Do seeds expire?

Question

i just bought the cutest little indoor garden for miniature sunflowers and pumpkins at a garage sale.

when i got it home there was a sticker on the back the read "packed for 1997." um... that was 11 years ago. will it still work?

Answer 1

Seeds germinate best the season they first appear

in the market. Seeds found in the pyramids have

germinated. Fro best performance, use them the season

you buy them, but if you are willing to take a chance,

you might be able to get god results with old seeds.

Answer 2

Yes, seeds expire.  Some seeds expire faster than others; it all depends on the species.

I know from experience that corn remains viable for at least three years, beans and chick peas at least a year.  The older the seed gets, though, the lower the germination rate and the slower it will take for any viable seed to germinate.  

But give it a try.  Plant the seeds but don't expect much growth.  If you get one sunflower or one pumpkin to grow consider yourself blessed.

Answer 3

all seed packets have expiration dates on them but it stored in a cool dry place seeds can last longer I have seeds from the last 10 years and they are stored in a cool place. Some of them might not perform as well per the year they expired but what have you got to loose, this is what gardening is all about experimenting so if it were me I would try it you might just learn something from it.

Another thing I do is keep a journal for these kind of things(my garden experiments)I have clippings from little tips that I read about like putting manure on your clematis at the beginning of the season because it helps keep there roots cool and it helps with the flowering, I tried this the following year after my clematis had bloomed so so and now my clematis blooms longer and the flowers cover one of my gates the entire time its wonderful so the journal is fun and its my words of wisdom(especially in February when I start thinking about what I'm going to do in my garden this year)

Answer 4

yes. I've found seed packets from a couple of years old and tried to plant them with no success. They will only last for 1 or 2 seasons

Answer 5

Yes they do, the people sold it to you because they new that they were already expired and that they would not germinate so they just wanted to get rid of them!!!

Answer 6

Yes, that's the expiration date.  They will be way too old to ever germinate!  Did you pay a penny or two (hopefully?).