Sprouting Old Seeds

Greetings, friends

I know that I placed this thread in the fragile earth forum, which is almost the opposite of the message I am hoping to share-- that life is determined, strong, and can be present in some very unexpected places.

I found a small treasure in my garage a few weeks ago that had been left behind by the previous owners (my brother and sister-in-law). A box full of heirloom tomato seeds, a number of varieties, all from 2010 or earlier. On a whim, I decided to give germination a try, and can you believe that all of my attempts were successful?

I have a bunch of sprouted seedlings now basking warmth and light after many years of dormancy. I also have a bunch of different varieties to try out next year. I also sprouted a few 10 year old basil seeds to go with them and am so excited for the day when I can put these guys in the dirt! I wonder how huge they will grow?

Have you had any success reviving old seeds? Please share your gardening tips here!
Nearly all sources online give about a 5 year shelf life for seeds stored properly (cool, dry, dark-- I read vegetable crisper in fridge works great but so does a garage lol) but I'm here to say that's not true!

Happy growing!

a reply to: zosimov

Great news. Just make sure you repeat the cycle with saving seeds from your new crops.

a reply to: TheConstruKctionofLight

Neat, good advice! I feel kind of responsible now... like more has been added to my brood lol. I really am excited about having a small storehouse for such valuable things.

a reply to: zosimov

If you want to save the tomato seeds from this crop make sure to follow the proper fermentation steps.
It's gross but I did it and had 100% germination with my last crop. I'm guessing the ones you got were done properly too.

Seeds can last a very very long time if stored property.

Impressive .
want to wate 32,000 years and see ?news.nationalgeographic.com...

a reply to: JAGStorm

Thanks for the tip.

I'll follow all the steps, no matter how gross.

My gardening goal for this year (aside from working the dirt to make it healthier) is to save some seeds!

I'm putting off the goal of upping my produce until I get the soil right.

Hope your garden is full of abundance this year!

a reply to: midnightstar

That's incredible! What a beautiful plant!

a reply to: zosimov

I remember reading many years ago about seeds inside spoil that was dug-out from the pryamids germinating.

It turns out that if kept if the right conditions (dark, dry, cool, the usual common sense stuff), they will essentially last indefinitely.

We can also assume that the secure seed banks in various places around the world would be a very expensive, and perhaps not so pressing project if they had to be continually restocked.

Cool find!

a reply to: zosimov

like more has been added to my brood lol. I really am excited about having a small storehouse for such valuable things.

Brood....haha...you can also swap with friends to increase natures bounty - and get seeds you don't have from them

a reply to: zosimov

Wikipedia has an entry Seed Bank with links to resources like Genebank Standards for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

If you get good at preserving seeds maybe check for a local community Seed or Gene Bank to contribute to.

Back in 2002-2004 there was a fire that destroyed the seed bank in the town I was living in. Tragedy.

ETA: It was 2003. Looked it up. My memory seems to be getting approximate rather than specific these days.

a reply to: TheConstruKctionofLight

Brood....haha...you can also swap with friends to increase natures bounty - and get seeds you don't have from them

I highly highly recommend this. I've gotten a few heirlooms passed down from farmers to their kids, and their germination rate and productivity is unlike anything you can buy. A lot of the seeds for sale in the stores have been genetically altered to the point they hardly resemble what they originally were. The old timey seeds were meant to be grown/harvested at home and not stored for weeks on end.

Don't laugh, but I have found some real good seeds on Ebay of all places!

a reply to: JAGStorm

Ebay! Fun suggestion!

Some of the seeds I found are (I am fairly certian) from a friend's dad in Arkansas who has been cultivating for a long time. I didn't attempt those-- yet-- a failure seemed too dear when there were only a few seeds left. (I found these a bit late in the season to be starting but our spring/summer is really late in coming this year anyway)

I have a couple of cottonwood seeds from Walt Disney's famous 'Dreaming Tree'.
I picked them up when I was invited to the old Disney family home.
The cottonwood tree was hundreds of years old at the time...and a couple of years after I was there, it was struck by lightning, split in two...and died from disease.

The Dreaming Tree was memorialized by Walt's sister Ruth...as a great old tree on the Disney family farm, where Walt, as a young boy, would take a break from chores to think and draw.

He claimed the wind would blow through the leaves and lull him into a creative state...where he came up for the original idea for Disneyland and many of his famous characters...patterned after animals he tended on his farm.


I still have the seeds...and often wondered if I would be able to grow a new 'Dreaming Tree' from them in my own backyard.

originally posted by: IAMTAT


I still have the seeds...and often wondered if I would be able to grow a new 'Dreaming Tree' from them in my own backyard.

That's beautiful TAT

I really hope you do. Maybe with a family birth or some other special occasion you could give it a try.

a reply to: zosimov

a failure seemed too dear when there were only a few seeds left.

The first story I heard in Oklahoma back in 1974 went like this:

"See that tree there with the fence attached?
I was setting that fence up ten years ago and ran out of fenceposts.
One day I was walking down the road and found an old dried up tree branch.
It was just the right size so I brought it home and pounded it into the ground there.
A couple of weeks later branches and leaves were growing out.

"Really happened. You can see the tree right there!"

Arkansas ain't too far from Oklahoma. Give 'er a try.

a reply to: pthena

That's a perfect story for this thread.

Thanks pthena, next year for the light of day!!!!

I also really appreciate your idea about contributing to a local bank if I do have any success as a seed keeper

a reply to: pthena

I can believe it! I made use of mulberry logs for temporary erosion control by my backyard pond. It worked better and more permanent than I thought as it took root and grew trees.

originally posted by: zosimov

originally posted by: IAMTAT


I still have the seeds...and often wondered if I would be able to grow a new 'Dreaming Tree' from them in my own backyard.

That's beautiful TAT

I really hope you do. Maybe with a family birth or some other special occasion you could give it a try.

They're very dried out...but I'll have to research how to get them to sprout...if they can.

Keep seeds in the freezer or fridge, and they can live for years. Left out, and they eventually die. I make al kinds of seeds every year. I even hand pollenate special tomatoes for new personal hybrids. Some people get old seeds to grow by first putting them into a fermented Korean fruit juice. They swear by it. Some seeds can have a better chance of popping if you first lightly sand the hull with fine grit sand paper.
Good luck!

a reply to: visitedbythem

Thank you-- These are great tips!

(Also very cool that you create your own hybrids)