There are no special problems with vegetable seeds.

Most of them remain viable for 3-4 years. With flowers the spread is much greater. It could be one year, or ten years... Moreover, there can be a difference in germination between seeds of the same type.

From March it is already possible to sow seeds of annuals for seedlings. So you can plant ageratum, aster, verbena, Chabot and Chinese carnations, lobelia, Snapdragon, nemesia, petunia, phlox, salvia, begonia, heliotrope and some other crops.

But upright and deviated marigolds, fragrant tobacco, zinnia - in early April, so that the seedlings do not stretch out so much.

At the beginning of May, it’s time to sow annuals in the ground, which work well even without seedlings: cornflower, dimorphotheca, iberis, calendula, clarkia, lavatera, matthiola, mignonette, scabiosa, eschscholtia, nasturtium, beans, marigolds, cosmos, gypsophyll, godetia, etc. .

Often, in order for the flower garden to become pleasing to the eye earlier, spunbond or film is used to cover early crops.

But before you start sowing, it’s not superfluous to check the seeds for germination.

The fact is that flower seeds are more capricious in terms of storage and germination conditions. And for many, seeds cannot be stored for more than one year. Which, given our market characteristics, rarely happens.

So you can keep seeds for no more than one year: asters, marigolds and nemesia. Theoretically, they can emerge after two or three years, but the likelihood of this is quite low.

Salvia (sage) has the widest variation. It is best not to overexpose its seeds, two years maximum. Although five-year-old seeds also have normal germination, this is a big risk; much depends on storage conditions and the variety.

Amaranthus and linum are guaranteed to remain viable for five years.

These are the easiest crops to store. With the rest you need to be more careful - store in a cool, dry place, out of the sun. The best container for seeds is canvas bags.

However, having sowed seeds and not waited for them to sprout, do not rush to judge them; depending on the culture, flowers can sprout from 4 days to 60! Our table will help you navigate this.

Name of plants	Number of seeds	Germination rate in %	Viability	Time from sowing to germination
1. Seeds of annual flowering plants
Ageratum Acroclinium Alyssum Antirhrim Asters Verbena Viola Gaillardia Godetia Gypsophila Delphinium Dianthus Dimorphotheca Calendula Clarkia Coreopsis Cosmea Levcoy Linum Lobelia Lupine Cruikshay Lupine mixed variety Malope Matthiola Nemesia Nigella Nicocyana Papaver Petunia Petunia hybrida Purslane Reseda Scabiosa Flock from Chrysanthemum Centaurea Zinia Eschsholtzia	8000 450 4000 8000 500 350 850 500 2300 1200 450 1000 560 120 4000 4000 170 600 160 35000 6 50 260 1500 6000 350 12500 4000 7500 12500 10000 1000 300 300 750 2000 350 130 860 —	60 50 60 60 50 40 50 50 70 60 40 65 50 60 60 60 60 60 65 60 85 60 50 50 60 60 60 60 40 50 50 40 40 50 40 60 40 60 60 — —	4 3 3-4 3-4 1-2 — — 2 — 4 3-4 — — 2 3 2 3 — 5 3-4 3-4 — — — 2-3 1-2 3-4 3-4 — — 3 — 2-3 — 1-3 4 3 3 2 — —	5-10 4-12 5-14 8-12 5-10 15-30 8-12 10-15 12 15 44-16 6-8 - 7 6-10 5-10 8-10 7-10 10-15 5-20 5-10 - 7-14 14-20 20 10-15 5-10 6-10 8-12 14 8-10 20-28 10-15 7-14 8-10 8-10 8-10 5-10 5-10 — —
2. Seeds of decorative foliage plants:
Amaranthus Helianthus Cannabis Kochia Pyrethrum	1600 18 80 280 6000	60 60 50 50 60	4-5 - - 1-2 2	5-14 - 4-6 10
3. Climbing seeds:
Morning glory Lathyrus Tropaeolum Pumpkin fig. Phaseolus	35 12 7 14 1	60 60 60 60 100	3- 4 3-4 - - -	10-12 20-60 14-20 6-8 -

Germination seed, as well as the quality of the future harvest largely depends on how long and under what conditions the seeds were stored before planting. Let’s look at what shelf life of seeds of certain plant species can be considered optimal.

