Eying those seeds leftover from last year and wondering if they will work?  While the seed germination rate goes down the longer they have been alive, you can do a simple test to see if the leftover seeds will grow.  It would not be accurate enough for a seed merchant, but it is fine for home use.

Test Your Seeds

Take a representative sample of the seeds you have. This means you should include small, discolored, or damaged seeds as well as whole seeds. If you have enough seeds, use 50-100 of them for the test. At a minimum, use ten seeds.

• Place the seeds along the centerline of a damp paper towel. 
• Fold the paper towel over.
• Place the paper towel in a zipper closure bag.  If the seeds are large, such as corn, put an extra tablespoon or two of water in the bag.
• Seal the bag.
• Check the paper towel every day to make sure it remains moist but not squishy.
• If the package the seeds are in says how long it takes for seeds to germinate, wait that number of days. If you do not know the days to germination, try ten days.
• Count the number of seeds that show a baby plant. 
• For 100 seeds, that is the percent of germination. For 50 seeds, multiply it by two to get the germination rate. For ten seeds, multiply it by ten.

A Few Caveats

Seed merchants strive for a 90-95% germination rate, depending on the plant.  Old seeds have a lower germination rate, depending on age, storage conditions, and type of plant.

Some plants take longer than ten days to germinate, so if you just wait that long, you might be fooled about the true germination rate. You may be able to find the days to germination rate for the plant on the internet.

Why Does Germination Matter?

Planting seeds, watering them, fertilizing them, and tending them takes time, effort, and money. If the seeds you have do not germinate, all that is wasted. Knowing the germination rate, you can decide if the seeds you have will produce enough plants to take a chance on. Of course, that depends on the seeds, how desirable they are, and what your tolerance for failure is.

Want to learn to garden? My first attempt at gardening ended up in failure. The weeds took over and squeezed the vegetables out. I was very frustrated by this waste of good seed, time, and money. So I became a master gardener and spent a lot of time helping other people avoid or overcome problems in their garden. 

In order to help others garden successfully, I have written a book, Vegetable Gardening from the Ground Up, available in an ebook or a paperback from Amazon. It is also in Kindle Unlimited.