkeith
i just got some tomato seeds from a fella whose father was an old italian gardener who seemed to have a lot of things figured out. i never met the father, but was at an estate sale at his house after he died several years ago. i was very impressed with his gardens, and lay out. the son gave me some seeds after i asked him if he had some from his dad.
the son said they were from 1962, and they go back to 1912. he said his dad called them crispy red.
its too late for me to start them this year.
i know to soak the seeds overnight with a pinch of blue stuff for nitrogen booster, and just barely covering them, but 1962?. the oldest seeds that i have had sprout were 16 yrs old, and they were just stalks with no growing tip.
i will give it a go.
keith
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Keith, the oldest seeds I woke up were seeds of September Dawn that were 22 yo old.
But when all the seeds were moved from the Cheyenne WY precursor to the USDA station in Ames IA, they were able to wake up seeds that were 50 yo that had been stored just in filing cabinets at ambient temps. So I'm sure that seed viability isalsolinked to seed stoage conditions.
I think you remember how long I soak old seeds and with what and what I do after that, and how long I wait for germination and what I water with,but can repeat here if you want me to.
Carolyn