Is there any way to know if a seed is good without planting it?

Question

I have done some research and it seems to me that the only general way to know if a seed (or seeds) is good is to actually try and germinate it. If it grows, it is good; if it does not grow, it is not good. Is this acurate? Is there any other way to know if a seed will be good?

Answer 1

I don't know of a sure way to tell if a seed is fertile, without destroying it . However, you can test a number of randomly selected seeds from your supply, then you will have a close approximation of how many seeds out of the supply are good. for example, save seed from last years crops you could plant say 100 of these, and if only 50 come up, then you will know that around half of your seeds will not be good, and you can plant more per hill, or row than you would have if you if you had suspected a 100% germ rate. If however, 98 of the 100 seed sprouted, you would know that most of the seeds were good, and maby plant a few less. In practice, extra seeds are cheep insurance, so unless you have a lemited supply of a rare varity, then go ahead and plant more than you expect to need and thin later.

Care must be taken when selecting your test seeds, if a large number of test seed are taken from the same plant, then it can skew the results, also only plant whole, healthy looking test seeds.

Answer 2

you can try puting it in water to see if it floats. if it does it's bad. seeds are full of sugars for the growing seedling. so if it floats it's empty. but yes mostly the best way is to plant it.

Answer 3

For some kinds of seeds, density is a good way of telling. Many seeds don't develop fully and consist of just the seed coat and no embryo inside. Often these seeds are indistinguishable from healthy seeds. If the seeds are added to a container of water, the good seeds will be denser and sink to the bottom. The bad seeds will float to the top. Even bad seeds which sink can be separated if the water is swirled. The good, dense seeds accumulate in the center and the lighter, bad seeds swirl around over them. The lighter seeds can be poured off, leaving mostly seeds which will germinate. This is a good technique to use with most vegetable seeds, especially tomato seeds.

Answer 4

You could take it apart and examine it chemically and structurally. Then, however, you couldn't plant it.

Answer 5

You can germinate the seed by wrapping it in a wet paper napkin putting it in a plastic bag and keeping it some where at about 60 to 70 degrees.  The seed should sprout if it is still good.  Also you can do a germ test and see what percenage of the seed is good by sprouting multiple seeds.

Answer 6

A germination test is the best way to determine the viability of seeds. Lay, spaced out, 5 or 10 seeds on a moist paper towel, lay another moist paper towel over them. Roll up the towels and place them on a plastic bag to keep them moist and put them in a warm place. Check them after two to three days. you will usually see a small root emerging first and you will know they are good. Divide the total number of seeds that you used by the number that germinated to get the percentage of good seeds. If you only have a few seeds to start with, you can carefully plant the seeds after they have germinated.