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I recently saved some seeds from the pumpkins I had for decorating this fall. I thought I had them completely dried out and put them in storage bags, but after a couple of weeks some of the seeds have become moldy. Some of the mold is black and some is white fuzzy. Are the seeds still good or need to be thrown away?

Jurp
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user27614
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  • Doesn’t mold grow on natural seeds and help break down the rose hip or other fruit around the seed that provides nutrients for seeds? – Joan Jan 15 '23 at 15:23

3 Answers3

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Wash them in a weak bleach:water (1:10) solution (hydrogen peroxide can be used to kill mold spores, but active mold produces peroxidases that break down peroxide). Then stir them around gently for a minute or so, and then dry them as thoroughly as you had originally intended to. If they aren't too far gone, the hard seed coat will protect the seed inside and you'll have seeds that can germinate and grow. Otherwise you've conducted an experiment that you can report back here and learned one way or the other. You've got nothing to lose.

That Idiot
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If you germinate it with mold, I think it will probably die or not be born healthy. What you can do is remove the bark (be careful with the tip of the seed not to break). If the seed is healthy inside (no mold), you can plant without problems.

alanahere
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Most likely yes you will need to throw them out. The ones with mold on them anyhow. Any of the seeds which are not actually touching the mold can be salvaged. The mold is feeding off of the seeds themselves.

Rob
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