Never know till you try, but chances are the seeds will be too immature. Okra is easy to save seeds when you let the last ones dry on the stalks. White Velvet is an excellent okra.

Recently I was browsing threads about seed viability on the Seed Saving and Winter sowing forums. Someone posted a link with a good table about the viability of various seeds (under ideal storage). According to this table, a few seeds are short-lived, lasting 1 or 2 years, but most last 3-5 years or longer. These figures might even be conservative, as some posters claimed they have used seeds that are 10 years or older. The germination rate may go down, but apparently some still germinate. I store my seeds in Ziploc bags in one of the produce drawers in the Fridge, which seems to maintain viability for a long time. See the link below. Here is a link that might be useful: Longevity of seeds in Ideal storage

Its important to keep them in a cool, dark, dry place. I keep mine in a container in the refrigerator. The germination rate will go down some each year, faster on somethings than others. Onion are said to only be able to be kept for 1 yr, I had a 5 yr old package with about 60 seed so I planted them (just to see) not thinking I would really get anything from them. 14 seeds germinated, thats almost 25%. So I would not count on most germinating when they start getting old, but I would not just discount them. I've also planted 3 15 yr old tomato seeds and had 2 of them germinate. If your using older seed its a little more of a gamble but like the lottery you never know if you don't try it. If more grow than you can use, you can always share. Good gardening, Mary

Nature Girl, I included the link to Ohio State University's fact sheet because I find their stuff pretty reliable. Here it is again for anyone reading this thread from the bottom: OSU Bleach and Hot Water Bath Hey ... some clarification for those who may not have read the fact sheet really closely ... and regarding "10% bleach solution" or other phraseology used above in this thread ... Laundry bleach like Clorox or Purex is a 5.25% solution of sodium hypochlorite in water. When someone says they're using a "10% bleach solution" and then goes on to tell you that's "one part bleach to ten parts water" ... that means they are using roughly a 0.525% sodium hypochlorite solution, which is rather weak for a quick kill of pathogens on the surface of tomato seeds, IMO. And ... they aren't using a "10% solution of sodium hypochlorite" which some folks commonly refer to as "bleach" for swimming pools and spas. If you read the OSU fact sheet closely, you'll see they recommend using 25 ounces (roughly 3 cups) of laundry bleach (at 5.25%) to 100 ounces of water. That conveniently fills a 1-gallon container (1 gallon = 128 fluid ounces). NOTE: OSU also recommends using a fresh batch of bleach solution for each batch of seeds AND they are using the solution at a rate of one gallon PER POUND of seed. I don't think most of us need to be mixing up a gallon of solution :::smile::: so, I suggest you simply mix as you go ... 1 part Clorox or Purex to 4 parts water. BTW, using OSU recommended 1:4, laundry bleach to water, yields 1.3125% sodium hypochlorite solution which is not quite 3 times stronger than 1:10, laundry bleach to water, at 0.525%. One reason I bring these "bleach solution percentages" up, is that swimming pool supply stores, farm supply stores, and home improvement stores sell 10% sodium hypochlorite (bleach) for pools and spas in gallon jugs, and I wouldn't want anyone pouring that directly on seeds or confusing it with a recommended product for seed treatment. Also, I'd like to add a few comments on a few experiences since this thread began ... I bleach-treated a couple thousand fermented Spudakee (Cherokee Purple, PL) seeds with a strong solution of Chlorox and water, 1:3, for five minutes and longer. I found you have to rinse them really good to get all the "slickness" of the bleach off ... actually, I used a squirt of Dawn anti-bacterial dish soap to clean them while rinsing the bleach off in a strainer. That got them really squeaky clean. After two weeks drying, I test germinated 56 seeds and got 48 germinated in 72 hours plus another 4 germinated in the following 2 days. Only four seeds failed to germinate. That's about 93% germination, which I find acceptable. Another method I'm working on is squeezing the seeds directly into a stainless strainer and coating them with a glob of Calgon dishwasher detergent with bleach, letting them sit 30 minutes, and scrubbing them clean. This works particularly well for dry fleshed paste tomatoes that don't have many seeds and don't have sufficient gel and juice to ferment without the addition of water. Note: I haven't test germinated any seeds processed this way yet, and you should be aware that Calgon dishwasher detergent contains significant phosphates. Bill