I finally decided to tackle a job that I’ve been putting off for quite a while — sorting my old seeds. This is a good time of the year to do it since things are on-hold out in the garden.
There’s a large storage tub full of seed packs that I’ve been accumulating for years. At one time I had them pretty well organized. However, during the past few gardening seasons, I’ve rummaged through the tub looking for particular seeds and was not very careful putting them back in the right place. Now they’re getting disheveled again.
There are quite a few packs that have never been opened. Many of those are professional-grade packs that have the original factory seal and are air-tight. Some of those contain hundreds of seeds.
A sheet of plywood on a pair of sawhorses make a good temporary table for a big job like this.
I know many of the seeds are too old and are no longer viable. I’ll have to toss them out. Others are still OK so, those will go back in to storage.
As for the seeds I’m not sure about, I plan to do a simple germination test. Here’s the way I do it: 1) take a set number of seeds and roll them up in a damp paper towel; 2) put the rolled up paper towel inside a plastic zip-lock bag; 3) place it in a warm spot and check them once a day.
If the seeds are good, they will usually sprout in a several days time. Then I count the number that germinated and calculate the germination percentage. That gives me a rough idea how well the seeds will perform this spring.
Once this project is done, it will be a lot easier to keep track of my surplus seeds in the future.
Bob