So called professionals

I’ll apologise now. This may turn into a rant. It really annoys me     .

This morning I’ve been reading Decembers issues of GW. 
In 2 separate articles they are advising to bin out of date seed. It’s infuriating! It’s wasteful and unnecessary. Especially when they are spouting on about reducing the use of peat, plastics & pesticides earlier in the mag. It’s a little hypocritical I think.

   

   

Just, why !!? 

Granted some seeds will have a lower germination rate when out of date. But they’re not suddenly infertile because they’re 3 months out of date. People should stop being encouraged to bin perfectly good seed by so called professionals. 
Probably because those professionals are being paid handsomely by big seed companies. ( my cynical view, not fact based in any way) .

I usually do a germination test before chucking out seed, just put some seed on moist kitchen roll inside a takeaway container and pop the lid on. It's only packets with really, really bad germination that get thrown into the garden somewhere. A lot of seeds last much longer than they say on the packet, it's mostly things like onions and parsnips which have a big drop off in germination rate. If the germination is poor, just sow more? Recently through all of the brassica seed packets and anything rubbish I sowed as microgreens from which we got a lovely harvest.

I notice that T&M seeds are obvious in the 2nd photo!! Some of their packets aren't even dated!!

T&M have the worst germination rates out of any seed company I've bought from. Charlatans.

I actually threw out some 2013 seeds yesterday, can't even remember what sort but might retrieve them to do a germination test just to see.

Its only parsnip seeds that I don't sow if they're way out of date anything else I give them a go.

Its only  parsnip seeds that I don't sow if they're way out of date anything else I give them a go.

I think there's a bit of a falacy about old parsnip seeds!  When my Grandad died he had seeds lying in drawers from WW11 when we were cleaning his house out. I was only young at the time but remember my Dad spreading parsnip seeds across his back garden

. We seemed to live on parsnips that year as I think they all germinated!

A lot of seeds last much longer than they say on the packet, it's mostly things like onions and parsnips which have a big drop off in germination rate.

I don't disagree with what you are saying tmtt, but I think I came across a reference to someone growing record breaking onions from a packet of seeds that had been in his jacket pocket for 7 years, similarly with what Vinny says about the old parsnip seeds, though as a general rule the germination rate might drop, you can still get a good crop from old seeds

Yep, they still germinate but the percentage rate drops off quite a bit faster than other things like brassicas. It's a myth that parsnip seed is only good for 1 year, I've had good results from out of date packets. Spring onions I have noticed get a bit patchy after a few years. Carrot seed I got from Real Seeds years ago still germinated well after 4 years. How old the seed is before it's packaged is very important: a company like Real Seeds sell very fresh seed whereas we have no idea when the seed from T&M was harvested, only the year it was put into the packet.

I've noticed that Real Seeds' carrot seed packets say that "since carrot seeds only last for a year you may as well sow the lot now" - or something to that effect. I agree with you TMTT, they're still viable for a lot longer.