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Declutter your seed collection, too, this month

Before buying more, thin your seed stockpile; compost or share the rest

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED JAN 2, 2025

These catalogs are tempting, but it's best to check over the seeds already in hand before ordering more. (Those golden beets? From 2015 -- and headed to the compost pile.) Kathy Morrison

January is both the month of organization and the month when gardeners finally dive into seed catalogs or jump down the rabbit hole of online seed sources. So much fun to choose new varieties to grow!

But first: Declutter that seed collection so everything is up to date and viable. Those onion seeds from 2021 likely should be tossed (in the green waste or compost), since onion seeds last only a year or so. Tomatoes, on the other hand, can do well up to five years, maybe more, so there's no point in buying another packet of a favorite variety without knowing how many usable seeds are left.

As for those other seeds that went unplanted last year: Is there really room in the garden for a patch of Cinderella pumpkins? How about donating them to a good cause (a school or community garden) or trading them in a community seed swap?

Johnny's Selected Seeds online has excellent charts showing seed viability and storage life estimates. Not just vegetables, they cover flowers and farm/cover crop seeds. (Oh, yeah, can I still use that red clover I bought a few years ago?) The Johnny's website also offers tips on seed saving, storage and how to test seed viability.

Seed viability vs. seed germination rate is an important point when saving seeds. As Johnny's notes, "Both germination rate and seed viability can decline with age of the seed. Viability refers to a seed's ability to produce a vigorous seedling. Seed viability typically declines before germination rates do, so it is possible for old seed to still germinate yet produce weak seedlings."

Also important: Seeds must be stored properly. Keeping them in a hot garage will cause them to deteriorate faster than in a closed box in a cool interior closet.

So, what to do with older seeds of varieties you like and want to grow again?

-- Mix them with new seeds if they're scatterable (zinnias, poppies);

-- Start some old ones alongside some new ones (I do this with Juliet tomatoes);

-- Give the old ones a chance. Debbie once found 6-year-old beet seeds that grew just fine; other older seeds never germinated. But unless this is just a garden experiment, as hers was, have a newer backup.

For more information on seeds, seed packets and seed saving, see the UC Sacramento County Master Gardener Garden Note 128, "Understanding Information on a Seed Packet." Search for GN 128 on this page of Master Gardener Publications .

Declutter your seed collection, too, this month

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