Old seed — sow, thicken, or replace
Enter one packet: crop, age in years, how it was stored, and a towel test if you already started one. You get a plain verdict — sow as planned, sow thicker, test 10 seeds before you buy more, or replace the packet — plus a rough germination band for that crop and age. Bands are wide on purpose. A finished paper-towel test beats the chart.
Calm framing: most vegetable seed is taught as useful for about 1–3 years if it stayed cool and dry. Onion and parsnip run shorter. Tomato and cucumber-family seed (including squash) often run longer. None of that is a guarantee for the envelope in your hand.
Cool-and-dry home bands
Use this only as a starting picture for seed kept in a cool dry jar. A room envelope shortens it. A hot garage shortens it more. A fridge matches the cool jar only when the packet stays dry — a damp fridge molds seed. Parsnip is not a button below; treat it like onion.
| Crop | Cool-dry band people are taught | Plain reading |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | About 1 year | Shorter than most veg. Parsnip matches this, not the 1–3 year cluster. |
| Corn | About 1–2 years | Sweet corn fades faster than beans. |
| Pepper | About 2 years | Edge of the ordinary window. |
| Bean, pea, lettuce | About 1–3 years | The usual “most vegetable seed” cluster if cool and dry. |
| Tomato, squash | About 4–5 years | Longer. Squash sits with cucumber-family seed. |
| Other | About 1–3 years | Unless it is parsnip, parsley, or onion — then use the short band. |
Storage moves the band. Cool dry jar or a dry fridge: use the table. Room envelope: expect a shorter life. Unknown: do not assume the jar was cool. Hot garage: assume heat already spent a lot of the packet.