Sowing 25 year old seeds?

[DanishGardener]

I just recieved a pack of 25 year old tomato seeds, from NordGen (Nordic Gene Bank). They have been stored under perfect conditions, frozen in special bags designed by NordGen. However, i guess it will still be a challange to get them to germinate. Does anyone in here, have experince with sowing seeds that old? Any tricks to improve germination?

[darwinslair]

had about .6% germination from tomato seeds kept in poor conditions for 70+ years. You should do ok.

Tom

[Bama mater]

I grew out some 1998 Jeff Davis,Cherokee, Red Cloud, and Red Beauty maters with over 50% germ rate.

[Raymondo]

An overnight soak in lukewarm, dechlorinated water is pretty good. Some say a drop of seaweed extract or fish emulsion or Miracle Gro helps (can't remember what's in these things that's supposed to help though potassium rings a bell). I haven't noticed any difference between these and just water. The oldest seeds I've germinated were 13 years old.

[eyolf]

Common wisdom is that the nitrate ion in fertilizers will aid in waking up old seeds. My experience with old seeds is that while a few may germinate, most of them will be weak, and some will require surgery to remove stuck seed coats.

Not being a seed scientist, I have no way to know, but I suspect that of the seeds with living embyoes, some may have consumed some of the stored energy, poisoning themselves with waste products, but I suspect that enzymes responsible for energy conversion at germination have degraded or denatured, reducing the chances an embryo will have the energy available to grow roots and make the transition to earning its own living.

Some will, however, barely make it. Clean soil, very good sanitation to reduce risk of fungal diseases and a weak fertilizer solution to make nitrogen and phosphorus available immediately will be useful. I use Miracle Grow at about 1/2 strength to hydrate the soil mix for starting seeds.

[PNW_D]

Don't give up too soon - they could take up to 6-8 weeks to emerge

[mtbigfish]

Would hate to see them germinate then get damping off - I use ProMix Plug grade with biofungicide to help prevent damping off - all I use until transplanting into the ground is diluted fish and kelp extract in final growing place - pot raised bed or mother earth
Dennis

[DanishGardener]

Thank you for all the advices, I will let you know how it turns out!
And hopefully post some pics later

[Chardon91]

I am new on tomatoville (and this will be my first message), but not new to germinating seeds. I would suggest to do an off ground trial: place the seed on a wet cotton pad in a cup covered with a kitchen transparent film to keep humid. Wash ever 3 or 4 days with clean tap water to keep it in good condition. When a germ pops out place the germinating seed in growing medium. The benefit is that you control the process, plant seeds that you are sure thay germinate and the seed does not stay long in ground before it starts growing.

[Zana]

About 5 years ago I grew out allot of seeds that wre my grandmother's. She had passed more than 12 years before that and some of the seeds were at least 5 to 10 years old when she died. I tried germinating some on wet cotton or on top of growing medium or in some petrie (sp?). Got a varying degree of germination. The funny thing was the "newest seeds" were the ones with the worst results. Go figure. The oldest were probably about 22 to 26 years old and I got at least 25% germination from them, sometimes as high as 50%.

None of these had been kept in ideal conditions. They were in a drawer in their kitchen. I got them after my grandfather passed.

[dice]

No guarantee, but this did work:
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...zark#post57898

(When I try this, I moisten the paper towel with a dilute
hydrogen peroxide solution instead of just water.)

[galaxytrash]

don't mean to hi-jack this thread (well, i do actually), but how should tomato seeds be stored? i live in thailand and only get back home (canada) about once a year if lucky, and if i'm home in the winter, it's next to impossible to find seeds, so i need to make the ones i have last. am i better off keeping the seeds in the fridge? or freezer? my house is quite warm compared to north american standards.

i've got some heirlooms so can save my own if req'd.

my thanks in advance for any replies. sorry for the hi-jacking.

[galaxytrash]

Originally Posted by Chardon91

I am new on tomatoville (and this will be my first message), but not new to germinating seeds. I would suggest to do an off ground trial: place the seed on a wet cotton pad in a cup covered with a kitchen transparent film to keep humid. Wash ever 3 or 4 days with clean tap water to keep it in good condition. When a germ pops out place the germinating seed in growing medium. The benefit is that you control the process, plant seeds that you are sure thay germinate and the seed does not stay long in ground before it starts growing.

that's sounds like a good idea. i'll try that. it will save a lot of time and effort watering pots with dead seeds in them.

merci beaucoup

[dice]

[OT: storing tomato seeds]

Here is a thread discussing different methods of storing them:
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=10859

Where to get Drierite:
http://www.drierite.com/default.cfm

[galaxytrash]

Originally Posted by dice

[OT: storing tomato seeds]

Here is a thread discussing different methods of storing them:
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=10859

Where to get Drierite:
http://www.drierite.com/default.cfm

sorry, i should have had a look on my own first. i'm not normally so lazy...honest.

cheers for that, dice.