Dud Seeds

[SPedigrees]

It's hard to guarantee germination rates. I have read on High Mowing packages Their guaranteed germination and none of them say "100%."

I shouldn't have said 100% since I almost never test out individual seeds. What I meant was that when I sow multiple seeds in a container or patch of ground, multiple plants sprout and grow. Dud seeds for me are when none (or only one or two) sprouts come up out of a handful of seeds planted, and even then do not do well.

 

[Zeedman]

I've found that before I can declare seeds "duds", I need to re-try them as transplants. Especially given that after one failure, I'm usually in rescue mode for the remainder. (I almost always set some seed aside in case of failure.) A pole wax bean last grown in 2015 ("Blue Blockeye") had 0% germination when direct seeded last year, but had 97% germination in pots.

Then again, soybeans which I had tested at 30-50% before planting had VERY poor germination this year when direct seeded - in 2 cases, only a single plant survived! The seed corn fly has proven to cause apparent "duds" even from good seeds. So it appears that going forward, I need to start all legumes in the rural plot from transplants.

Soybeans & sweet peppers seem to have a shorter seed life than most vegetables, those are the only two species where I've had a variety die completely in storage. Other seeds that I once thought to have poor storage life (such as bitter melon, okra, and limas) turned out to have much greater longevity when I saved seed & had total control of storage conditions - hence my previous comments about commercial seed mishandling.

 

[ducks4you]

@SPedigrees , no worries!
I was thinking that maybe we should do some trial and error instead of following accepted "seed starting tips."
Especially if we are getting poor germination and the seeds are still good, as far as we can tell.
One tomato expert starts 20+tomato seeds in small cells, then transplants.
I don't believe that you cannot transplant some plants that "they" say you cannot transplant.
Certainly, if you can get you spade or hand shovel underneath the roots and lift With the soil, you can move a plant from one place to another without incident.
I was simply reporting what my seed packages say, and we KNOW that we can store improperly and ruin the germination rates through mishandling.