Please note that the shelf life of seeds indicated on the packaging may not coincide with the actual one. This happens due to the fact that most species seed material can be stored much longer than indicated on the packaging, without any damage to the quality of future beds or flower beds.

You should focus on the following numbers:

• 1-2 years (celery, parsnips);
• 2-3 years (perennial onions, carrots, peppers);
• 3-4 years (radish, radish, onion, tomatoes, cucumbers, legumes);
• up to five years (cabbage of all types, eggplant, beets, daikon, asparagus);
• up to six years (pumpkin, peas, rutabaga, zucchini);
• up to eight years (melon, watermelon, corn, squash).

Good to know: if you need to identify barren flowers, you need to pour the seed into salt water and wait about an hour. It is better to throw away the floating grains.

Shelf life of seeds of other crops

Let's start with popular types of greens and herbs: marjoram, tarragon, fennel, cumin, rhubarb, sorrel, parsley and spinach are stored for 2-3 years; dill, basil, cilantro, leeks, oregano and lettuce - 3-4 years. The most resistant herb in terms of the duration of seed storage is purslane.

If you want to grow beautiful flower bed on his own personal plot, you should definitely pay attention to the expiration dates of flower seeds.

So, the shelf life of flower seeds:

• 1-2 years (aster, violet, caper, ranunculus);
• 2-4 years (Carnationaceae, some species of Asteraceae, Malvaceae, Poppyaceae, Noriaceae);
• 4-5 years (nightshade, nasturtium);
• 5-6 years (Labiaceae, legumes, cruciferous plants);
• up to 8 years (lobeliaceae, balsamaceae).

Helpful tip: if you are in doubt about the quality of the seeds, take a few and place them between two layers of damp gauze. Within a few days the process of awakening should begin. If this does not happen, this is a reason to think about the quality of the contents of the entire bag.

The importance of observing storage conditions

It would be useful to inspect the seed for actual defects. How to do it?

There are “odorous” varieties of plants (parsley, caraway, carrots, dill, parsnips, marjoram, caraway and some others) - if the seeds have lost their characteristic smell, this indicates that they are spoiled.

In appearance, the seeds should be beautiful, smooth, and free of spots and other defects.

Excessive dryness, wrinkling, unsightly grey colour, as a rule, signal that the seed is spoiled and unsuitable for planting. Only peas can be dry and wrinkled - this is its peculiarity.

Be sure to follow the conditions for planting certain crops for seedlings or in open ground, otherwise it is impossible to guarantee their normal germination.

Hello! Tell me, what is the shelf life of sweet and bitter pepper seeds? Elizabeth.
Selecting quality seeds is one of key points, guaranteeing receipt decent harvest. The shelf life of seed material of sweet and bitter peppers, as well as how the duration of its storage affects germination, are discussed in this article.

Shelf life and factors affecting shelf life

The seed material of sweet and bitter peppers can retain its maximum germination capacity for up to 5 years. In many ways, this indicator depends on compliance with storage conditions and relates primarily to the industrial level of procurement and storage of seed material.

At home, the seeds of these vegetables lose their ability to germinate much faster. As practice shows, the seeds of bitter and sweet pepper collected with one’s own hands remain viable for about 2-3 years. For this reason, there is no point in storing them for future use in large quantities.

The shelf life of pepper seeds is 2-3 years.

Among the main conditions affecting the decrease in germination rate during seed storage, the following should be highlighted:

• humidity level;
• temperature regime.

To carry out independent procurement of seed material, you should select only the most best peppers. At home collected seeds should be stored in a cool (t° +10-12° C) and dry place, placing well-dried seeds in paper bags.

Attention! You should not store pepper seeds at t°=0° C, since at this temperature they can simply die.

To avoid storing excess seeds, before purchasing them, you should calculate the required quantity based on the recommended sowing rates: per 1 m² - 0.1 g.

