Home Page Hard Times Survival Hard Times Recipes Gourmet Recipes Healthy Recipes Gardening Tips Firearm Facts Economy Book Reviews
Wilderness Survival Christian Poems Bible & Prophecy Bible Truths Other Information Children Stories Product Links Search Website Español Spanish My Books

15 Year Shelf Life Experiment on Fruit and Vegetable Seeds

 Copyright © 1, 2025 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.

Introduction

A series of experiments were conducted to determine the average germination potential of fruit and vegetable seeds that had been in storage for between 1 to 15 years.

Discussion

Growing fruit and vegetables requires the following:
  1. Seed Germination or Sprouting: Seeds will germinate if the following two conditions are met:
    • Warmth: Most seeds will germinate (sprout) at temperatures between 60°F to 75°F (15°C or 24°C).
    • Moisture: Seeds also require water to germinate.

  2. Growth into a Mature Fruit or Vegetable: After a seed has germinated the seed also requires the following to grow into a mature plant:
    • Suitable Soil: The soil must contain the type of nutrients required for the plant to grow. The exact combination and quantity of nutrients depends on the type of food being grown.
    • Sunlight: Most fruits and vegetables require full sun. Not enough sun or too much sun can cause problems.
    • Water: The plants require an adequate amount of moisture to maximize their output. Too much water or not enough water will cause problems.
    • Environment: Some plants have unique climate requirements for their growth.
    • Time: The growing season must be long enough for the plant to reach maturity.
In this experiment I did not attempt to grow the sprouted seeds into a mature plant. I was only interested in determining if the seeds would germinate. The reason I focused on germination is because if a seed will not germinate then the seed will not be able to grow into a mature plant. Therefore germination is the first step in being able to successfully grow food. If your seeds won't germinate then you will not be able to grow food.

Seed Acquisition Options

American Seed Packets There are a variety of ways to acquire seeds:
  1. Small Seed Packets: These are available in the seed display racks at many stores in the early spring.

  2. Bulk Seeks: These are available at some garden supply stores, and at some hardware stores, in the early spring. The seeds are sold by weight and the seeds are transferred from their bulk storage container into a small paper bag based on how much seed you wish to purchase of a specific type and variety of seed.

  3. Online Retailers: The seeds are available for sale all year with a few exceptions.

  4. Seeds From the Food You Eat: Some seeds are inside the foods you buy at the grocery store. You can remove, dry, and save those seeds. However, you may or may not know the exact variety of food that you are buying (such as the exact variety of cucumber that you are buying).

  5. Harvest Your Own Seeds: If you plant and grow a specific type of food then you may be able to harvest the seeds from that food at the end of the growing season. And you will know exactly what type of seed you have if you only planted one variety of that food in your garden so that there was no cross-fertilization between different varieties.

Seed Storage Containers

Each type and variety of seed needs to be stored inside its own container.

The most common types of storage containers are the following:
  1. Moisture Resistant Seed Packets; Most of the seeds that are sold in stores are inside a special packet that has a coating on the outside of the packet that prevents the natural moisture (humidity) that is in the air from making contact with the outside of the seed. This helps the seed to hibernate because the seed does not receive the external moisture that it must have in order to germinate.

  2. Ordinary Paper Bags or Paper Envelopes: Seeds that are purchased in bulk, or seeds that you harvest yourself, are usually put inside a paper bag or a paper envelope that does not have a moisture resistant exterior coating. The bag or envelope keeps the seed in the dark. Darkness helps the seed to remain dormant. In order to identify the type of seed that is inside the bag the following information should be handwritten on the outside of the bag:
    • Type of seed (such as tomato).
    • Variety of seed (such as Roma).
    • Date the seed was acquired (such as March 12, 2025).

