Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: missmoneypenny on March 17, 2023, 11:47

Title: Worth sowing is Sow By date is 2022?
Post by: missmoneypenny on March 17, 2023, 11:47

I have parsley, basil, cucumber and cabbage that “ expired” in 2022. Would I be better off binning and getting some cheap seeds in Lidls instead? Or does one year not make a difference? Thanks for any views.

Title: Re: Worth sowing is Sow By date is 2022?
Post by: coldandwindy on March 17, 2023, 12:21

My take on it:-

I'd ditch the parsley because it has a very short storage life so an extra year is a big % of its life. Also if you did a test germination on kitchen roll it'd be ages before you'd know because its slow. New parsley seed is cheap.

Cabbage is the opposite! Long storage life & fast germination, so I'd chance keeping that & you'll know soon enough if you were wrong and there'd be plenty of time to catch up.

Cucumber seed has a very long shelf life and is expensive to buy so again, worth chancing.

(I don't grow basil, it doesn't like it here!)

Title: Re: Worth sowing is Sow By date is 2022?
Post by: missmoneypenny on March 17, 2023, 13:39

Thanks cold and windy I’m going to follow your advice to the letter!

Title: Re: Worth sowing is Sow By date is 2022?
Post by: Subversive_plot on March 18, 2023, 05:14

Parsley can last in storage up to 2 years, but if you can get fresh seed at low cost, why risk it?  After planting fresh seed, if you have extra room, you can thickly sow the old seed in a patch somewhere else.

Basil seed can last up to 5 years in storage.  It may be a safer bet to go ahead and plant that seed.

Title: Re: Worth sowing is Sow By date is 2022?
Post by: coldandwindy on March 18, 2023, 08:56

Quote from: missmoneypenny on March 17, 2023, 13:39

Thanks cold and windy I’m going to follow your advice to the letter!

Eeek, no pressure then! Let us know how you get on.  :)

Title: Re: Worth sowing is Sow By date is 2022?
Post by: Grubbypaws on March 25, 2023, 15:57

What about coriander seeds? I have some from last years planting which say that they can be sown until 2023 but they look a bit tatty. Should I risk it or use some freshly bought?

Title: Re: Worth sowing is Sow By date is 2022?
Post by: Subversive_plot on March 25, 2023, 17:35

You can try chitting them, if the germinate, pot them up, or put in the ground.  Coriander (cilantro) will tolerate a little cold. Each year I have at least some that comes from seed that over-wintered on the ground outdoors.

Title: Re: Worth sowing is Sow By date is 2022?
Post by: AnneB on March 26, 2023, 09:14

With the exception of onion and carrot seed I tend to be sceptical of sow by dates on seed packets.
Quite often the germination rate tails off a bit but you can still get useful crops from out of date seed. 
I tend to have lots of out of date stuff as I can't resist buying anything new.  If it's old I just sow more of it and often have success.