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travis · November 4, 2011

To Bill: Fusion has given you very good information. You should follow his advice.

I have awakened very old seeds, at least as old as what you have, for old standard red field tomatoes like Walter. I think mine may have been kept under refrigeration before I got them, because I got fair germination in the 50% range.

I've soaked very old seeds overnight in the refrigerator in a diluted black tea solution, and then started them in paper towels inside a ziploc at room temperature.

I've soaked the old seeds very briefly in hydrogen peroxide to soften and thin the seed coat, and then started them in damp paper towels on on wet cotton balls inside ziploc baggies.

The problem with paper towels or cotton balls inside a ziploc baggie is if the seeds take over 7 days to germinate, seems like sometimes the medium mildews before the seeds germinate.

I also have germinated very old seeds by pre-soaking them in weak tea overnight, then transferring them on top of Promix starter mix dampened with a weak solution of high nitrogen Miracle-Gro. Problem with that is if I did not transfer the successful starts to a non-fertilized starter cell before the sprouts were advanced, the resulting seedlings became quite leggy.

When I used bottom heat on a starter mat about 80 degrees F, I got up to 70% germination of seeds that were over 25 years old one time.

In any case, you should try to germinate the seeds if only for the experience and satisfaction of doing it. I'd love to grow Walter myself, and if I had seeds from the original breeder, so much the better. I grow a few more recent varieties that have Walter in their parentage, and they are very good standard field tomatoes in my opinion, and stand up to heat and humidity. Go for it!

November 4, 2011	#10
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	To Bill: Fusion has given you very good information. You should follow his advice. I have awakened very old seeds, at least as old as what you have, for old standard red field tomatoes like Walter. I think mine may have been kept under refrigeration before I got them, because I got fair germination in the 50% range. I've soaked very old seeds overnight in the refrigerator in a diluted black tea solution, and then started them in paper towels inside a ziploc at room temperature. I've soaked the old seeds very briefly in hydrogen peroxide to soften and thin the seed coat, and then started them in damp paper towels on on wet cotton balls inside ziploc baggies. The problem with paper towels or cotton balls inside a ziploc baggie is if the seeds take over 7 days to germinate, seems like sometimes the medium mildews before the seeds germinate. I also have germinated very old seeds by pre-soaking them in weak tea overnight, then transferring them on top of Promix starter mix dampened with a weak solution of high nitrogen Miracle-Gro. Problem with that is if I did not transfer the successful starts to a non-fertilized starter cell before the sprouts were advanced, the resulting seedlings became quite leggy. When I used bottom heat on a starter mat about 80 degrees F, I got up to 70% germination of seeds that were over 25 years old one time. In any case, you should try to germinate the seeds if only for the experience and satisfaction of doing it. I'd love to grow Walter myself, and if I had seeds from the original breeder, so much the better. I grow a few more recent varieties that have Walter in their parentage, and they are very good standard field tomatoes in my opinion, and stand up to heat and humidity. Go for it!