I have seeds that I bought and seeds from my own garden that I haven't planted yet. I keep them in the fridge, but some have been in there for four years now. Anyone have any experience growing from old seeds?

If only I had planted them, I'd be enjoying their blooms by now. Some take that long to bloom here.

There are a number of possible variables. I would do a germination test on a selected few (leave them in a solution of household strength hydrogen peroxide and water, somewhere around 1:5 to 1:9, at room temp but out of the sun for a week or two, maybe change to a fresh solution every few days). If you get enough starting to germinate that it's worthwhile starting the rest then you can switch to your normal method.

I planted some a month ago that had been in the fridge a year and all are growing great, most had already germinated in the fridge.

Fred - Did you store them in the refrigerator in water or how?

Just in a zip lock bag after drying them, I never add anything or put them in any solution before planting.

Hmmm ... that's interesting. I've never had any germinate in the fridge before unless there was water added. I will have to look closer at some of my seed baggies! Cool!

Well I guess I'll just have to try a few. And I better check my seeds and make sure they didn't try to grow in the fridge.There'd be no way to know how long ago they tried. Thanks everyone.

Years ago I sold seed on the auction, some of the seed I shipped had germinated in the fridge, there also were a few people selling germinated seed. They will live a long time in the fridge after germination.

Fred - THAT is really interesting.

So was the question answered here? Daylily seeds last a year in the refrigerator? Or do they last longer?

I would really like to know as well as I have seeds that are 2+ years old in my refrigerator.

What causes low germination. I had several seeds from the LA that didn't or had a low percentage of germiantion.

It could be a number of things. If it was the fault of the seed just not germinating ... it could have been a seed that just wasn't viable. I do the squeeze test. If you squeeze a seed between your fingers (AFTER it has dried) and it's smushy, that seed is no good. It should remain hard. Sometimes the seeds do germinate, but soil gnats larvae get to them and kill them. Fungus is also another cause of early seedling death ... like root rot. (Which is why I add a few drops of H2O2 in the water when watering all my seedlings and water only when soil is dry.) And some seeds might actually appear not viable because they may take several months (not weeks as most do) to germinate.

Teresa - If your seeds from the LA did not germinate at all, you need to contact the seller THROUGH the LA by sending them a message. You should get a refund or replacement seeds. I got money back from a situation like that. If the seller fails to contact you, then fill out a "Support Form":
http://www.daylily.com/cgi-bin...

Support got involved in my dispute with a seller which almost immediately got my money refunded.

Hmm, ok I hadn't thought about doing that. Some were kinda pricey!

bluegrassmom said:What causes low germination. I had several seeds from the LA that didn't or had a low percentage of germiantion.

The difficulty with low germination percentages is the time allowed for germination and their pre-starting history to determine if they were not viable or had seed dormancy. For example did 20% germinate within three weeks and then were the rest thrown away? Were they damp chilled first before starting at room temp (in which case if only 20% germinated within three weeks at room temp that would indicate a viability problem). If they were not damp chilled and 20% germinated in three weeks while the rest took three months then it's a seed dormancy issue that can be remedied by damp chilling in the fridge or perhaps soaking in hydrogen peroxide at room temp. Damp is the key for chilling because while dried seeds store better in the fridge, dry chilling does not break seed dormancy.

It's also possible that batches daylily seeds do not have seed dormancy and need no pre-treatment but you can't determine that by looking at them, only by experience. That's one of the reasons why we get so many different recommendations for starting daylily seeds, they don't all have seed dormancy for various reasons but if they do germination will be staggered.

I bought a load of 2014 seeds on LA too

I checked all seeds when they arrived, but none of them had sprouted spontaneously on their 2 week trip to Europe
(have to admit that I was a bit worried about that! )
I noted all of them in PlantStep (another 3 days!) and after that I put them in the fridge.

From the 135 seeds I took óut the fridge and put in ziplock bags with water and perlite a week later, only 2 haven't germinated yet.
(should have left them to chill for a couple of weeks more, I know but I couldn't wait any longer.. )


Mayo

Exactly! I have a very good germination rate, so I was positive the failure to germinate had nothing to do with me.

I always hold a couple seeds back in the refrigerator. I plant 3-5 seeds (depending on how many total of that cross I have) and see what happens. If none germinate, I plant the remaining seeds. It is my back-up plan. After the back-up seeds didn't germinate, I complained. Things do happen when germinating seeds. I had an incident where my cat knocked over some of the cups with soil and seeds all over the floor. But even most of those germinated after I scooped them back up into the cups and put them back on my window sill (though I didn't know for sure which seedlings were which because the labels were also mixed up!).

Mayo - Some seeds just take longer to germinate also. I have had seeds that took TWO MONTHS to germinate. I nearly gave up on them when suddenly I noticed sprouts! So my advice (which was given to me), is to wait and see for at least 3 months.

I forget how long the guarantee on LA is. I know it is at least a year. But I am thinking even longer because some plants and seeds (seedlings) take as long as 3 years to bloom to verify you have the plant you paid for! So the LA guarantee is one of the best around for daylily seeds and plants!

oh, now that I've taken them out of the fridge I can be patient

The other 133 germinated within 10-12 days, so I'm véry happy!
The first dozen or so are planted into seedtrays and are now 1 - 2 inches

Mayo

Mayo - Excellent! Congrats on all your new babies!