  3. Heavy-Duty Freezer Zipper Plastic Bags: Moisture resistant seed packets, paper bags, and paper envelopes should be stored inside a heavy-duty zipper plastic bag. One zipper bag can contain lots of individually sealed seed packets. Plastic zipper bags help to keep moisture away from the seed packets and this helps to extend the shelf life of the seeds. However, the seeds should be stored in a refrigerator and not in a freezer.

  4. Clear Glass Jars with a Lid: If the seeds are placed inside a transparent glass jar then light can pass through the glass and the light can make contact with the seeds. Exposure to light will encourage the seeds to germinate. Therefore seeds should not be put inside a clear glass jar.

  5. Clear Plastic Storage Containers with an Airtight Lid: Clear plastic storage containers have the same problems as clear glass jars and seeds should not be stored in them.

  6. Dark Glass Jars or Dark Plastic Storage Containers: If you have a lot of seeds then these containers are acceptable if they prevent light and fresh air from entering the container.

  7. Vacuum Sealing: A vacuum puts the seeds in constant stress. The vacuum gradually pulls the moisture that is inside the seeds out of the seeds. This will result in the seeds more quickly losing their internal moisture and the seeds will die. I have never recommended vacuum sealing seeds.

Seed Storage Options

Seeds are harvested at the end of a growing season. The seeds are dried and stored until the next growing season.

The way the seeds are stored can have a significant impact on the ability of the seeds to germinate when they are removed from storage.

Seeds can be stored in any of the following ways:
  1. At Room Temperature: This is the traditional way to store seeds and this is the method that is mentioned in all of the gardening books that I have purchased. If you store your seeds at room temperature then you will be exposing the seeds to the temperature they need to germinate. And the seeds will very, very gradually lose the small amount of moisture that is inside each seed that keeps the seed alive. In other words, if you store your seeds at room temperature then you will be exposing your seeds to warmth and this is one of the two things that seeds need to germinate. The seeds will not be dormant and they will be patiently waiting for the moisture they need to germinate. And the warmth of the air will very gradually extract the small amount of moisture that is inside the seeds and the seeds will gradually dehydrate and die.

  2. In the Refrigerator: In the year 2006 I began to store my freshly acquired seeds in the bottom of my refrigerator. Since the seeds were in a cold environment the seeds automatically entered their natural dormant hibernation state and the seeds did not gradually lose their internal moisture with each passing year.

  3. In the Freezer: Although some of my friends store their seeds in their freezer, I have never done this. The reason is because seeds are living organisms. Seeds can become "freezer burned" and the seeds can gradually lose their moisture in the same way that other foods in a freezer will gradually lose their moisture. Freezing can cause the small amount of moisture that is inside a seed to expand and this may cause a very small almost invisible crack in the exterior shell of the seed. If this happens then the small amount of moisture that is inside the seed can more easily escape during the normal automatic defrosting cycles of the freezer. If the internal moisture inside a seed drops below 5% then the seed will not be able to germinate.

History of My Seed Shelf Life Experiments

Prior to the year 2006 I stored my surplus seeds at room temperature inside my home in my bedroom closet. The seed envelopes that I had purchased frequently contained more seeds that I could plant in my home garden and I decided I would save those extra seeds instead of discarding them. However, I noticed that the germination ability of my stored seeds gradually declined with the passing years. Many of my seeds lost their ability to germinate after 4 or 5 years. Almost all of my seeds that were more than 8 years old would not germinate at all.

Therefore, in the year 2006 I decided to begin storing my extra seeds in my refrigerator.

In the year 2014 I decided to conduct a germination experiment on some of the seeds I had stored in my refrigerator. In 2014 I published the results of my seed germination experiment on my website and in my books.

In the year 2018, and again in the year 2021, I conducted additional germination experiments on the seeds in my refrigerator and I published those results on my website and in my books.

In the year 2025 I conducted additional germination experiments on the seeds in my refrigerator. The results of all of my germination experiments since the year 2014 are shown below. And I have also added the following information to two of my books.

