[omnipeasant]

I have a lot of seeds I never planted from as early as 1985 - 2006. do you think it is worth planting them now? Most are in unopened packets. I have already tried some radishes and cress as they will sprout fairly quickly so watch this space. There are carrots, fennel, lettuce, beans and many garden flowers. What do you all think?

[Fleecewife]

It partly depends on just how they have been stored, esp temperature.  Also if they are in foil packets or just paper.   You could do a germination test with a few from each packet, or just sow them and see.  Some seeds are far better at surviving than others - the usual ones quoted are parsnips which need to be fresh every year, compared with tomatoes which can last for years.  Flower seeds tend to last a long time, especially species types, so you have a good chance that some will work.
 
I must tell my OH that someone keeps old seeds even longer than I do 

[Plantoid]

Do a few germination tests.. simply lay a plate on the table and add postage stamp sized squares of kitchen roll or  toilet tissue write a sequential number in a  BIRO type  oil based ink  ( not ink gel pen )   for each packet to be tested .
Gently drip clean cooled boiled water  onto the plate till the  tissue square are well wet . don't over do it and allow the squares to start to float .
 
 Now  put ten seeds from a packet onto a square. Do this with each seed packet till you have covered all seeds you wish to sow .
 Make carefull note of which seeds are sown where ,  then take a picture and  annotate the picture or write a list with the square numbering . 
 
Carefully cover the plate with cling film or a pyrex lid  and slip the lot into a dark warm airing cupboard  look at it each day  for the requreed /suuggewsted  germination times .. any seeds that do germinate you should be able to sow some .. multiply the number of seeds that germinated by ten and you get the percentage of likely germination when you sow . If you get less than 50% I'd be tempted to bin each failed packet.
 Any of unopened hermatically sealed foil packets  can be usually stored for years if unopened  once opened normal deteroration occurs .
 Storing newly opend seeds in a  dry cold air tight jar that contains cold oven browned dried white rice  helps .. lots of folks  store these air tight dried air jars in the fridge for several years and only make quick opening sessions to extract the seeds they need right then , they then seal themup again and put it back in the fridge.
 
If you bung " seed life expectancy times " into the search engine you'll find some very revealing charts that show far longer life times if stored correctly than most seedhouses are willing to admit .

[RUSTYME]

Some wheat was found in an egyptian tomb , said to be a few thousand years old . It was still viable ! I think they grew  some of it too .
So if you stored your seeds in a pyramid , they should be fine !

[Sylvia]

Some of you may know of Kent's Cavern in Torquay. These were used by prehistoric man as shelter. When I was a child they were poorly lit by way of light bulbs here and there and torches where the electricity didn't get to. When they were modernised, as it were, strong lamps were placed all the way alomg them and, lo and behold, prehistoric seeds germinated in their light and warmth. They must have been a fair old age (bit like my seed tin )

[tizaala]

So if you stored your seeds in a pyramid , they should be fine !

Are you implying that Lynda has Pharaohs at the bottom of her garden ?

[omnipeasant]

I have dragons at the bottom of my garden Tizaala.

Wow Plantoid, that is very scientific, I might try a few of the morte important ones but some will just be trial and error.

[RUSTYME]

Tizaala , the pharaoh at the bottom of the garden would most likely be Ramseeds , or his dad Oldseeds !