I have always considered birdseed to be non-viable and not really a good candidate to grow at all. But, as usual, curiosity got the better of me and I decides to try a little experiment. I had a bag of birdseed that was fairly inexpensive, and I wondered why the cost was lower than what I usually purchase. And now, I know why, but more about that in a minute. There were the four varieties shown in the photo and it also had cracked corn. But, the corn was so small that there were no kernels to plant so it was excluded from the experiment. I planted 5 seeds of each variety in potting mix. Although 5 seeds is not statistically significant, it was not the percentage that I was interested in, but the actual viability. So, from the photos below it is clear that birdseed will grow and is somewhat viable. As to the cost? From the research I discovered that the Milo seed has almost no nutritional value for birds and is used as a filler. It is almost 40% of the seed that I have. That is why it is cheaper than the better seed. So, check the contents for Milo and buy accordingly. The time from planting to the second photo is 16 days. Time to tweet!
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