old seeds

[northstate]

Great topic and I am curious about how it goes. Just was gifted about a hundred old bag seeds that werent kept very well and so far germ rates are pretty low. Distilled water sounds good I will soak a few and try that. Good luck and I hope it works out. NS

 

[Leaf]

ok to update it has been about 72 hours.. 3 out of approximately 50 seeds have cracked (6 different types)...which is pretty good considering the youngest seeds are about 7 years old. I have them in moist paper towel in a small rubbermaid container ontop of my cable box where temps are warm. The top is just placed over the container covering 90-95% of the opening.

I noticed the paper towel is starting to get a slight bit of a funky smell, so I got rid of most of the moisture and added new water with a very mild solution of 'no damp'. Not sure if that is the right thing to do, but I did it anyway.

Will update as things progress.

 

[Chomp]

That's awesome Leaf....one of those 3 might be a real gem resurrected. I don't know what 'no damp' is so I can't comment on that. I've germinated apple and orange seeds that took over a week before with that method. The cloth gets a little funky smelling but it doesn't seem to hurt the seeds at all...

Here's to more popping

Chomp

 

[mrwags]

Ok so I am looking for suggestions, tips, and perhaps any odd ball advice on starting up old seeds with low germination rates. Maybe we can make this into a thread with a lot of different techniques.

Share your ideas.

Get a small matchbook and take the matches out of it. Now cut 2 pieces of sandpaper the size of the matchbox and put one on the top and one on the bottom. Drop the beans in and shake the shit out of them to rough up that hard shell she has gotten then soak them till they sink 24-48 hours and then paper towel and like I always say use a heat pad the heat will increase your chances 10 fold easy.


My Penny
Mr.Wags

 

[Leaf]

ok another week has past and I've had 6 seeds crack and grow tails which I've transplanted into soil, some of my old breeding stock from 1995. I'm hoping they'll grow a nice tap root and sprout the surface, at this point they should.

as for the other seeds, it appears as though 2-3 old original Legends Ultimate Indica's are cracking. 2-3 original white rhino x ak47's are cracking, these last seeds I recieved from So Quick several years ago.

I dropped a half dozen old original Serious Chronic's, fairly large seeds, which look as though they've gotten even more swollen. I attempted to pick one up with tweezers and it squished very easily, same with the second one I attempted to pick up. I'm leaving the other four to see what happens, either they are rotting or hopefully they're preparing to split.

the rest still appear to be dormant and very hard. I'm thinking next time I attempt to germ some old seeds I will try an experiment and dampen them down with a water solution mixed with a wetting agent, perhaps this way moisture will have an easier time penetrating the shell.

I've also got some gibberellic acid on order from the local store.

 

[Leaf]

I don't know what 'no damp' is so I can't comment on that.

no damp is a product with a fungicide for preventing damping off of small seedlings. very good product but I believe is pulled off the shelves from the public, perhaps now used for commercial agricultrial only. great product.

http://www.plant-prod.ca/product_e.php?id=370&category=81

http://pr-rp.pmra-arla.gc.ca/PR_SOL/pr_web.ve1?p_ukid=12092

 

[303hydro]

I always say use a heat pad the heat will increase your chances 10 fold easy.


My Penny
Mr.Wags

What he said.

 

[Chomp]

Oh wow man...are you the same Leaf from OG? Since you mentioned So Quick I recognized your handle...you gave out some great info and helped a lot of growers over there; if you are one and the same....then thank you!

Chomp

 

[Leaf]

~

 

[Chomp]

Hey how are the old seeds doing Leaf?

Chomp

 

[Hell9]

Man seeing your name is a blast from the past leaf,Hope you been doing well m8.And all is good your ways .The last lot of seeds i poped where 15 year old seeds and i just used a wet paper towel .just made sure it was moist and never to wet and i did not let it dry out ,after 5 or 6 days they all poped They did take longer to crack than some newer ones but even after all that time they all popped out sound .

To the oldies with the 15+ yr old seeds - how did you store those seeds in the mean time? Freezer/tupperware?

 

[Leaf]

Hey how are the old seeds doing Leaf?

Chomp

many of them cracked, but only the one variety grew tails. Of those few, only two sprouted when planted.

 

[Chomp]

Ah sorry to hear that Leaf...are you still growing out the two that sprouted?

Chomp

 

[Leaf]

of the two that sprouted, one broke the soil surface and was a pale yellow color.. it obviously didn't make it. the other one is very healthy and a few inches tall, hopefully it will be a female.

i intend to start another bunch of seeds again soon, we'll see what happens the next time.

 

[DocLeaf]

sow old seeds directly into compost.. water in well, place in a warm place and leave to let nature happen. old seeds often grow better outside than in paper towels and other un-natural methods IME

hope this helps