My 15 Year Shelf Life Study
on 14 Different Types of Seeds

My 15 year seed germination experiment had the following five objectives:
  1. To determine the germination impact of storing seeds in heavy-duty zipper plastic bags in a normal home refrigerator.

  2. To determine the germination percentages of different types of seeds, such as beets and corn, over a 15 year period.

  3. To determine if different varieties of a specific type of seed, such as Beefsteak Tomato or Roma Tomato, had better or worse germination results after several years in storage.

  4. To determine if the seeds from any of the major seed companies had better or worse seeds when their seeds were compared based on their germination percentages as time passed.

  5. To determine if presoaking seeds in water, or presoaking in a hydrogen peroxide solution, had any impact on the germination of seeds.
The table below summarizes the results of my 15 year germination experiment on seeds.

Specific details about the different varieties of seed and the different seed companies are at the end of this article.

* * * * * * *

Germination Percentages for Different Types of Fruit and Vegetable Seeds Based on their Age
All seeds were stored in their original packages and
also inside a heavy-duty zipper plastic bag in the refrigerator at 40ºF (4.4ºC).

Age of
Seeds =		New1
Year Old		2 Years Old3 Years Old4 Years Old5 Years Old6 Years Old7 Years Old8 Years Old9 Years Old10 Years Old11 Years Old12 Years Old13 Years Old14 Years Old15 Years OldAverage %
Beans100%88%93%97% 96%96%100%100%99%92%96%100%100%93%97%- 96%
Beets97%83%91%92% 85%96%100%88%81%100%90%92%71%76%70%84%87%
Carrots72%77%73%73%41%77%72%90%64%58%83%92%81%71%62%73%72%
Corn100%97%99%98%97%90%95%97%100%98%100%100%80%82%100%75%94%
Cucumbers96%100%100%100%100%90%92%100%100%92%100%98%100%100%94%-97%
Lettuce98%91%99%92%94%96%88%96%80%74%74%71%32%52%37%-78%
Okra96%98%96%93%89%96%96%84%88%79%85%94%95%89%89%-91%
Onions80%81%73%79%69%90%76%78%76%70%65%67%52%-23%78%70%
Radish100%100%100%99%100%100%100%100%92%100%100%97%98%100%98%88%98%
Spinach57%91%46%78%77%61%52%48%57%51%64%63%-40%15%-57%
Squash80%91%85%100%75%93%100%94%100%92%93%85%100%86%84%-91%
Tomatoes96%77%88%97%95%100%96%100%92%93%97%85%100%96%89%60%91%
Turnips93%98%97%96%100%100%100%100%100%100%81%97%82%96%97%71%94%
Watermelons94%96%92%91%85%82%100%90%85%93%96%85%--75%-90%
Yearly Average90%91%88%92%86%91%90%90%87%85%87%88%83%82%74%76%86%

The above is based on 288 different samples that contained a total of more than 10,600 seeds. (- indicates no seeds were tested.)
The 288 different samples were collected in the years 2014, 2018, 2021, and 2025 and then consolidated into the above table.
The 14 different types of seeds that were tested are listed in the left column of the above table.
The samples included 62 different varieties of seeds that were packaged and sold by 12 different seed companies.

Information About the Data in the Above Summary Table

  1. Cold Storage: All the seeds were stored in their original paper packages and also inside a heavy-duty zipper plastic bag in my home refrigerator at 40ºF (or 4.4ºC).

  2. Individual Percentages: All the percentages, except for the averages, are based on the number of seeds that germinated divided by the total number of seeds of that age and that type of vegetable.

  3. Average Percentages: The average percentages on the right of the table and at the bottom of the table are the simple averages for each of the rows and each of the columns.

  4. Different Seed Companies: There was no significant difference in the germination percentages of the seeds packaged by different seed companies.

  5. Different Varieties of the Same Type of Seed: There was no significant difference in the germination percentages of the different varieties of seeds of the same type of vegetable, such as different varieties of beans or different varieties of corn. Some of the results of 99% or 100% include tests on 2 or more different varieties of seed of the same vegetable in the same year.

