Having trouble germinating old beans :(

Hello, guys, I'm having trouble germinating these oldish seeds. So I'm doing my normal germ method soaking seeds for 24 hours and once they have sunk to the bottom remove and placed into the damp paper towel and then placed on a seedling heat mat. and wait I checked on them a day later seemed that one was showing a tap root but now has stopped germinating. One other seed the root has turned to white mush and the others have not progressed. any advice would be great thanks in advance.

Hey, guys I have found out what the problem might have been 1) seed rot from soaking but have never had this happen before. 2) paper towel was too wet adding to the rot 3) heat mat got too hot and cooked the seeds. 4) fungus in seeds

Exactly what I was gonna say, some people think you have to let the seed sit in the cup of water untill it sinks, but that can cause the seed to "drown". Plants need air too.
Heat mats can cook seeds if you don't put a barrier between the two. What works best for me is to put seeds in water for 24 hours max, then just put it into wet dirt. Keep it moist by watering twice a day or putting baggie over cup/in humidity dome untill it sprouts. You can put your heating pad under your cup of soil you germinate in, it will heat the dirt up perfectly for germination without cooking seeds

As seed gets older , the shell gets harder, sometimes a scratch on a bit of sandpaper or nail file can help
Also a lot of paper towels contain dye, which doesnt help
I agree with OOlegilizeitOO, a 24 hour soak & into soil
Good luck next time

Personally, I think it was a combination of taking them out of the water (wet seed that gathers fungus spores on transfer, or had them already in storage) and the heat that created the optimal environment for the root rot. I now pop seeds in peat pellets after doing the other methods for years, but I find the peat works awesome. The fact that you don't have to handle the terminated seed preserves a lot of its initial vigor. Just keep them moist and loosely domed.

I recently tried germinating seeds I created many years ago and have always hoped to bring back... none sprouted, just not viable. Good suggestions above - I also do the 24 in water and then maintain moist soil in cups until they break through. Good luck!

Thanks for the replies everyone, yeah I usually soak the seed/seeds for 24 hours or even 48 until they sink I've watched videos on youtube where people keep them in water until there is a tap root. I always scuff the seeds in a match box with sandpaper inside and as for storing all my seeds are in a cardboard box with those silicone packets to stop moisture.

Giberellic acid is only way just put some water into cup and add the correct amount of acid,stir well and leave for about 12 hours and they will germinate maybe even sand down seed before and even use some hydrogen peroxide to soak before acid.This method has been used to germinate ancient seeds by the Russians

I do 48 hour soaks with seeds, the tap root should just be protruding the shell, you wont drown or cause problems soaking upto 48hours then planting.

If the tap root came out then went back in or stunted then it didnt like the conditions and you should rectify the problem.

Soaking seeds is a similar process to wrapping them in paper towel, do one or the other, as soon as they get a tiny root its time to plant, any longer and youll cause problems transplanting from the paper towel and damage root hairs.

Keep it simple, soaking seeds is simple to me others may not be quite as confident and probably best to get it into soil/medium sooner rather than later

ganjarules106 said:

Thanks for the replies everyone, yeah I usually soak the seed/seeds for 24 hours or even 48 until they sink I've watched videos on youtube where people keep them in water until there is a tap root. I always scuff the seeds in a match box with sandpaper inside and as for storing all my seeds are in a cardboard box with those silicone packets to stop moisture.

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They are wrong, once seeds sink they are ready for planting, keeping them in water longer is un-needed.