Old Seeds Do Grow!

OhioGardener 9/3/2022, 3:04 pm

A few days ago DW was digging through the box of seeds and found an old package of cucumber seeds. The packaged was labeled as "Packed for 2009", which means that the seeds were harvested in 2008 - 14 years ago. Instead of throwing them out as suggested, I decided to pant them and see what happened. I made five holes about 1/2" deep in the raised bed along the arbor, and divided the seeds among the holes. This afternoon after the rained stopped I went out to check the beds, and was surprised to see that every one of those seeds must have germinated. There are 6 to 8 seedlings in every hole. I don't think they'll have time to produce mature cucumbers before our first frost in mid-October, but I do know they will have to be thinned out! Ha!

Apparently cucumber seeds store very well for very long! And, they germinated in 4 days!

markqz 9/4/2022, 12:07 pm

My problem is cilantro. Mel's book and other sources suggest it's viable for 12 years. Yet I have a really hard time getting it to germinate.

Do you think it would be possible to use cucumber seeds from produce-aisle cucumbers, or are they all hybrids?

OhioGardener 9/4/2022, 12:35 pm

markqz wrote:My problem is cilantro. Mel's book and other sources suggest it's viable for 12 years. Yet I have a really hard time getting it to germinate.

That is interesting. I always thought they are easy to germinate, albeit they seem to only have a germination rate of 50% to 60%. I soak the seeds in an EM-1 solution for 24 hours, then plant with soil coverage of about 1/8" and set them covered on a heat mat. They germinate if 6 or 7 days. (It is not essential to use an EM-1 solution, just something I do.)

Do you think it would be possible to use cucumber seeds from produce-aisle cucumbers, or are they all hybrids?

I suspect they would all be hybrid since commercial growers would be growing for heavy production with high disease resistance. But, don't know. According to North Carolina State University Extension Office:

"Hybrids have now taken over most of the commercial production in North America. Most cucumber cultivars are hybrids produced by crossing one gynoecious inbred as the female parent with one monoecious inbred as the male parent."

**Scorpio Rising** 9/7/2022, 6:40 pm

I really do think it depends on the seed. I have some old seed that germinates very well, and other types that don’t at all! I store mine inside in a cupboard (no fridge). Lettuces seem finicky to me. Radishes forgiving. Sunflowers can go forever! Just depends…take good notes!

acranberryfiend 9/13/2022, 12:48 pm

Try "manually" self-seeding the cilantro by tossing them where you want it to grow I let some cilantro go to seed here in CT a decade ago, and now get 2 "volunteer" crops a year -- first thing up in cold spring and now in Sept, second crop is just starting. Good thing it seeds itself because cilantro absolutely does not like pots, and only limps along in huge ones.

The flowering stalks get 3-4' tall and the goldfinches go nuts over the (coriander) seeds. Lol, needless to say, there's enough for everyone.

**sanderson** 9/15/2022, 7:16 pm

[quote="markqz"]My problem is cilantro. Mel's book and other sources suggest it's viable for 12 years. Yet I have a really hard time getting it to germinate.{/quote]I've had a hard time getting it to germinate, on the mat, in the ground or seed cup in the fall.

Do you think it would be possible to use cucumber seeds from produce-aisle cucumbers, or are they all hybrids?

From what I here and read in the ag community, hybrids are widely used. They are bred for consumer appeal (perfection), disease resistance, shipping and storage sturdiness, and uniform harvest times. Not that there is anything wrong with bred hybrids. As the book "Tomatoland" pointed out, flavor takes a back seat sometimes.

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