Pepper seeds must be stored at a temperature of 10-12 degrees

A few simple tips when buying sweet and bitter pepper seeds will allow you to choose high-quality planting material and will serve as collateral good harvest:

1. Check the expiration date of the seeds - it is usually indicated at the bottom back side package.

2. Choose seeds from well-known and trusted manufacturers.

3. Expensive seeds of hybrids and elite varieties have a higher percentage of similarity, since they are pre-treated with growth stimulants and antifungal drugs.

It is very easy to distinguish specially processed seeds from unprocessed ones - processed seeds are brightly colored.

If you plan to use seed material collected by yourself for sowing, then carrying out a few simple manipulations will be the key to obtaining good seedlings of pepper:

1. Calibrate the seeds, rejecting small, very large, hollow and damaged ones.

2. Conduct a germination test. To do this, 5-10 seeds are soaked for a day several weeks before the intended sowing, and then sown in prepared and moistened soil, covered with film, and placed in a warm place, waiting for germination.

Advice! If more than 30% of the seeds sown for testing germinate, then such seeds are considered suitable for use, if less than 30%, their use for sowing is inappropriate.

It is better to purchase pepper seeds from well-known manufacturers.

3. To improve the quality of pepper seeds and increase the percentage of germination, they should be treated, treated with microelements and growth stimulants. At home, wood ash can be used as an accessible source of microelements.

4. Pre-germination of seeds will allow for earlier germination.

Knowing the expiration dates of seeds and what factors influence them will allow you to choose high-quality seed and ensure good germination.

Preparing pepper seeds for planting - video

Every gardener wants to grow a good harvest. A common desire of people who not only love to work on the land, but also want to have at least a small income and moral compensation for the almost everyday troubles of growing their favorite vegetables and herbs.

In order not to be at a loss and not to be upset when the crops do not sprout, you need a conscious attitude to your work and a thorough study of the features of sowing and growing home crops. Strict calculation and efficiency will not hurt in resolving this issue. What is meant?

It is necessary to know the expiration dates of seeds, seeding rates for square meter, seed storage conditions, germination term. But let’s focus on the most important problems: where you can buy seeds, how much to buy, how to choose and store seeds.

In contact with

Where to buy

You need to buy seeds in specialized stores, where experienced sales consultants will help you choose the right product and tell you about all of it. quality characteristics.

You can use the services of online stores that sell such goods. On the Internet you can get more detailed and reliable information about seeds, their conservation, and expiration dates.

When purchasing a product, you don’t need to “rush” to the colorfully designed bags - this is a trap and an advertising “enticement”. Inexperienced gardeners are better off taking the advice of their neighbors and cooperating with them. Neighborhood exchange of experience and seeds will qualitatively improve the outcome of the harvest and prevent losses.

Each bag indicates the seed sowing rate per square meter. It is necessary to approximately determine the area and calculate the following data: cabbage should be sown per square meter. a meter is approximately 0.05 grams, and zucchini is 0.2 grams, etc.

How to choose and save

Before you go to the store to buy seeds, you need to check last year's supplies.

You need to look at the expiration date written on the packaging and check its integrity. If everything is fine, then you can only purchase the missing seeds.

The seeds are stored very well in intact cellophane packaging in a cool room, even with little sub-zero temperature. Once at the Vavilov Institute, the seeds were frozen with liquid nitrogen, and after thawing they were sown - the shoots were very friendly.

Therefore, we need to take this fact into account and store the seeds in the country, since in apartments with dry and warm air they dry out.

Note: It is necessary to take into account that the longer the storage period of the seeds, the lower their germination rate.

Many seed manufacturers and companies involved in their sale use a certain table of seed shelf life when packaging seed products.

Shelf life of seeds of main crops:

• Watermelon, cucumbers and melon – 7 years;
• Radishes, cabbage, tomatoes and beets – 4.5 years;
• Carrots, eggplant, spinach – 3-4 years;
• Parsley, sorrel and dill – 2-3 years;
• Parsnips and celery – 1-2 years;
• Vegetable peas, beans – 5-6 years;
• White cabbage, cauliflower, radish, table beets - 4-5 years.

They have a long shelf life leguminous plants, as well as corn and alfalfa. Their germination rate can be 100% even after 6-8 years if not very comfortable conditions storage

The technology for preparing seeds for storage is very simple. For example, onion seeds are cleaned, sorted, placed in clean double bags, tied and labeled.

