I am pretty sure there are already threads related to this, but I can't find them! I recently germinated some older (got them 6-7 years ago) seeds in soilless mix and got horrible results. I usually get good results this way, like 90% plus. I remember something about soaking in water (for 24 hours?) or hydrogen peroxide (how much water to how much peroxide?), scuffing (how exactly do you scuff something so small?).... are there other remedies as well? I will not use the paper towel method, I tried it a couple times and never worked. For me, directly into soiless mix into a plug tray has always worked well. thanks
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Germinating old seeds?
- Thread starter Red Fang
- Start date
headees
Active member
I had some 3-4 year old serious AK seeds that I soaked for 24 hours in a cup of ph'd h20 with a few drops of peroxide. Then planted directly into soil. Got 8 of 9 to pop(Not sure if I started with 9-10 seeds lol) one was a runt and never made it past a few days.
Pretty good I guess.
Pretty good I guess.
take some fine sand paper and put it in a matchbox or other small container. shake for a couple of minutes.
put them into water for 12 to 24 hours at room temperature.
plant/germinate them using your favorite method. keep them close to the surface if planting straight into growing medium.
put them into water for 12 to 24 hours at room temperature.
plant/germinate them using your favorite method. keep them close to the surface if planting straight into growing medium.
Chek out 'just gifted some seeds' by supermanlives. I to dum to link
thanks headees, and that sounds pretty good to me too.
thanks also explosiv, that should help. (edit: thanks also paladin, too dumb to find things here but will try)
This was really a weird germination situation to say the least. I had some seeds that were older germinate great and others that were a little newer not come up at all.
First it may be helpful to say what is different. Before, I just tried to grow a few in a window (I am alone and isolated) or in some nearby weeds. If they make it past the seedling stage, they did not get enough light and produced crappy yields. Many would die in seedling stage though, just wither and die. People said it was damping off. OK back to what is/was different: the soil then was Miracle Gro, lately the moisture control kind. The soil this time was Light Warrior (sometimes with a little Miracle gro soil on top since it was finer). The planting depth (what is the correct depth?) was around 1/4 inch but some may have approached 1/2 and some less than 1/4. Then, I germinated in the window with no heating mat and all natural light. This time, I gave them almost 24 hours a day, putting them in a cobbled-together sheetrock box with 2 flo's of 2 feet in there. It was coated in reflective diamond foil and had small holes in the side (too small?) for ventilation. I checked the conditions one time, and it was like 3 degrees above ambient, about 83, and 79 % humidity but stagnant non-moving air. I did use a heating mat off and on at night. The first seeds to come up were of course the first planted, and they came up like alfalfa sprouts, and I realized they were too far from the light and put them closer. They later just died. The later seeds to germinate were not so spindly. But, with few exceptions, they all either turned dark brown on top and the tops rotted off, or looked like the leaf edges were burned and the leaves shriveled and contorted and died. Still others have yellowing around the edges and are still alive, some of the shriveled ones are alive, and some just never fully germinated. Some types had poor germination, other types great. A few plants look green and still pretty good surprisingly. I still do not know quite what happened, but I have them in just natural light for now.
thanks also explosiv, that should help. (edit: thanks also paladin, too dumb to find things here but will try)
This was really a weird germination situation to say the least. I had some seeds that were older germinate great and others that were a little newer not come up at all.
First it may be helpful to say what is different. Before, I just tried to grow a few in a window (I am alone and isolated) or in some nearby weeds. If they make it past the seedling stage, they did not get enough light and produced crappy yields. Many would die in seedling stage though, just wither and die. People said it was damping off. OK back to what is/was different: the soil then was Miracle Gro, lately the moisture control kind. The soil this time was Light Warrior (sometimes with a little Miracle gro soil on top since it was finer). The planting depth (what is the correct depth?) was around 1/4 inch but some may have approached 1/2 and some less than 1/4. Then, I germinated in the window with no heating mat and all natural light. This time, I gave them almost 24 hours a day, putting them in a cobbled-together sheetrock box with 2 flo's of 2 feet in there. It was coated in reflective diamond foil and had small holes in the side (too small?) for ventilation. I checked the conditions one time, and it was like 3 degrees above ambient, about 83, and 79 % humidity but stagnant non-moving air. I did use a heating mat off and on at night. The first seeds to come up were of course the first planted, and they came up like alfalfa sprouts, and I realized they were too far from the light and put them closer. They later just died. The later seeds to germinate were not so spindly. But, with few exceptions, they all either turned dark brown on top and the tops rotted off, or looked like the leaf edges were burned and the leaves shriveled and contorted and died. Still others have yellowing around the edges and are still alive, some of the shriveled ones are alive, and some just never fully germinated. Some types had poor germination, other types great. A few plants look green and still pretty good surprisingly. I still do not know quite what happened, but I have them in just natural light for now.
