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20-year old seeds

Treevly

Treevly

Active member
I'm sprouting some seeds that old. I've soaked them in my usual way, and they are starting to peek out of the shells, but very slowly compared to my other strains, which appear to be stronger and more vigourous. Might their hesitation be from being, well, weakened from sitting around so long? If so, will that likely be reflected in the growing plants? Thanks
 
T

THC123

Active member
Veteran
Once they get going they should grow normal but sometimes they need time.

Also watch out for rotting as older seeds have a tendency to start rotting. You can use hydrogen peroxide for this.

I am also attempting to germ 20+ year old seeds soon. Bought a whole mix of chemicals to help for disinfection and waking dormant seeds, we'll see how it goes!!

I haven't had good luck with soaking old seeds. This works perfectly for fresh seeds but with older seeds they opened and then did nothing.
 
Z

zzzybil

New member
MY GUESS THE USUAL built in food provided in the seed for the 1st 2 weeks prolly has diminished . Perhaps a weak ewc tea & dribble of aloe vera in the tea ......idk but surely they will rally !! wowwee lucky you
 
I'mback

I'mback

Comfortably numb!
Treevly said:
I'm sprouting some seeds that old. I've soaked them in my usual way, and they are starting to peek out of the shells, but very slowly compared to my other strains, which appear to be stronger and more vigourous. Might their hesitation be from being, well, weakened from sitting around so long? If so, will that likely be reflected in the growing plants? Thanks
Click to expand...
A 10% solution of gibberellic acid.

https://youtu.be/tehCb0Zbi1M?list=PLmzMvMmx4RXZ4RPatI-hjYv4ZVuBYiIxr
 
Skunkenstein

Skunkenstein

Active member
Use 1/8th cup 3% Hydrogen peroxide to 2cups distilled water for 24hr seed soak..I usually add several drops of Liquid Seaweed aswell...I recently germinated 17yr old SSH seeds..9 out of 11 seeds Sprouted. Older seeds sprout best in 75-80° temperatures. This Seed soak Mixture is my Standby for years.
 
Treevly

Treevly

Active member
Skunkenstein said:
Use 1/8th cup 3% Hydrogen peroxide to 2cups distilled water for 24hr seed soak..I usually add several drops of Liquid Seaweed aswell...I recently germinated 17yr old SSH seeds..9 out of 11 seeds Sprouted. Older seeds sprout best in 75-80° temperatures. This Seed soak Mixture is my Standby for years.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. What is the purpose of the H2O2?
Thanks
 
T

THC123

Active member
Veteran
Treevly said:
That is interesting. Thank you. Do you just put a little hydrogen peroxide on them?
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Yes I disinfected them with hydrogen peroxide and also the spot where I planted them.

I got them to germ in vermiculite/perlite mix and germ rate was 70%.

BUT haha it's never easy. All except one seedling died within a few days.

So they pop the surface and are then killed by damping off. Only the old seeds do this. Probably they are weaker due to the age and more susceptible.

I am now thinking of strategies to prevent this. Using a propagator is not a good idea with these old seeds. But also outside the propagator they got it.

I am now preparing a medium and inoculating it with trichoderma. ANd I will mix cinnamon on the top layer. If that doesnt work I'll buy a biocide.

But this year damping off has been a real problem, not with my cannabis seeds (except the old seeds) but with almost all my freshly bought vegetable seeds. Never had such fallout.

So strange how everything can go well for 20 years and all of a sudden everything dies...
 
shaggyballs

shaggyballs

Active member
Veteran
Skunkenstein said:
Use 1/8th cup 3% Hydrogen peroxide to 2cups distilled water for 24hr seed soak..I usually add several drops of Liquid Seaweed aswell...I recently germinated 17yr old SSH seeds..9 out of 11 seeds Sprouted. Older seeds sprout best in 75-80° temperatures. This Seed soak Mixture is my Standby for years.
Click to expand...
Good suggestion here!

Brassinolide and chitosan. micro doses.
Brass for energy chitosan for antimicrobial.
If all you have is IBA use it really sparingly. micro doses
The gibb may help but caused unwanted stretch. micro doses
Good luck
shag
 
Treevly

Treevly

Active member
JustSumTomatoes said:
How've the seedlings been doing?
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Not well. I'm on the 3rd batch, but I may just toss them. They crack open but won't do much more than that. I think that if seeds lack vitality, it would not be useful to coax them into growing. I can't see them producing good stuff.
 
Hookahhead

Hookahhead

Active member
Treevly said:
I think that if seeds lack vitality, it would not be useful to coax them into growing. I can't see them producing good stuff.
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I don’t think this is necessarily true. Age should not change the genetic potential. What your experiencing is that the “food” that is stored in the seed has been used to keep the seed alive the past 20 years. A fresh seedling has the resources to get a quick jump on the world. However, if you can help get your seedlings over that first “bump”, I think they would produce the same quality you’d expect. After all a clone doesn’t change genetically... they just don’t have the vigor until they get established.

If your going to give up on them, consider passing them along? Original C99 beans would probably interest more than a handful of folks.
 
Treevly

Treevly

Active member
Hookahhead said:
If your going to give up on them, consider passing them along? Original C99 beans would probably interest more than a handful of folks.
Click to expand...

I'll bear that in mind. I am still working on it. They peak out of the shells )some of them,) but are very shy.
 
Storm Shadow

Storm Shadow

Well-known member
Veteran
I had all the same issues with my 10 year old Iranian seeds...I had 2 out of a 100 germinate and fully grown out.


I soaked in Brass, Chitosan, Bacteria , Microbes, scuffing.. etc... its a real pain in the ass TBH
 
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