Humidity during storage should not exceed 12%, and optimal mode humidity – 5-8%. On bags from most companies, the expiration date is indicated on the back: “best before”, year and date.

Any gardener does not forget about splendor ornamental plants that bring beauty into our lives. This is flowers. These unique plants give us many colors and smells.

And there is a natural desire to grow and propagate them every year. But how to store their seeds? It is necessary to take into account that if the storage rules are strictly followed, then the flowers retain normal germination for many years.

But there are plants that quickly lose this ability, despite all the rules. For example, aster, verbena, and phloxia can be stored for 1-2 years, but flowers such as ageratum, mallow, and petunia can last and produce good shoots after 3-4 years.

When buying seeds of peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers, you must give preference hybrid varieties.

It is important to know: On the bags, hybrids are designated by the letter F, the initial letter of the word filii, which means “children” in Latin, and a number indicating the generation number. Experienced gardeners they know that F1 produces much more yield than the “parent”. He is more hardy and unpretentious.

Therefore, if the choice falls on cucumbers with the designation F1, you can expect a good harvest and excellent taste. Although their price is a little higher. But it is not advisable to store them, since they do not retain all their unique properties.

You can also give preference to zoned varieties. They are very well adapted to the climatic conditions of your region, since they are grown there.

Released seed varieties produce almost one hundred percent germination. It is important to do a germination test before sowing: immerse the seeds in potassium permanganate and get a true result: mature seeds will fall to the bottom, and dead ones will float to the surface.

Here are some important tips and secrets on how to preserve vegetable seeds so that they do not lose their properties:

1. Pumpkin. Everyone knows about the benefits of pumpkin seeds, which is why their popularity is quite high. Having a large percentage of calcium in their composition, they improve the condition of the scalp, nails, and teeth. This is everyone's favorite sweet treat. It is precisely because of these properties that it is important to learn how to preserve them correctly.

In order to eat them in winter, you need to dry the seeds in the oven at a temperature of 60 degrees. For sowing, they must be stored in a not very warm but dry place in bags made of natural materials. Polyethylene is excluded in these cases. It is important that the “seed breathing” mode is maintained for drying.

1. Black onion. To keep the bulbs longer, onions should be planted in the spring. And a later harvest ensures better storage. And nigella seeds planted before winter should be used to produce greens.
2. Tomatoes. Many types of seeds lose their viability during storage. Therefore, if you pre-soak tomato seeds and soak them for 8 hours in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, the germination rate will be very high. This procedure can be done with other types of seeds.

How to store seeds at home, see the following video:

The troublesome autumn was followed by a restless winter. Now is the time to think about seeds for next season. They lie in the house, preserved not only from this year, but even from the previous year. What to do with them? Leave? Will they germinate? How many and, most importantly, how to store them? Let's try to figure out these questions.

By the way, there are amazing cases in history when seeds were discovered during excavations of ancient buildings, they were planted and they... germinated, and germinated after thousands of years! This was the case, for example, in the middle of the 19th century, when wheat seeds were found at the bottom of a 3,000-year-old vase: they were sown and they sprouted. True, this miracle can be explained: a constant temperature and humidity were maintained in the vase, and the seeds were apparently well ripened and dried. Namely, these conditions are necessary for better seed preservation. Then the metabolic processes in the seed are greatly inhibited, it enters a dormant stage, and the embryo under such conditions can remain alive for a long time.

However, the ability to maintain germination different cultures not the same. And it depends not only on the type of culture, but also on maturation conditions, preparation for storage And storage itself.

The age of seeds is counted from the day of collection, and their longevity is divided into economic And biological.

More important for us economic durability- the time during which a certain (large) percentage of seeds retain the ability to germinate. Here, for example, are indicators of the economic longevity of vegetable seeds (in years):

Biological longevity time during which at least a single seed remains capable of germination:

By the way, the seeds lose their viability gradually. At first, only 25% die. This happens slowly, then the process accelerates and almost all the seeds die, although among them there may remain rare specimens that have not lost their germination, unlike all their fellows.