  6. Presoak in Water: Although it is not shown separately in the above table, presoaking some of the seeds for one-hour had no impact on the final germination percentage of the seeds. However, presoaking did result in a slightly higher germination rate during the first two days of germination but by the third or fourth day the seeds that had not been presoaked had total germination rates equivalent to the seeds that had been presoaked.
    • Immediate Planting: If you will be immediately planting the seeds in some dirt after the one-hour presoak then the presoak may quicken the growth of a few of the seeds into healthy seedlings. However, presoaking the bigger seeds for one-hour, such as corn, can encourage more of the seeds to germinate after planting.
    • Delayed Planting: If you intend to continue soaking the seeds until most of them germinate and then you will plant the seeds in some dirt, then a one-hour presoak will not increase the total germination rate of the seeds.

  7. Presoak in Hydrogen Peroxide: Some "older" seeds were presoaked in pure water and some were presoaked in hydrogen peroxide solutions of 10%, 50%, and 100% hydrogen peroxide. Although not shown separately in the above table, hydrogen peroxide had no impact on the older seeds in the different samples that were tested.
    • The seeds that were not presoaked and the seeds that were presoaked in a 100% water solution had a final average germination rate of 78%.
    • The seeds that were presoaked in one of the three solutions that contained 10%, 50%, or 100% hydrogen peroxide had a final average germination rate of 78%.
    Based on this experiment the use of hydrogen peroxide does not change the germination rate of seeds.

  8. Low Germination Rates: Carrots, onions, and spinach consistently had lower germination percentages each year.

  9. Age of Seeds: Seed germination rates very gradually declined as they aged, with a few exceptions. This is reflected in the bottom row of data in the above table that shows the average germination percent for each year.

  10. Random Fluctuations: Occasionally the germination rate for a specific type of seed went down in one year and then back up the next year. A careful examination of all the original data revealed that this was due to random factors that would not consistently repeat themselves in future tests. In other words, future tests would also contain a few random exceptions but those exceptions would be for seeds of different ages and packaged by different seed companies.

  11. Final Results: The average germination percentage for all the seeds in any one year (bottom row of table) ranged from a low of 74% to a high of 92%. This suggests that seeds can be stored in heavy-duty zipper plastic bags in the refrigerator for up to 15 years and their germination percentage will only decline a little each year on the average. Therefore there is no reason to discard old seeds if they have been consistently stored in a humidity controlled environment (heavy-duty zipper bag) at a low temperature in the average home refrigerator.
The above data documents that fruit and vegetable seeds will retain their germination potential for a longer period of time if the seeds are stored in a refrigerator when compared to storing the seeds at room temperature. The above data cannot be used to predict the exact germination percentage for a specific type of seed of a specific age due to the number of different variables that cannot be controlled. In other words, a future germination test for any type of seed of any age will not exactly match the percentage shown in the above table. A future germination test will probably yield a percent that is a little higher or a little lower than the percent shown in the above table and this should be expected (based on the variability of the normal distribution). However, based on the above data, a reasonable percentage of all seeds should still germinate if they are consistently stored in a refrigerator until you are ready to actually plant the seeds.

It should also be mentioned that seeds will have their maximum germination potential when they are first purchased. The seeds may have a high, average, or low germination percentage when the seeds are first purchased based on a number of different variables that you will have no control over. Storing the seeds in a refrigerator will help to preserve their original germination percentage but storing seeds in a refrigerator will not increase the germination percentage of the seeds.

The Different Seed Companies

There was no significant difference in the germination percentages of the seeds packaged by the different seed companies, or in the seeds that I harvested and dried in different years from my own vegetable garden. In other words, the germination results of the seeds sold by the different seed companies were approximately equal.

