Most gardeners store their leftover garden seeds for another year… or two years. Or three. But how many years can you store seeds and still get good germination?
In fact, under perfect conditions, for hundreds of years! There are seed banks, such as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, whose goal is to preserve crop genetic diversity, that store seeds at between -16 and -30?C… and they estimate that at least some seeds will still be viable in 7,000 years!
Under average home conditions, however, seed viability is much, much shorter. So, supposing you kept last year’s seeds under the cool, dry conditions they prefer, how long can you expect to keep them?
Sorry, there’s no easy answer. Just how long you can store any given seed varies according to the species.
Here therefore are three charts — vegetables, herbs and flowers — that gives you the number of years seeds are still likely to be viable if stored under “average” home conditions.
Vegetables
- Arugula – 4 years
- Asparagus – 4 years
- Beet – 6 years
- Broad bean – 5 years
- Broccoli – 5 years
- Brussels sprout – 5 years
- Cabbage – 5 years
- Carrot – 4 years
- Cauliflower – 5 years
- Celeriac- 6 years
- Celery – 6 years
- Chicory – 4 years
- Chinese cabbage – 5 years
- Common bean – 3 years
- Corn – 2 years
- Corn salad – 5 years
- Cucumber – 8 years
- Eggplant – 6 years
- Endive – 4 years
- Ground cherry – 10 years
- Gumbo – 2 years
- Kale – 5 years
- Kohlrabi – 5 years
- Leek – 3 years
- Lettuce – 5 years
- Melon – 5 years
- Mustard – 4 years
- New Zealand Spinach – 3 years
- Okra – 2 years
- Onion – 2 years
- Parsnip – 2 years
- Pea – 3 years
- Pepper – 4 years
- Pumpkin – 6 years
- Quinoa – 7 years+
- Radish – 5 years
- Rutabaga – 5 years
- Sorrel – 2 years
- Spinach – 4 years
- Squash – 6 years
- Strawberry – 6 years
- Swiss chard- 6 years old
- Tomatillo – 3 years
- Tomato – 4 years
- Turnip – 5 years
- Water cress – 5 years
- Watermelon – 5 years
- Zucchini – 6 years
Herbs
- Angelica – 3 months
- Basil – 8 years
- Borage – 4 years
- Caraway – 3 years
- Catnip – 3 years
- Chamomile – 3 years
- Chives- 2 years
- Cilantro – 5 years
- Coriander – 5 years
- Dill – 5 years
- Fennel – 4 years
- Lavender – 2 years
- Lemon balm – 3 years
- Mint – 3 years
- Mustard – 4 years
- Oregano – 1 year
- Parsley – 2 years
- Rue – 2 years
- Sage – 2 years
- Sweet marjoram – 1 year
- Thyme – 3 years
Flowers
- Ageratum – 4 years
- Amaranth – 5 years
- Aquilegia– 2 years
- Baby’s breath – 3 years
- Balloon flower – 3 years
- Beebalm – 7 years
- Black-eyed susan vine – 2 years
- Browallia – 3 years
- Calendula – 6 years
- California poppy – 3 years
- California sunflower – 2 years
- Canna – 3 years
- Carnation – 2 years
- Celosia – 4 years
- Chinese forget-me-not – 3 years
- Chrysanthemum – 5 years
- Clarkia – 3 years
- Cockscomb – 4 years
- Coleus – 2 years
- Coreopsis – 2 years
- Cosmos – 4 years
- Dahlia – 3 years
- Datura – 4 years
- Delphinium – 1 year
- Dusty Miller – 4 years
- Evening primrose – 2 years
- Flax – 2 years
- Flowering tobacco – 5 years
- Forget-me-not – 2 years
- Four o’clock – 3 years
- Foxglove – 2 years
- Garden balsam – 6 years
- Geranium (annual) – 2 years
- Geranium (perennial) – 2 years
- Gerbera – 1 year
- Globe amaranth – 3 years
- Godetia – 3 years
- Heliotrope – 2 years
- Hollyhock– 3 years
- Hyacinth bean – 2 years
- Impatiens – 2 years
- Joseph’s coat – 5 years
- Kochia – 1 year
- Larkspur – 2 years
- Lavatera – 5 years
- Lobelia – 4 years
- Love-in-a-mist – 2 years
- Love-lies-bleeding– 5 years
- Lupin – 2 years
- Madagascar periwinkle – 2 years
- Marigold – 3 years
- Mignonette – 4 years
- Monarda – 7 years
- Morning glory – 3 years
- Moroccan toadflax – 3 years
- Nasturtium – 7 years
- Nemesia – 3 years
- Nicotiana – 5 years
- Nigella – 2 years
- Pansy – 2 years
- Pelargonium – 2 years
- Petunia – 3 years
- Phacelia – 2 years
- Phlox – 2 years
- Pink – 2 years
- Poppy – 5 years
- Portulaca – 3 years
- Salpiglossis – 7 years
- Salvia – 1 year
- Snapdragon – 4 years
- Statice – 3 years
- Strawflower – 2 years
- Summer cypress – 1 year
- Sundrops – 2 years
- Sunflower 3 years
- Sweet alyssum – 4 years
- Sweet pea – 3 years
- Sweet William – 2 years
- Torenia – 2 years
- Verbena – 1 year
- Vinca – 2 years
- Wallflower – 6 years
- Wishbone flower – 2 years
- Yarrow – 4 years
- Zinnia – 6 years
Germination Test
Obviously, the above lists are not exhaustive. If you’re unsure of the viability of any seed, rather than wasting space in the garden on seeds that won’t be germinating, simply do a germination test before you sow. You can find out all about that here.
Good sowing!
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I’m curious about your seed viability listings. Are these “years” based on your own seed harvest, or based on purchased packets of seeds, or compiled from other websites? Thanks!
They are compiled mostly from books about seed storing, some quite extensive, plus a bit of personal experience. They would include both purchased seed and harvested seed: the latter is really not a factor as long as the seeds are stored dry.