The main reason why seeds lose their viability faster is their high humidity , therefore, freshly collected seeds need to be dried in the open air, spreading them in a thin layer on paper or cloth so that moisture is easily absorbed. There is no need to dry the seeds in the sun; it is better in the shade with access to air. It is dangerous to dry near a stove or radiator - the seeds can easily dry out there.

Be sure to dry the old seeds, especially if you kept them in an unheated country house. Don’t forget about suitable packaging – bags made of thick paper or linen.

The seed shell is porous, so it easily absorbs moisture from the air, which is why store seeds It is necessary in a dry room and at a constant temperature. You can store them in the cellar or refrigerator, but only in an airtight container, for example, in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. The main thing is that the seeds do not absorb moisture, otherwise they will begin to breathe more intensely, lose nutrients, and the embryo will awaken prematurely from sleep and die.

Two ways to store seeds

First way used in production: the seeds are specially brought to a moisture content of 5–10% and only then put into moisture-proof packaging (for example, polyethylene), and then into fabric bags.

With more high humidity the seeds will breathe more intensely and release heat and carbon dioxide. Therefore, if at home it is impossible to dry the seeds exactly to this level of humidity (5–10%), then they should not be stored in plastic bags, otherwise they may suffocate.

Most suitable for gardeners second way. When drying at home warm room seed moisture is 10–15%. It is better to pour such seeds into a fabric bag and hang them in a room where it is constantly dry and cool.

L. Kalugina, Khimki

When purchasing seeds, pay attention to their expiration date. When reviewing your own seeds, determine whether they are suitable for sowing by comparing them with the shelf life limits given below. 10-12 years – purslane; 6-8 years – watermelon, melon, kale, cucumber, squash, pumpkin; 5-7 years – endive, escarole, sweet corn; 5-6 years – vegetable peas, watercress, beans; 4-5 years – white cabbage, Brussels sprouts, Chinese, cauliflower and kohlrabi, radishes, turnips, red beets, asparagus, tomatoes, physalis; 3-5 years - eggplant, okra, hyssop, broccoli, red, Beijing and Savoy cabbage, 3-4 years - basil, mustard, oregano, chervil, coriander (cilantro), onion and leek, lovage, chard, carrots, borage (borage), pepper, lettuce, chicory, spinach; 2-3 years – anise, katran, catnip, onion, marjoram, lemon balm, peppermint, parsley, rhubarb, caraway, dill, fennel, sorrel, tarragon; 1-2 years – parsnip, celery, scorcionera, savory. It must be borne in mind that as the storage period of seeds increases, their germination rate decreases, growth vigor changes slightly, and the quantity female flowers increases in a number of crops.

Carrots are divided according to ripening periods: early, middle and late. Early carrots are 80 - 90 days from germination to ripening. Early carrots are practically unsuitable for long-term storage for the winter. However, if you are late with the planting date, then it is better to sow early carrots, since it grows faster and you will have a harvest.

Carrot planting dates: Pre-winter period for planting carrots: mid-to-late October, when slight frosts have set in and warming is no longer expected. Spring planting period: carrots are planted according to the principle - the earlier, the better. Carrots can be sown from the end of March to the beginning of April ( late varieties), all of April - average and early varieties. The carrot sowing period ends at the end of May (early varieties only). These carrot sowing dates apply only to our Ural region. Rows for carrots: Carrots are a very light-loving plant and cannot tolerate even slight shade.

In the shade, carrots are greatly retarded in growth and become very thin and skinny. Therefore, beds should be placed only in well-lit areas. It is best to prepare beds for carrots in the fall, so that in the spring they can immediately be sown in the furrows. It is good to use beds after cucumbers, melons, tomatoes, garlic, i.e. beds where compost and organic matter were added.

Such beds, immediately after harvesting and clearing the main crop (August-early September), without even digging, are sown thickly with either wheat or salad mustard to prevent weeds from overrunning the empty bed. You can even leave the mustard in the garden bed - over the winter it will all rot and turn into compost. The soil for carrots must be either well dug up or loose, using humus or sapropel, compost or other nutrient media. It is also important to know that if the soil If it is quite heavy or clayey, then the carrots will be short and thick. You need to understand that heavy soil happens in areas where wheatgrass and weeds reign, such areas - yes, you need to dig up in order for anything to grow on them at all.