Each seed company is in a different geographical area and the weather in their specific area impacts the vitality of the seeds they harvest each year. In other words, if the weather is great in their area then the seeds they harvest that year will be strong and healthy and the seeds will retain their germination ability for a very long time. But if the weather is bad then the seeds that are harvested that year will be weak and puny and the seeds will more quickly lose whatever germination ability they have. Weather is a random variable and it impacts all the different seed companies in a unique way each year. In other words, a seed company may have great weather and great seeds one year, and that same exact seed company may have bad weather and bad seeds the next year. This means that no seed company will always have the best seeds or the worst seeds to sell each year. This became obvious to me as I did my seed shelf life experiment because each seed company had some years where their seeds germinated the best but they also had some years where their seeds had the lowest germination results. Therefore I cannot recommend any seed company as being consistently better or worse than any other seed company. This variable also influenced the up and down germination rates of seeds in the different years.

Recommendation

Purchase a few seeds in the spring of each year and put the seed packages inside a heavy-duty zipper plastic bag. Write the year on the zipper bag with a permanent black marker, and then store the seeds in your refrigerator. In my opinion, this is a better option than buying pre-packaged seeds from a survival company for the following reasons:
  1. You can buy more seeds for less money when compared to the pre-packaged seed assortments sold by survival companies.

  2. You can buy the exact varieties of seed you desire, such Golden Bantam Heirloom Corn.

  3. You will know exactly what types of seeds you have, and you will know much of each seed you have in reserve for a hard times event.

  4. The seeds will not require a lot of storage space so you can keep them in the bottom compartment of your refrigerator and this will help to significantly extend their shelf life for many, many years.
If a significant hard times event occurs then having an reasonable assortment of seeds in your refrigerator will significantly increase the chances your family will survive for the following reasons:
  1. Heirloom seeds will allow you to grow food so you can continue to feed your family after all your emergency food has been eaten.

  2. Heirloom seeds will produce seeds that are identical to the original seed so you can continue to feed your family year, after year, after year. Hybrid vegetable seeds do not produce seeds that match the original vegetable.

  3. Seeds are relatively small and they weigh very little and they could be easily taken with you if you are forced to evacuate your home.

  4. You should purchase heirloom (or open pollinated) seeds from a minimum of two different seed companies each year to increase the chance of getting some very healthy seeds from at least one of those companies based on the germination percent of the seeds they package and sell that particular year. In other words, if you plan to purchase a total of 20 packages of seeds, then don't purchase all 20 packages of seeds from the same seed company. Instead purchase a few packages of seeds from at least two or more different seed companies, such as American Seed, Burpee, or Ferry-Morse. (Note: Compare the gram weight of the seed packages from different seed companies to determine their true value. American Seed packages are a lot cheaper but they also contain a lot fewer seeds than the seed packages of the more expensive brands.)

  5. Dry beans, such as pinto beans, can be purchased in a one-pound plastic bag at many grocery stores for about one dollar in the year 2025. If you have limited storage space in your refrigerator then open the bag and remove about 50 of the beans and put those beans in a small envelope and write the name of the beans, the source of the beans, and the year you purchased the beans on the outside of the envelope. Then include the envelope of dry beans in your heavy-duty plastic zipper bag with the seeds you purchased from different seed companies, such as Ferry-Morse.

Additional Details about the Seeds in this Experiment

The seeds that were tested in this experiment were purchased from Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware, dollar stores, and internet websites.

The seeds were packaged by the following 12 different seed companies: American Seed, Burpee, Ferry-Morse, Great Value (dry beans), Knoxville Seeds, Laura Lynn (dry beans), Livingston, NK Lawn & Garden, Sand Mountain, Seed Saver's Exchange, Select (dry beans), and Southern Charm.

In addition, I occasionally harvested, dried, labeled, and stored seeds that I grew in my own vegetable garden. Some of my dried seeds were included in this experiment. I did not detect any significant difference between the shelf lives of my seeds when compared to the seeds of the same variety that were packaged by the major seed companies.

