hillrunner
PMA Member
I had several bags of Rye left from last year. This was seed I bought in late October for a hail mary attempt at saving some plots after a painfully dry late summer fall had decimated my fall plots. I don't think any of it came up last fall but I chalked that up to it being too late. I stored it in a non-insulated shed right alongside my corn, beans, clover, radishes, turnips, oats, and alfalfa left over from last year.
I started checking plots this weekend and realized none of the rye is germinating. Everything else is up but the rye did nothing. Some seeds are on the surface stuck in the mud with no germination after 2 weeks. I've planted left over rye many times and I've never noticed an issue before, so I didn't think to do a paper towel test. All the other left-over seeds germinated well.
Is rye known to not store well or did I get bad seed last fall? Is it more sensitive to heat than the other seeds? At this point I'm just curious for future seed storage. Expensive seed like switchgrass I store in the cool basement of my house, but I never thought to bring rye in.
I started checking plots this weekend and realized none of the rye is germinating. Everything else is up but the rye did nothing. Some seeds are on the surface stuck in the mud with no germination after 2 weeks. I've planted left over rye many times and I've never noticed an issue before, so I didn't think to do a paper towel test. All the other left-over seeds germinated well.
Is rye known to not store well or did I get bad seed last fall? Is it more sensitive to heat than the other seeds? At this point I'm just curious for future seed storage. Expensive seed like switchgrass I store in the cool basement of my house, but I never thought to bring rye in.