Using out of date seeds

Hello

I'm about to order new seeds and been through old ones from last year. I've still got half a bag of Broad beans(Stereo) from Chase garden seeds. The packet says that they were packaged June 2010, and they should be sown by August 2011. Has anyone advice on whether I should give these a go, or just start again? I hate to throw them away! Ditto out of date seeds in general(within reason obviously)!

Thanks

Henrietta

Tags: broadbeans, outofdate, seeds

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Permalink Reply by John Martin on January 27, 2012 at 17:39

Hi Henrietta

like you I don't like throwing out seeds. what I do is try a few now to see what like germination is before rushing out to buy new. There are exceptions for instance Parsnip, which are difficult enough to get to germinate when fresh so I always buy new there.

regards

John

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Permalink Reply by Colin Robinson on January 27, 2012 at 19:04

Broad beans should be fine as long as they've been kept dry. I've just germinated as load of peas that were two years past their sow by date. As John says, if you try a few first you'll know if they're worth planting. Soak them in warm water for a couple of hours then put them on damp kitchen towel and wait to see what happens.