I have been trying to sprout some ten year old seeds that I had stored in the refridgerator. I had a lot so I planted 10 seedlings into peat pellets and tried to sprout them that way. I got none that even sprouted, so after a month I just threw them away. So, I decided to try again a different way. I took 10 more seeds from the same batch and age and soaked them in distilled water with a little H2O2 for 24 hours and a small amount of veg nutes. None cracked but I proceeded to plant them in very moist (almost wet) promix soil with a little veg nutes and placed them a 400 watt HPS. I put them at a good distance as to not burn them, but just warm the soil slightly. I know the light was overkill by far, but it was all I had at the time at my disposal.
After 2 weeks nothing, so I undug a couple and gave them a look. They didn't even crack open! So I figured I would give them a little help and had nothing to loose. I cracked them with my teeth to see if the insides were still white and then squeezed them slightly between my thunm and forefinger (spelling?). I was suprised when the seedling from inside popped out totally intact seperating it totally from the seed shell. They were white and healthy inside and in perfect condition even though of my crude way of opening them. I took the little white curled baby that was freshly released from the inside of it's shell and planted it back into the Promix. The next day she was popping out of the soil! I did it to the rest and they all popped except one which was brown and mushy inside.
So this tells me that the seed case is not needed and only for storage. If the shell can be removed after a very long soak it seperates from the shell inside and can be popped out easily. It made it so my old seeds are now 80 percent viable using this method when previously none were. I found this quite interesting.
I am sure some already know of this but for me I had discovered the shell really is not needed. I thought I would mention it anyways just incase. I wouldn't recommend anyone doing it with expensive seeds unless they have some practice with bag seed first. It is sometimes very teadious work getting the shell off without damaging the seedling inside. With some experimenting I am sure there are other ways of making it seperate easier, even though this time it was extremely easy. I don't know how it will work with others of a different strain, but will be trying. It is very important to soak for a long time and only use this method if they don't crack on there own. It has worked excellent for me! Just thought I would post my findings even though it is probably already well known, but I have never read about it anywhere previously and it was new to me.
Any input please let me know what you think or any suggestions or experience you have would be appreciated. Thanks!
TGT
After 2 weeks nothing, so I undug a couple and gave them a look. They didn't even crack open! So I figured I would give them a little help and had nothing to loose. I cracked them with my teeth to see if the insides were still white and then squeezed them slightly between my thunm and forefinger (spelling?). I was suprised when the seedling from inside popped out totally intact seperating it totally from the seed shell. They were white and healthy inside and in perfect condition even though of my crude way of opening them. I took the little white curled baby that was freshly released from the inside of it's shell and planted it back into the Promix. The next day she was popping out of the soil! I did it to the rest and they all popped except one which was brown and mushy inside.
So this tells me that the seed case is not needed and only for storage. If the shell can be removed after a very long soak it seperates from the shell inside and can be popped out easily. It made it so my old seeds are now 80 percent viable using this method when previously none were. I found this quite interesting.
I am sure some already know of this but for me I had discovered the shell really is not needed. I thought I would mention it anyways just incase. I wouldn't recommend anyone doing it with expensive seeds unless they have some practice with bag seed first. It is sometimes very teadious work getting the shell off without damaging the seedling inside. With some experimenting I am sure there are other ways of making it seperate easier, even though this time it was extremely easy. I don't know how it will work with others of a different strain, but will be trying. It is very important to soak for a long time and only use this method if they don't crack on there own. It has worked excellent for me! Just thought I would post my findings even though it is probably already well known, but I have never read about it anywhere previously and it was new to me.
Any input please let me know what you think or any suggestions or experience you have would be appreciated. Thanks!
TGT
