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["Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>]

If the odor is that strong, I'd toss the seeds.  Stuff is shipped together 
and then sit in the backroom/warehouse with/next to/on/under all kinds of 
"crap."  About 10 years ago I bought some seeds at my handy dandy feed store 
and when I got them home I noticed the one corner of about four of the 
packages looked like it had gotten wet.  I called the store and the guy who 
answered said "oh, guess those were next to the Oust that leaked" like it 
was no big deal.

I either save seed or buy it over the net or from catalogs. So far, that 
way, I haven't ended up with any more weird seed packet's.

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "EarthNSky" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>


> I just found a coffee can full of OP/heirloom seeds that I grew and
> saved from 1998.  They aren't molded or anything and have been in my
> closet all this time.  Assuming I plant them, what kind of germination
> should I expect from seeds that old...it's a variety of stuff,
> everything from corn to tomatoes to cukes and squash...
> Also, I went to the feed store today to get some black oil sunflower
> seeds and I noticed that they had already put out some 2007 seed.  Since
> I have a newfound love of okra, I decided to buy some Clemson
> Spineless-the old standby (I already have dwarf and red types) to grow
> this summer.  So, I bought some and they packaged it in a small "mayo
> seeds" envelope.  The seeds had been loose, then weighed and packaged.
> So I brought them home and tossed them on the counter when I came in,
> went about doing other stuff, then went outside to burn trash.  When I
> came back in, I got a whiff of what smelled like the garden department
> at Home Depot.  I have named this smell, the Ortho odor,,,,and that is
> what I had smelled.  Well, obviously, this smell is not usual for my
> house as my house smells like dogs and cigarettes<g>, so I look around
> and finally pick up and sniff the okra seeds...yup...Ortho odor...
> I thought back and recalled that the seed display was right next to the
> garden area where all kinds of chemicals are located.  So my question
> is,,,,should I toss the seeds, I mean, if I can smell Ortho, then
> there's gotta be traces on the seed, right?  Or maybe, it's not the
> seed, but the package, and again, should I repackage the seed or toss
> them?  What say ye..