Hello all,
I wanted to test the germination of some of my older seed stock.
Not seeds for sale, mostly untried hybrids I made years ago.
I have kept these under refrigeration at +4c / +5c for 20-25 years now.
I did a random germination test of 100 seeds from each of 25 batches of randomly picked from the 3000 different seed batches in the 100kg collection. I have tons of seeds, not kilos, tons.
I was plesantly surprised to find that some in all batches had sprouted, more then 35% of the batches had over 50%-95% sprouted after 72 hours, the rest are between 1%-25% after 72 hours. I will let the seeds germinate for another 4 days and see what the final totals are and post them.
I made the seeds myself, so they are well made seeds, I make a seed for 8+ weeks after pollination, not in as little as 4 weeks as some other seed makers.
I do not know why the 35% of the seed batches were so much better and faster germinating then the rest, maybe I can decide on a reason after the germination testing is done if they do not reach the same germination totals? I assume that seeds that only sprout at 10 % might well have genetic damage or loss from age and they might not be quite the same as the same seed when fresh. I would not use them. If over 25% germination then I presume the plants are ok to use and keep if you can find a good keeper.
I figure the seeds were made with the same amount of time and skill but maybe their are differences because of seed size or varieties? Not sure at all, this is my longest big storage, 25 years, and then germination testing I have done. I have some other seeds frozen and with time periods over 20 years+ they do keep a higher germination rate then just in a refrigerator. I also have seeds in very small amounts that are 35+ years old in a refrigerator at +4c.
Cannabis pollen also I have tested after 20 years frozen at -30c and it worked great with seed set and making great seeds.
I have a post somewhere about how exactly I did the pollen peservation.
-SamS
I wanted to test the germination of some of my older seed stock.
Not seeds for sale, mostly untried hybrids I made years ago.
I have kept these under refrigeration at +4c / +5c for 20-25 years now.
I did a random germination test of 100 seeds from each of 25 batches of randomly picked from the 3000 different seed batches in the 100kg collection. I have tons of seeds, not kilos, tons.
I was plesantly surprised to find that some in all batches had sprouted, more then 35% of the batches had over 50%-95% sprouted after 72 hours, the rest are between 1%-25% after 72 hours. I will let the seeds germinate for another 4 days and see what the final totals are and post them.
I made the seeds myself, so they are well made seeds, I make a seed for 8+ weeks after pollination, not in as little as 4 weeks as some other seed makers.
I do not know why the 35% of the seed batches were so much better and faster germinating then the rest, maybe I can decide on a reason after the germination testing is done if they do not reach the same germination totals? I assume that seeds that only sprout at 10 % might well have genetic damage or loss from age and they might not be quite the same as the same seed when fresh. I would not use them. If over 25% germination then I presume the plants are ok to use and keep if you can find a good keeper.
I figure the seeds were made with the same amount of time and skill but maybe their are differences because of seed size or varieties? Not sure at all, this is my longest big storage, 25 years, and then germination testing I have done. I have some other seeds frozen and with time periods over 20 years+ they do keep a higher germination rate then just in a refrigerator. I also have seeds in very small amounts that are 35+ years old in a refrigerator at +4c.
Cannabis pollen also I have tested after 20 years frozen at -30c and it worked great with seed set and making great seeds.
I have a post somewhere about how exactly I did the pollen peservation.
-SamS
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