I'm excited to start planting chili peppers, herbs, and tomatoes on my balcony this spring, but I accidentally left my chili seeds outside all winter in a plastic box, separated into paper bags. I'm wondering if they're still usable or if I should just buy new seeds. Any advice?
3 Answers
In Norway, they've got a seed vault at -18°C to preserve seeds for emergencies. So if your seeds stayed dry, they should be good too! Just give it a go!
As long as your seeds stayed dry, they should be just fine. Freezing temperatures don’t really harm seeds, and they can actually last longer when frozen. Just make sure they didn’t get any moisture.
The best way to find out is to do a little sprouting test. Just dampen a paper towel, place the seeds in it, and put it in a zip lock bag. Keep it somewhere warm and check back in a few weeks; peppers can take their time, sometimes up to 3 weeks, to sprout.