Expiration Date vs Germination Rate

Expiration Date Vs Germination Rate

Seeds do not have an expiration date, technically even though it is the law to put on the pack "Packed For". If stored correctly, they can last hundreds of years. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is one such place.

What seeds do have is a germination rate. This rate is figured by taking a sample of the seeds and planting them in a controlled lab, with the perfect environment, in order to find out how many seeds will germinate out of the sample. From this a rate is determined.

If I plant 18 seeds (which is what we usually do when we test germination rate) and 15 come up, then we say that we have a germination rate of 83%.

We say our seeds will have a germination rate of about 80%. Usually we have a rate of 90% or better. A few things like rosemary and stevia are less but we say it on the listing.

Seeds do not expire but their germination rate, also called virility rate, does decline. You may have noticed that some varieties of seeds were not available this year (2021).

This is because they sold out in 2020 and breeders have to grow more. They will forecast and say that over the next number of years they will sell x number of seeds. They will grow enough to provide the demand for the next x number of years. 

Then they will monitor the harvested crop by doing germination tests. Once the germination test drops below a certain point, they will grow more.

If the variety sells out before more are grown and harvested, then we have what we have been seeing for the first time in years--zero inventory. They do not grow every variety every year.

But they have no idea when they will hit this germination rate that is below standard. While there is a science behind it, it is not an exact science. And if something happens to the crop, then it will be even longer to get more stock. 

The Fortex Pole Bean was one of these. The demand was way more than the supply in 2020. It ran out before a new crop could be grown.

Then the new crop was a failure so it was going to be even longer before the Fortex seed is available. It was available once again in 2024.

We buy from reputable companies and pay a higher price for them just to make sure our customers are getting the best seeds available.

We do all of our own packing, in house. We don't send our seeds overseas to have them packed and then shipped back to us. There are several name brand seed companies doing this now. I will not say who they are but they grow in places such as India, Kenya and Jamaica just to name a few.

I hope this clears up some of the confusion out there.