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30-40 year old seed ressurection

So I was fortunate to have a close friend of my mom who recently passed on at age 94 who has been growing in southern Humboldt/ Mendocino county since the mid 70's pass some oldies on to me a while back, some of the varieties include maziar I Sharif, and afghan from the Khyber pass, as well as a bunch of unknowns, a columbian, and an afghan Cambodian cross, all seeds range from 1979 to 87.

I have germinated a few somewhat wastefully just out of curiosity in the past to see if any would germinate, and yeah I have had success germinating but ultimately with nowhere to cultivate at that time it was just a test to see if some magic would happen.

Surprisingly enough some germinated.. more recently I took a go at the afghan Cambodian and about 5 of 20 sprouted tails, but got stunted and the tails didnt continue to grow, was curious what would be a good way to go about bringing these babies to life. As obviously they are alive, and need a little more than a paper towel germination.

Any advice would be appreciated as this would be radical to unlock some oldie landrace cannabis genetics that could be a solid gold smoke for anyone into the classic nostalgia that would come from these old gals.
 

@420breeder

New member
Hey! You have a really huge treasure in your hands, take care of them and you will be very happy.

My little experience with old seeds makes me warn you about few things. Keep them on the fridge, unless you want to germinate them.
Make the germination with a spoon of H2O2 in 200ml of water for minimize bad companies, you know what i mean... And of course a temperature between 20-24 ºC will be great.

They may could germinate but make them root...will be hard to do. Be patience, make warn and keep it wet...

Let us know please!
 
Hey, thank you guys very much for the advice, I will try that stuff out and see what I can make happen this spring hopefully some of the hundreds of seeds will come to life.
 

JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen
Wow that's just plain awesome! You should totally keep this thread updated on their progress. Those heirloom genetics are truly a gem.
 

Ktaadn

Member
One trick that has worked very well for me with older or hard to germ seeds is to "nip the tip" of the seed. Using a small pair of nail clippers you ever so carefully clip off the very tip of the pointy end of the seed shell. It's important not to damage the embryo inside, you just want to make it easier for the seedling to emerge without using up all of it's valuable energy resources.

The worm bin is also a good one to try. Many times I've had seeds that I'd given up on sprout after being discarded in the active worm bins.

Best of luck to you, those are some very interesting heirloom genetics you hold. That Afghani/Cambodian has me especially curious!
 

Speula

Well-known member
Veteran
Gibberellic Acid works also pretty well. Hope you find some nice lost genetics in your hunt!
 
JudahsSceptre - you wouldn't happen to know how the lady stored the seeds she gave you?

He just kept them in jars with silica packets in them, in an old ammunition box in a barn on his property.
The barn is fully shaded by large oak trees so I can imagine even in that many years the temperature didn't reach too too high.
 

Betterhaff

Active member
Veteran
Just found these in a drawer (my junk drawer…things can get lost in there for decades). They’re probably 30 or 40 years old, at least that’s the last time I had a bunch of seeded bud.

They may be Mexican but more likely 70’s redbud since I saved so many (I saved a lot of those seeds at the time).

Be nice to get something to pop, there’s 100’s. May have to start a worm bin, lol.
 

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JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen
Awesome find Betterhaff. If you end up trying to pop them you should totally start a diary. I'd love to follow along.
 

rogerw

Member
i just lucked out also and got some 1980's road kill skunk seeds i am just going to soak them for a day in hp and ro water then damp towel and cover with seed mats. they have been grown here in the 70's and up to weed became legal then faded out
 
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