holy cow, step away from the baggies before the seedlings fly out. Last week, Wednesday to be exact, I figured the old Morning Glory seeds I had needed to be checked for viability. So I used the wet paper towel in a baggie method of testing, placed the baggie out in the back room where it would be nice and warm and in bright sunlight. I looked at them Saturday just to see how they were going and noticed some roots coming from several of the seeds. Yesterday afternoon I noticed the bags were puffing up, went to check on them and found that the seedlings were about 2 inches long and they were the reason the bags were puffy. Ipomoea Purpurea 'Grandpa Ott' Grandpa Ott seedlings ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) Ipomoea nil Scarlett O'Hara....these were packed for the 2007 growing season I bought them on sale in January of last year so I had no idea if they would germinate. Scarlett O'Hara seedlings ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) I am going to put them back in their baggies for now and after the possible storms we get tonight they will be planted outside. I am just amazed at how quickly the seedlings grew, I have a few other seeds I am going to try this with, it's fun
WOW they certainly look viable to me Toni!! I must try this method with some seeds that I have that are well out of date. Nothing ventured nothing gained.
Sounds and looks great. I soaked my in a jar of warm water and planted the little sprouts that grew. I didn't wait for plants. Impatient, I guess. dooley
Both packets of seeds are two years old and spent last summer in my bloom house waiting for me to actually get them planted. I wasn't sure if sitting in the heat might have killed them and I didn't fancy finding out they weren't going to grow after I put them in the ground....have had way too many seeds do that and it is really disappointing I have to nick and soak some gourd seeds, I think they will be the next in the baggies.
Toni, looks like your morning glories are doing great. The only reason I switched to coffee filters was that when I went to take off my sprouted seedlings away from the paper towel the little roots would stick to the towel and it doesn't seem like I have that problem with the coffee filters. This seems to be working for you though, way to go. I like to try old seeds first before tossing them-never know what will happen.
WOW!! They have proved to be more than viable!! I now realise what I did wrong with the baggy method! I think I will let the seeds germinate and grow a little before getting all excited and putting them in pots. I have more hollyhock seeds to experiment with now
Holy cow is right! Looks like you have morning glories in your future! Can't wait to see the gourd seeds and how they do.
Most seeds have a long "shelf" life. Heat is the one thing that will hurt them, it kills the embryo inside the seed. Yours have done very well.
