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% of seeds that are viable

S

Sativan

Member
I'm trying to germinate 2 seeds but they're completely dead. I always have good luck when starting new seeds but these two are making wonder what I'm doing wrong.

It brought up the thought about what percentage of seeds are viable? Or what percentage of seeds are non-viable?

If you've got any information about this please share it.

Thanks guys!
 
troutman

troutman

Seed Whore
There' so many variables that anything could be the cause of dead seeds.

  1. The seeds weren't matured long enough on the mother plant.
  2. Bad seed storage conditions.
  3. Grower error(s).
  4. Bad luck.
  5. The end of the World is near.
  6. Etc., etc. etc.
 
dufous

dufous

Well-known member
two seeds is such a small sample

i could germinate 10 seeds and two would fail

maybe you got the two, just at random
 
T

TrueReligion

I've gotten all of my seeds to pop got a 12/12 on the current grow
 
R

Ratzilla

Member
Veteran
Personally I think on seed viability has to do with how old are the seeds as well as how were they stored.
I always have my BEST germination rates with fresh seed.
On storing the seed the trick is to keep the seed from drying out.
I store my seeds in air tight jars .
I also think that absent of light has to do with viability so I use dark jars, you could always wrap something around a see through jar to prevent its content from being exposed to light.
I also keep these dark jars in my refrigerator where the coolness keeps the seeds from drying out keeping them viable for 5-7 years.
Many peeps will take this refrigeration thing a step futher and freeze the seeds.
Something I have not felt the need to do.
Even with mature fresh seeds not all seeds germinate its the way of life i opine.
I just germed a bunch of seeds that I been working with and made many times now maybe like 5-6 back crosses.
They change with every back cross traits look much different then what i started with.
I digress out of 40 seeds 37 poped.
Another thing about germinating older seeds is many will be slow to pop and then once above the medium they stall.
A few years ago a friend gave me a bunch of Afghan seeds from when the Russians were in Afghan (thinking 1986) so they were pretty old and I had no idea how these seeds were stored.
Out of many but a few even stirred even with my bag of tricks.
Starting with two seeds puts you at a great disadvantage.
You will find the answers to most of your questions with experience.
Ratz :tiphat:
 
C

Can of Bliss

Member
Agreed that 2 is too small of a sample size to know anything for sure, but unless the seeds were very old, most likely something went wrong somewhere.
What is the process you used?
 
P

paranoidnz

Member
Just made my own seeds, 9 out of 25 seeds popped open and are now above ground, all seeds 1-2 weeks off the mother plant, I actually didn't expect any of them to grow, just wanted to see if they would (im new to this), now I cant bear to throw them out even tho I have just made 100s of seeds.


I actually thought it was best to dry the seeds out while holding them. Into the fridge they go when I get home
 
Phaeton

Phaeton

Speed of Dark
Veteran
I run a perpetual with a plant harvested every eleven days.
To feed the room two seeds are planted every eleven days, feminized seeds only. The success rate averages 80%, one if five does not make it, or is a subpar runt.

On average, lately all the seeds have germinated, leaving me with an overabundance of plants. Except neither one of the last two germinated, zero percent that round. The previous round was Euforia and Orange Hill Special and they both came in right on schedule, this round was both Orange Hill and both failed.

Tomorrow is planting day and another two Orange Hill Specials are going in, five in a row of this strain planted, odds say both should be good.
Too bad statistics cannot be applied to individual events, but I certainly expect results to average out over time.
 
D

dr.disrespect

Member
Ratzilla said:
Personally I think on seed viability has to do with how old are the seeds as well as how were they stored.
I always have my BEST germination rates with fresh seed.
On storing the seed the trick is to keep the seed from drying out.
I store my seeds in air tight jars .
I also think that absent of light has to do with viability so I use dark jars, you could always wrap something around a see through jar to prevent its content from being exposed to light.
I also keep these dark jars in my refrigerator where the coolness keeps the seeds from drying out keeping them viable for 5-7 years.
Many peeps will take this refrigeration thing a step futher and freeze the seeds.
Something I have not felt the need to do.
Even with mature fresh seeds not all seeds germinate its the way of life i opine.
I just germed a bunch of seeds that I been working with and made many times now maybe like 5-6 back crosses.
They change with every back cross traits look much different then what i started with.
I digress out of 40 seeds 37 poped.
Another thing about germinating older seeds is many will be slow to pop and then once above the medium they stall.
A few years ago a friend gave me a bunch of Afghan seeds from when the Russians were in Afghan (thinking 1986) so they were pretty old and I had no idea how these seeds were stored.
Out of many but a few even stirred even with my bag of tricks.
Starting with two seeds puts you at a great disadvantage.
You will find the answers to most of your questions with experience.
Ratz :tiphat:
Click to expand...

that!
 
S

Sativan

Member
angelgoob said:
perhaps they needed warmth?
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on head! I put a heat source under the plate that's germinating my seeds.

They're putting out roots very slowly but it looks like all 4 are viable! I added 2 more seeds.

I've never seen seeds respond so slowly. This has been a great lessen

in patience.
 
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