will 3 decades old seeds still grow??

Question

my mom found seeds that were packaged for 1975 ( shes a ridiculous packrat) and she wants to know if theyll grow. shes gettin on my nerves so any answer that will shut her up will help.

p.s. they are green zinnia seeds.

thx

Answer 1

Maybe. I am not sure about that praticular species. I know that over time less and less of your seeds should be viable. I would try to sprout them between a couple of sheets of paper towel on a dish that is kept wet. Then if any sprout put the sprouts where ever you intended to put them. I would be really interested to know how you know how old they are and if any sprout. Please e-mail me.

Answer 2

Green zinnias are a nice contrast to the saturated yellow and orange ones. The germination rate is likely to be quite low, my guess is <5%. If you have a few hundred of them try germinating 100 of them on moist paper towels. This will give you an idea of how many you'll need to sow in order to have a germinating plant. Then double the amount when you sow the seed on soil or in planting medium, since not all that germinate may make it beyond the first leaf pair stage. Zinnia seedlings don't transplant well, so use planting pots or directly onto their final site.

Answer 3

It depends on what kind of seed it is. For instance, carrot and zinnia has short seed life. But a dandelion seed is viable for 8 years. So much lawn care?

Answer 4

I planted some old seeds and they grew, however before planting I soaked them in liquid fertilizer over nite. Most of them came up.

Answer 5

Why not try them! Recently read an article concerning seeds found at an archaeological dig that were thousands of years old, plant thought to be extinct, that grew when planted. It's worth a try.

Answer 6

probably, I've heard of seeds being a 100 yrs old that sprouted

Answer 7

maybe, but as cheap as seeds are, buy some new ones

Answer 8

Not thinking so, but you could try them.

Answer 9

possible, but not probable. no harm in trying, though.

Answer 10

No