And be sure to fertilize with compost, sapropel, peat, humus. Using the method of alternating crops, it is quite possible to obtain good harvests. It is better to make beds for carrots 70 - 80 cm wide with small earthen sides along the edges, so that covering material can be laid directly on the beds, which will retain soil moisture and speed up germination. Or you can make low wooden sides. The optimal length of the bed is about 5 meters. How many carrots should you sow per family?

For an average family of 3 people, one 5-meter bed is enough. If you are a very big fan of carrots, then double this area. How to plant carrots? Carrots are sown according to the principle: the earlier, the better.

In the beds prepared in the fall, in early spring, as soon as the snow begins to melt, even if it’s still in the snow, make grooves in the bed, sow carrot seeds in them (preferably in granules), cover them with peat or soil, or sapropel 2 cm thick. Cover the beds on top with film or covering and keep until until shoots appear (which is about 2 weeks).

When the shoots have appeared, you can only use a covering, since under the film the carrot shoots can simply burn. Carrots are sown often, at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other in the furrow. The distance between the grooves is 10 - 15 cm. After the shoots appear, the carrots are thinned out so that there is at least 5 cm between them, and from mid-July they are thinned out to 10 cm between them, so that by the fall the carrots have grown strong and large enough. The carrot shoots can withstand slight frosts up to -5 degrees.

What carrot seeds should I use? For early sowing(March, April) it is better to use seeds in granules, since the gel shell protects the seeds from drying out and at the same time serves as a nutrient medium for hatched seeds. The germination time of seeds in granules and regular seeds differs from each other by about a week. Therefore, if you are late planting period, then it is worth using ordinary carrot seeds. If carrot seeds germinate within approximately 14 - 18 days, then in granules this period is extended to 21 - 25 days. If the seeds are provided with constant moisture and a comfortable temperature, then the seeds germinate faster and grow better Some people bother and treat the seeds with all sorts of energy agents and other chemicals to speed up germination, soak them or even germinate them, but this is only permissible for those who live in their own home and have time to tinker in the garden all the time.

For those who raid the garden, and this is the majority of city dwellers, for whom the garden is not so much for income as for the soul, such things are hardly acceptable. I live by the principle, the less you bother, the better. That’s why I think that you don’t have to dig up the carrot bed in the fall, so as not to disturb the fertile layer of soil formed there, but use the beds after certain crops, where the soil is already fertilized and soft in structure.

Shelf life of carrot seeds The germination of root crops is greatly influenced by the shelf life of the seeds. For carrots, this is a maximum of 2 years.

The most best seeds- these are the seeds of last year. It is better not to use old seeds or seeds that are more than 2 years old - no matter what you do with them, you still will not get a good harvest from them. Caring for carrots The entire basic care of carrots consists of first thinning the seedlings, and then constantly weeding them from weeds. If you regret and leave a dense planting, then the carrots will turn crooked and oblique, which is not only unsightly, but will also create inconvenience when using it for food - who knows how inconvenient it is to peel crooked carrots, he will understand me. In the agricultural technology of carrots (and other root crops), you should never use fresh manure, since such carrots will contain a lot of nitrates and, in addition, will be prone to rotting. You should also not use chemicals that are recommended by some “experienced” gardeners, who sprinkle in abundance either potassium, or phosphorus, or some other chemical fertilizer, which carrots supposedly need. Don’t forget that all this chemistry will then end up on your table in the quantity in which you sprinkled it and how it will end for you is unknown.

After all, many chemicals do not make themselves felt immediately, but some time after their use - in the form of kidney stones, salt deposits and much more that our body does not need at all. Any plant itself “knows” what it needs for normal growth and development and if you properly care for your land, then you will have good harvests without any chemicals. Harvesting carrot roots and storing them: Carrots are harvested both as they ripen and in the fall for storage.

In autumn, carrots are harvested from September to October. Carrots are harvested in warm, dry weather. Some wash it, lightly dry it so that no moisture remains on it and put it in winter storage. Others package the washed and dried carrots and put them in plastic bags and store them in cellars, which is very convenient, since they are almost ready for use. Who He just piles it up in the cellar and stores it that way.

