Germinating old seeds

[PicosPoisonftw!]

Got quite a few healthy looking beans from 60-70's bag seed. Since I've received them, they've been frozen in a vac sealed bag w/desiccant.

I'm going to give a go w/a few of them w/the following method, but if anyone has tricks for me, lmk!

[YOUTUBEIF]dpKYEIt84qo[/YOUTUBEIF]

 

[Wonderon]

The method that Ive seen reccommended and has worked for me in the past is to scuff the seeds, put a piece of sand paper in a small box like a match box and shake them in it gently so the seed coating gets scuffed a bit. Then just soak them in ph'd water over night then plant. It's really luck of the draw with old seeds, you may get some to pop, you may not.

 

[dasher65]

Good luck Pico. I've had great success germinating 25y.o. frozen seeds but yours are way older!!! If they've been looked after then you should be right.

Tagged!!!

 

[idiit]

very timely post for me. thanks. i tried dmso instead of scuffing. the dmso does not seem to be working. i tried just a couple of drops per 8oz. distilled water and worked my way up to small capful/8 oz. glass distilled water. nota so far.

i'll try this scuffing technique depicted in the video today.

one word of caution. i'm on metro water supply and city water here is made highly alkaline ( 9-10 ph) to reduce acidic erosion of the water and waste water lines. repair of underground lines prematurely eroded due to acidity is expensive so they got the city water ph'd up to very high levels. i'll try keeping the seeds in a strainer with distilled soaked towel instead.

 

[Trewarin]

My water supply is terrible...
I have a 3000l system out in the yard... that thing is expensive to get filled with decent water.

 

[Wonderon]

Have you tried collecting rain water? Maybe a better option. My water is 8ph from the tap and I just use some gh ph down to bring it a little less then 6ph.

 

[PicosPoisonftw!]

One of the shells popped and there was a healthy green cotyledon inside! Good sign! Wish me luck fellas!

 

[944s2]

hiya,nice one picos,,,with a bit of luck,may get a 70s lambsbread,all the best,,peace and safe growing s2

 

[SunSimulator]

O nice to hear i was wondering what would happen ! keep us up dated

 

[PicosPoisonftw!]

Out of 8 attempted, one popped. I'm still giving them a chance. The drip method wasn't effective for me, once I pulled them out and laid them on a plate w/a clean damp cloth and kept them in a window, the one sprouted quickly. One labeled: mean green. She's vigorous . I think I've got the method down for future attempts, this was a trail run & I saved the best looking beans for later. .

 

[OneTokeOver]

Don't give up on the ones that don't sprout right away, they can take weeks sometimes.

 

[dasher65]

WooHoo!!!

Good luck Pico.

 

[PicosPoisonftw!]

The first lady is stinky already, kicking out fat lobes.

 

[Musicianized]

No shit? I figured after a year or two seeds were no good... wow So freezing them is best for storage?

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