About 3 weeks ago, I planted radish seeds that were almost 20 years old. I was not aware of how old this batch of seeds were, and only realized it after the fact. Next to them, I planted seeds that were packed for the 2017 season.
The seeds on the bottom portion are the 2017 seeds, while the seeds on the top portion are from 1998. 21 days into this 'accidental experiment', we can clearly see which seed is winning:
The seeds packed for this year are coming in very consistently, while the seeds for the 1998 are barely sprouting. There are a few scattered here and there, but the difference between the two seeds is significant.
On another note, I had planted a decent amount of the 1998 crop in my primary garden plot in my backyard. This plot was also fairly spotty, and took a while to sprout up. However, I harvested my first bunch of radishes from this early season planting, and the ones that did grow were delicious, 20 year old seeds not withstanding.
The radish time machine works!