Expired seeds

By the way, even if the seeds have expired, do not rush to throw them away. For example, pumpkin seeds (zucchini, squash, cucumbers) do not lose their viability for 6-8 years. And even after the expiration of the shelf life indicated on the label, they can sprout normally.

Tomato seeds are slightly less viable - 5-6 years, but almost every summer resident had the opportunity to verify the high germination of older tomato seeds. The safety margin for seeds of pepper, eggplant, beets, and cabbage is 3-5 years.

Well, the seeds of onions, dill, carrots, parsnips, and parsley lose their sowing qualities faster than others. In favorable conditions, seeds can retain their germination capacity much longer, but in unfavorable conditions they lose it before the deadline.

There is virtually no doubt about the germination of seeds packed in foil bags. Unless the packages are opened, of course. Old seeds should definitely be checked in advance, so that if they are unsuitable, there is time to buy fresh ones.

First, just inspect the seeds. If they look beautiful, without obvious flaws, and seem cool and slightly damp to the touch, then there is hope that the seeds have retained their germination capacity. Seeds that are wrinkled, gray in appearance, dry and warm to the touch cannot be awakened to life.

An exception is sugar pea seeds: their wrinkling should not scare you. The germination of seeds of dill, carrots, celery, parsley, parsnip, caraway, and marjoram can be determined by their smell: old seeds lose their inherent aroma and, therefore, germination.

Seed germination, timing of germination and ripening of vegetable crops

Very often gardeners ask such questions. How to check seed germination? In how many days will they sprout?

What are the germination times? When to sow and when to expect germination? How many days does it take for the seeds of a particular vegetable to germinate? When will the first shoots emerge from the ground? How many days should I wait for the harvest after germination?

When can you harvest? Knowing the timing of germination of one or another vegetable crop is very important for calculating the date of sowing vegetables for seedlings. I hope that the following table will help you navigate and get an answer to the questions that concern all of us gardeners.

Naturally, the periods indicated in the table refer to high-quality seeds sown in compliance with all rules of agricultural technology.* the time of cabbage ripening after planting seedlings in open ground. ** onions grown from sets ripen three weeks earlier. *** period of technical ripeness of pepper; biological occurs 20 days later. Remember that all seeds have an expiration date, after which one can doubt their germination. For example, the shelf life of celery seeds, onions, trumpets, leeks, sorrel, rhubarb is 2-3 years, dill, parsley, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, carrots are 3-4 years, peas, beans, cabbage, radishes, turnips, salad mustard- 4-6 years, watermelon, melon, pumpkin, cucumber, zucchini, squash - from 6 to 8 years.

Beet seeds can be stored for 10 or even 20 years. And beans do not lose their viability for up to 700 years (it’s hard to even imagine). These periods cannot be considered strictly established.

If certain conditions are met ( required humidity, temperature, tightness), then the seeds of many crops can be stored for longer long time. And when bad conditions storage, their germination rate can sharply decrease. A useful procedure when preparing seeds for sowing is calibration.

It allows you to separate quality flowers from barren flowers. To cull barren flowers, it is customary to dilute salt in water, throw in the seeds, and leave them for a while (from half an hour to 2 hours).

Those that float up must be thrown away. There is no 100% germination rate, but you can find out what percentage will sprout in advance. It’s easy to determine the germination rate of seeds. We need to create for them favorable conditions for growth. We take the seeds of any crop and place them between two layers of gauze.

You don’t need to take a lot to check germination. 8-10 pieces are enough. Cover the seeds soaked in gauze with film or a saucer on top and place them where it is warm.

shelf life of vegetable seeds

Periodically, at least once a day, ventilate to prevent mold from appearing, check whether they have sprouted. Seeds that have roots or sprouts are considered sprouted. Each crop has its own period after which they sprout (see table above).

If the radish, for example, did not sprout after 7 days, and the zucchini after 10 days, then do not even try to sow such seeds. If they haven’t sprouted at home, then they definitely won’t germinate in the garden. It also happens that the test showed good germination, you sowed them in a bowl for seedlings, but they just don’t germinate. There is a very simple way to prepare seeds - to “make” the shoots appear faster from the ground.