That's basically 99% viability on corn seed as much as 18 years old. i wouldn't throw anything away until i tried germinating it. i keep all my leftover seeds in sealed plastic bags in the fridge, but the 1996 packet had been moved with me through 3 different addresses.. The following chart will give you a guideline to saving your seeds. many factors will affect the viability such as, the seed�s age, humidity, temperature and light. also, these numbers are minimum years. if the seeds are kept in optimal conditions you could expect much longer storage times. the germination rates usually starts to decline�. V. seed viability. what is seed viability? the viability of the seed accession is a measure of how many seeds are alive and could develop into plants which will reproduce themselves, given the appropriate conditions. table of standard germination test regimes for your genebank..
There are various simple tests for viability. one is to dampen a plain white paper towel and fold it in half, place a few seeds on one half of the towel and fold it in half again over the seeds, enclose it in a zip lock sandwich bag and place it in an environment appropriate to the seed's germination requirements (light, dark, warm, cool, etc.).. Seed viability equation: viability utility (ellis & roberts, 1980) the viability equations were developed from the 1960s onwards and underpin all seed conservation practices. they predict the proportion of seeds in a population that are viable after any period of storage in a wide range of environments and are of use to both seed bank managers. Kris wetherbee shares information about the lifespan and viability of seeds, including the life expectancy of seeds, germination standards and tests, seed storage and the real age of packaged seeds..
