How long will packaged seeds store for?

[sofasurfer]

I see the seeds are in stock in the stores. I was looking at Burpee. I noticed that they do NOT indicate on the package whether they are GMO or not. I know they are not GMO from research but it just seems that they should take the trouble to say on the package. Do other companies say if they are GMO or Heritage?

ANYWAY...How long will seeds store for? Do they need special storage conditions?

[Dennis]

I know a fella that planted some he'd had for 10 years. He found them while cleaning out a freezer. I have planted some I've had for 5 years with good results.

[mwp]

they planted wheat that they found in Egypt that was over 3000 years old and it grew. Go figure

[nell67]

the drier more airtight the vessel you store them in the better,BUT I have like these others simply place mine in envelopes and placed in the freezer,some seed MUST be frozen for a period of time before they will germinate. If you store them in plastic it should be in vacuum sealed bags,or the seed needs to be very dry to keep it from molding. I received the bulk of leftovers from a seed store several years ago (before my house burned) and had no issue with any of the seed germinating even thought the store had been closed for several years.

[BornthatWay]

Most seeds will last a couple years even if you do nothing to protect them, however it is best to but them in paper bags and then put them in a tin or something and store on a shelf or wrap them in the paper bag and put themin the freezer. Most will germinate but perhaps not at as high of a percentage as they did when new. But, I would certainly keep some stored in case you have a bad year and are not able to dry and store seeds form your garden one year. Be sure to read about how to dry and store the seeds of the plants that you like to eat so that you always have them in future.

[hunter63]

The rate of germation will suffer after a while.......but the answer is to just start or plant more.

Why is it I can't seem to toss out seeds that are 10 years old, even though I only paid $.11 cents for them.....Make no sense at all.
Mine are in a tin(several) in the garage......really need to toss some of those........

[Solar Geek]

I bought Emergency Essentials box of many heirloom seeds and tossed in deep freeze. Just a month ago. Do I need to pull them out and vac pac in addition to their packaging?

[Rick]

I keep mine in the fridge in the garage. The air is cold and dry, which is what you need to preserve seeds. I've planted 5 and 6 year old seeds but find germination begins to drop off, depending on plants, at the 4 year mark. I generally plant 2 or 3 seeds together and thin back to the strongest 1 or 2 in something like pole beans but when they are 4 or 5 years old I generally toss in 4 seeds. I've always had at least one germinate and usually 2. This would be for pole beans, peppers, zucchini, winter squash or cucumbers. Things like that. Lettuce and spinach seem to do fine no matter how old they are. At least I've always had a good crop. I generally broadcast planting lettuce and spinach. Just scatter the seeds on top the ground.

[Solar Geek]

Thanks Rick! I will also call EE once I am back at BOL this weekend to see if I have to protectively package what they sent me.

[LowKey]

That EE box should be fine. For what it is. I'd rotate them out every 3 years or so. That's about the mean maximum on most non-cryo seed storage. You can get 5 years, 10 years sometimes but not to make a worthwhile crop in the event you really are growing emergency food.

I kinda laugh whenever I see the ads for those pop up on here though. I often wonder if the people who buy those things have the space to do the planting (at least a half acre) and if it's ready to go (tilled, organic matter added, cover crop growing, fertilizer available), or if they plan to try to use my back yard in their emergency...?

[Solar Geek]

Nope not coming to your back yard. A friend sent me a HUGE amount of seeds after I had bought these so I plan to use them next year. My garden will be a "no dig" bagged soil over straw garden as while fence is up soil is a mess. Did this at another place a few years ago in a few areas and promptly performed a "Gibbs" head slap while lamenting not having done my whole last garden this way!

[kyratshooter]

As a side note, just because a seed is not labeled as "heritage" does not mean it is GMO.

And all GMO is not the bad stuff the press and tinfoil hat group screams about.

Most of the "heritage" crops we plant have been selectively bred (genetically modified) for centuries to acquire their charecteristics.

I am putting patches of garden all over the yard this year due to last year's wasted effort. It was an embaressment.

[Rick]

We were meaning to talk to you about that. Most of us referred to it as a garden wannabe. Just sayin'. Still, better than the one I didn't put out last year. Bazinga!

[birdman6660]

We still using seeds from many moons ago .. some bought from my buddies Home hardware store and it closed in '84.. seeds grew fine last year .. i got more offa eBay just this week but am gonna finish off the old ones .. HUNTER you really gonna toss seeds ... ARGHHHH !!!
my entire veggie garden is planted in plastic ice cream pails .. abot 200 of them ..... its plenty and WEED FREE !!!

[LowKey]

Selective breeding is not 'genetically modified'.
You can't breed for some of the genes they are injecting into plants these days. Not unless you can cross a fish with a tomato.

[Vancha March]

You can refrigerate seeds for up to a year without any doubts, beyond that its left to chance. Theoretically you can freeze them indefinitely. What also often gets overlooked is the need to save pollen from male plants, it's just as important as saving seeds, to male/female based plants.

Just take a mirror, place under the pollinating plant, and shake. Scrape the pollen off the mirror with a blade and put in a dry airtight container, into the fridge... Works like a charm : )

[Rick]

Selective breeding is not 'genetically modified'.

The results are the same. It's just the next step in plant modification. We'd better hope they continue to increase yields so we can continue to feed an ever growing world wide population. It's the only card we have up our sleeve at the moment.

[hunter63]

We still using seeds from many moons ago .. some bought from my buddies Home hardware store and it closed in '84.. seeds grew fine last year .. i got more offa eBay just this week but am gonna finish off the old ones .. HUNTER you really gonna toss seeds ... ARGHHHH !!!
my entire veggie garden is planted in plastic ice cream pails .. abot 200 of them ..... its plenty and WEED FREE !!!

Yes.....they are gone......LOL....Was almost as bad as thinning out the peppers and tomatoes....."Pick me, pick me....Wait?....Noooooo

Years ago when the kids were small, I used to buy a lot of seed from Gurney Seeds.

They had a special offer for kids, a mixed package for $.01 cent.....I think they were swept up from the floor.....LOL.

Anyway, they each had their own little garden, and those seeds grew like crazy.......Don't know how old they were, may have been fresh sweeping...

[Wildthang]

I have a couple of 1LB cans of seeds from Augason Farms that are totally sealed and last 5 years without refrigeration. I plan to buy at least one can every 4 years just to make sure I have viable seeds!

[MishMish3000]

Is it true that if you spread some hot pepper on top of your garden, the deer will stay out of it? Is there anything else you can use to make the deer not want to eat whatever you've put in the garden (besides making the deer into venison, that is)?