WILL 15 YEAR OLD ZINNIA SEEDS GERMINATE AND BLOOM

I’ve conducted a little experiment after going through my spring seed stash and finding very old, 15 year old, zinnia seeds.  The question I had is, Will They Germinate and Bloom? The answer is YES and boy did they!  I have a beautiful, full, colorful cut garden blooming. 

Every year I go through my seeds and start my veggies inside under grow light. I normally reserve most of my garden space for seeds but this year I discovered an old batch of zinnia seeds that I just never got around to planting, so I thought what the heck I’d give them a go and see what happens.

Last year I grew zucchini in this spot and had a horrible problem with squash beetles so I knew I wouldn’t be using it this year for growing any food. Once there’s an infestation it’s good to not plant in that area the following year. Especially not planting the same crop that was infested. I broke my rule and dumped those 15 year old zinnia seeds into this 4X4 raised garden bed.

I truly figured nothing would germinate, or at most a few seeds. All of a sudden I noticed my chickens wanted to be in that bed pecking around so I knew the seeds must have been coming up. Sure enough they were and in abundance. Now I had to keep the chickens out of the bed so I fenced it in. I know it’s not very pretty but if you’ve ever had chickens it’s a must.

I was so happy I decided to give the seeds a chance rather than just throw them into my compost bin. I now can harvest new seeds to grow next year, cut fresh blooms for the house, and just enjoy the colorful show every time I walk out to my garden or chicken coop 🙂