The 62 different varieties of seeds that were tested in this experiment were:
  1. Beans: Black (or Turtle), Contender, Great Northern, Harvester, Kidney, Lima, Navy, and Pinto.
  2. Beets: Detroit Dark Red, Ruby Queen, Sugar.
  3. Carrots: Chantenay Red Cored, Chantenay Royal, Danvers 126, Danvers Half Long, Little Finger, Scarlet Nantes.
  4. Corn: Blue Hopi, Golden Bantam, Early Golden Bantam, Reid's Yellow Dent, Stowell's Evergreen White.
  5. Cucumbers: Marketmore, Marketplace, Muncher, National Pickling, Poinsett, Straight Eight, Tendergreen.
  6. Lettuce: Black Seeded Simpson, Great Lakes, Iceberg, Romaine.
  7. Okra: Clemson Spineless.
  8. Onions: Texas Grano, Evergreen Bunching, Red Creole, Southport White Globe, Sweet Spanish Yellow Utah Jumbo, White Lisbon Bunching.
  9. Radish: Black Spanish, Cherry Belle, Sparkler, White Globe.
  10. Spinach: Bloomsdale Long Standing, Giant Noble, Satin.
  11. Squash: Burgess Buttercup, Dark Green Zucchini, Early Bush Scallop, Early Yellow Straightneck, Table Queen, Waltham Butternut.
  12. Tomatoes: Beefsteak, Golden Queen, Large Red Cherry, Roma, Roma VF.
  13. Turnip: Golden Ball, Purple Top White Globe.
  14. Watermelons: Crimson Sweet, Sugar Baby.

Summary

A brief summary of the information in the above article is as follows:
  1. Seeds need to be stored in a cold environment to significantly extend their shelf life. A normal home refrigerator is perfect for seeds. The temperature of the refrigerator should be between 36ºF to 42ºF (or 2.2ºC to 5.6ºC)

  2. Seeds should be stored in the dark. If seeds are stored inside their original paper envelope then light will not touch the seeds even when the refrigerator light is temporarily on.

  3. Seeds need to be stored in a low humidity environment so they cannot absorb moisture while they are in storage. Most of the seeds that are sold in stores are sealed inside coated paper envelopes that protect the seeds from moisture. In addition, storing packaged seeds in a heavy-duty zipper plastic bag protects the seeds and the packages from moisture inside the refrigerator.

  4. Seeds are living organizations and they need to be stored in a limited amount of atmosphere to stay alive and they should not be vacuum sealed. Storing seeds in their original packages and inside a heavy-duty zipper plastic bag achieves this objective.

Conclusion

Before I published the results of my first seed germination experiment in the year 2014 I did a comprehensive internet search to determine what was being recommended for the storage of vegetable seeds. No website on the internet recommended storing seeds in the refrigerator in the spring of the year 2014. I also carefully examined my entire collection of approximately thirty "gardening" and "seed saving" books and none of my books recommended storing seeds in the refrigerator.

In April of the year 2025 I did another comprehensive internet search and every website that I found still reports that vegetable seeds should be stored in a "dry, dark, and cool area" and that vegetable seeds will have a shelf life of between 1 to 5 years depending on the type of seed, such as corn or onion. A few websites reported a maximum seed shelf life of 3 years. None of the websites had any actual data to support their recommendations. It appeared to me that every website was simply reporting the same "published" seed shelf life data that every other website was reporting and that no website was interested in proving or disproving any of this widely accepted "published" seed shelf life data. The reason is because it is really easy to simply copy the seed shelf life information from another source and then arrange that data in the type of table (or list) that is normally used by the author of that website.

The seed shelf life information in this article is based on actual experiments that I personally conducted based on more the 10,600 seeds that had been in storage in a refrigerator for between 1 to 15 years.

I strongly recommend storing your fruit and vegetable seeds in a refrigerator. And I strongly recommend that you do not discard your seeds after 3 years or after 5 years.

Respectfully,
Grandpappy.

Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com

Home Page Other Articles