I have several half-full packets of vegetable seeds left over from last year. Can the seeds be used this season?
Stored in a dry place, most vegetable seeds remain good for two or three years, even though the packet has been opened. It’s best to keep the seeds in a fridge or an airtight jar in a cool, dry place such as a shed or garage.
Germination rates gradually decline, however, so if you have any doubts, make a test sowing of, say, 20 seeds in a seed tray indoors. The result will show whether it is worth sowing the rest in the garden. You can apply the same principles to saving the seeds of flowers.
When it’s worth soaking
I’ve heard that seeds of members of the pea and bean family should be soaked in water before sowing. Is this true — and if it is, what good does it do?
The only advantage in soaking the seeds of legumes such as peas and beans is to speed up germination. And it doesn’t work with every member of the family. Dwarf French beans, for instance, have a tendency to ‘drown’ — they become waterlogged and die.
On the other hand, soaking the seeds of garden peas, runner beans and broad beans for about 24 hours before sowing gives you a head start of three or four days over the conventionally sown, dry seeds.
Coping with tiny seeds
How can I get even germination of small seeds like those of primulas? Should these seeds be sown outdoors?
Use a good seed compost and sow the seeds indoors in a shade house or greenhouse. Very few of the species with fine, dust-like seeds wi I l do as well if you sow them outdoors in open ground. Once you’ve prepared your compost in seed pans or trays, mix the seeds with about four times their own volume of river sand — just add it to the seed packet and shake it about.
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