Sooo Many Outdated Seed :(

[MarkHackwell]

I have got soooo many seeds and a lot is all out of date, and I want to dilute it all soo I only have a few seeds packets left otherwise going to have the same situation as I have got now. I want to try and keep it all tidy so that I can actually see what I have got and what I haven't. Any idea on what to do with outdated seeds? as haven't got enough time to sow them all to see if they come up :/

[Scarlet]

Give them to your local school? Or another gardener...they often come even if they are out of date.

[Jeanied]

Put them onto freecycle / freegle?

[arpoet]

If they are flower seeds, just scatter them on yer flower beds.

[JoeDaStudd]

What sort of seeds are they?
Personally I would just use them as you would normal seeds and just double up the quantity I sow.
They won't instantly go bad the moment they hit the best before date, its just the germination rates start to go down hill. So instead of say a 95% rate they are at 80%.
If they are stored right they should still be worth sowing years if not decades after the expiry date.

If you just want to get rid there are loads of people and organizations which would love them as a donation.

[4390evans]

Ive used some this year that were dated 2011 that I got off ebay which have come up fine, I would say 3 out of 5 came through. If you have flower seeds I just sprinkle mine in a little wild area Ive got and see what comes through. Ive done that this year and hope to collect seed from what ever has come through.

[Bigmallly]

How's about:

https://www.farmgarden.org.uk/guerrilla-gardening

[veggiechicken]

I have got soooo many seeds and a lot is all out of date, and I want to dilute it all soo I only have a few seeds packets left otherwise going to have the same situation as I have got now. I want to try and keep it all tidy so that I can actually see what I have got and what I haven't. Any idea on what to do with outdated seeds? as haven't got enough time to sow them all to see if they come up :/

I think you are trying to justify buying more seeds, Mark.............you'd never find me doing that
I sow seeds that are a few year's out of date but sow them at the start of the sowing period, so that there's time to sow more if they don't germinate.
Since I can't bear to throw any seeds away, I keep a bit of ground as a scatter bed. Mix up all the left over seeds and throw them around. Its amazing what comes up. This year, I've had surprise carrots, fennel and radish
Flower seeds are scattered in odd corners of the garden

[Chippy Minton]

How's about:

https://www.farmgarden.org.uk/guerrilla-gardening

Gorilla guerrilla gardening?

[Soooz]

I discovered various packets of sungold tomato seed packets this year - one seed left over from 2013; three from 2010; half a dozen sow before 2003 and a whole unopened packet of sow before 1999!! Also discovered you got around 18 seeds in a 1999 packet, whereas there were only 7 in my best before 2013 packet.

So, in a rash what the heck moment I sowed them all, carefully marking each pot with the bb date.

Every single one of the seeds germinated. Only difference between them is that the bb 2013 seedling was quite weedy beside the others, and continues to be a smaller plant. Apart from the ones I have planted direct into the garden, I have a grow bag with a bb 1999 plant, a bb 2003 plant and the bb 2013 plant - thought it would be interesting to see whether under as controlled condition as possible, there was any difference in fruiting.

So, give the old seeds a go and see what happens.

S.

[veggiechicken]

Ooh, I love an experiment like this ^^^.
Let us know how they grow please.

[Bren In Pots]

I'm still sowing from the same 5 lettuce seed packs I bought when I first joined the vine in 2007, its only parsnips that I buy every year.

[shona_b]

I had a cople of years out of date swede pack - thought I'd give them a chance but sowed them more "thickly" than would normally. Of course I now have a very dense row of swede seedlings and there's nothing I hate more than thinning out healthy seedlings

[RaptorUK]

I had a cople of years out of date swede pack - thought I'd give them a chance but sowed them more "thickly" than would normally. Of course I now have a very dense row of swede seedlings and there's nothing I hate more than thinning out healthy seedlings

I'm going to have to do the same . . I hope. I sowed a 12 foot long row of Swede and had one seedling . . . so I started again and sowed 4 to 6 seeds per station, lets hope most of them come up this time.

Regarding an overly large seed collection . . . I would say bin the ones that are more than 12 months out of date or that are never going to be sown, I was given some 4 year old Long Red Florence seeds and had an abysmal germination rate, in hindsight I would have prefered to have bought fresh seed and had the shallots to eat.

[Martin H]

If in doubt, do a germination test a couple of weeks before you want to sow. Just half a dozen seeds on kitchen paper is all you need to get a decent idea of whether they are going to be worth bothering with and whether you need to sow more thickly.

And of course if they germinate you could always pot them up.