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seeds How old can seeds get and still germinate?

BareMig

BareMig

I have a question about something that may be common knowlage to most people here, but anyway... i am wondering how long I can store seeds and still expect them to germinate? I have quite a few different kinds of chili seeds, some bought years ago, some given to me, some taken from my own pods, but I will not be growing a whole lot of plants this year. Expect to be busy working and restoring an old house, and travelling between the two, and also have very little space and no garden at the moment. That means before I can do some serious chili growing, some of my seeds will be, like 5 years or older! I have noticed some of you guys takling about giving ecces seeds away " before they turn to dust" but that might be out of pure kindness and have nothing to do with them getting to old? Not that I mind sharing, have given lots of plants, seeds, pods, chili salt ect. to family and friends and as gifts, actually love that, but a few of the older seeds I really want to grow as soon as I get some land and do not want to buy them all over again if I don't have to. What are your experiences on storing your favorites?
 
The rate of germination starts sinking after three or four years. But if you put more than one seed in the earth you will still have the chance that something grows. I gave a member of Hot-Pain some seeds that were five years old and he was succesful.
 
depends on the type, i don't think super hots should be left beyond 1.5 - 2 years. I saw something about a seed that was found from a plant extinct for thousands of years, the seed was kept in storage for a further 40 years and UK boffins just recently grew the plant from that seed.
 
I don't think there's a difference between annuum and chinense refering to the germination. It depends on how you store your seeds.
 
Actually my oldest chinense germinated.
 
Thanks everyone, for answering! Now I feel much better, and believe that my seeds will be ok until I get a chance to grow them, they are stored in small zip bags in a cardboard box and kept in a closet. Definately dry and dark. Oh this also gives me an excuse to buy some interesting new seeds even though I don't need them right away! ;-)
 
I just put some 23 year old seeds into a ziploc. They've been in an envelope in a drawer in someone's basement since 1991. Certainly not great conditions, but they've been dry anyway. We'll see how it goes.
 
I just had some old seed germinate. The seeds were stored in individual packs, in a cardboard box, in my cool closet. I had received the seeds from a few members on this site so I have no idea how old they were when I got them. I had them for 3-4 years. When I put them into paper towel and baggies I noticed that many were cracked and broken. The broken ones actually germinated considerably faster than the non-broken seeds. Seems like the will to live is extremely strong.

Neil
 
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