Oldest seeds you’ve popped & how?

Kami Samurai

Well-Known Member
I went to the store and they don’t have any no ink & non bleached paper towels. I ordered some off Amazon for test #2. I boiled a bunch of water and am flushing the soil to sterilize it. I’ll plant after it cools down. I’ll then use RO water and RapidStart to water. Also the seed sank but did not crack after 24 hours.
 

Kami Samurai

Well-Known Member
Over the winter I popped some 17 year old seeds. I stored them in the fridge all that time. I added some hydrogen peroxide to some spring water and did a 12 hour soak.
Then I planted them in some seed sprouting soil and put them on a seedling heating mat. Planted 3 seeds all 3 popped and grew out like any other seed.
How long were they in the soil before it broke ground? This is an 11 year old seed 1/5.
 

Kami Samurai

Well-Known Member
I’m mixing another cup of same ratio Hydrogen peroxide water and will drop those in peroxide just to clean them. About 10-12 hours then into the paper towel method on a old heat mat from my vacuum chamber.
Paper towel is what I prefer.
Much better success rates
how are those tomato seeds doing?
 

Kami Samurai

Well-Known Member
I just dropped these 2 in straight water. They sunk in 24 hours. Straight to some normal paper towel. Feel like I’ve been over thinking it. I saved 2 for the monster garden kit.
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Kami Samurai

Well-Known Member
I’m thinking paper towel method for the win for me personally, 1 day in water then 2 days in paper towel. I dug up the one in soil and it doesn’t look great. I put it into paper towel as well. Fingers crossed. Going to do my last two seeds the same way as these two.
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these are getting planted today.
 

Kumarollitup

Active Member
I’m not positive on how long but at least 12 years old but maybe as old as 15 years old. I made the seeds myself, stored them in a sealed container in my fridge. I just popped a bunch of them a couple months back and still got 50% to germinate. Healthy beautiful plant’s now. Subcools Chernobyl (lime pheno boy)xRP-OG#18. Popped them like normal, soaked for 18 hours, paper towel for a day to 4 days, into rapid rooters on a heat pad under a dome.
 
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Mr.Marijuana420

Well-Known Member
I've never tried it but I thought of trying something for old seeds. Everything I've read says it's not the seed that's bad but the shell too hard and becomes impermeable. So my thoughts are to mimic nature.

Freeze them first (if you aren't already storing them this way), then put them in a container with sand gravel and slightly acidic water (digestive tract acids in birds help weather the shell).

Add seeds, which should float, and shake the hell out of it, and maybe keep it in the fridge as you do this periodically over a day or two. Good seeds should still float and then you can skim them and germinate regularly.

Like I said, never tried, but theoretically it's seems like a good idea.
 

Mr.Marijuana420

Well-Known Member
.

Don't forget heat along with the water and paper towel. I have a heating pad and I set it to 85 F and the ziplock bag I put the paper towel into evaporates water from the heat.

Heat is important.

.
honestly just room temperature is fine. I don't even do the paper towels anymore because I always leave them too long and they get tangled. I just germinate straight in the cups under light. If nothing is coming up in 2 weeks I replace the seed, sometime they surprise you though. I gave a friend a really late popped mutant. It took like 4 weeks to break soil and was barely growing. After it surpassed the mutations it grew a whorled phyllotaxy trait, and had some super nice nuggets
 

TheWholeTruth

Well-Known Member
Hello everybody,
I have a question about germinating old seeds. (11 & 6 year old seeds). Questions actually...
What is your oldest successful germination? How were you able to accomplish this, and what method did you follow? I’m aware of most methods to do this but not a lot of people speaking with actual experience. Also does anyone have experience with gib-acid? My main concern with using gibberellic acid is that it can cause a polyploid mutation. Polyploid mutations can result in a sterile plants which would defeat the entire purpose of this project (Open pollination preservation).

Does anyone have a simple bio catalyst recipe they use as well? I’m going to start with the older ones since there is only 5 regs, Subcools Jesus OG Kush. Norstar already has F2 stock if anyone is interested in the genetics. If you have a simple tek like just H202 and sandpaper with success on anything around this old? I also was thinking about using the monster garden kit but I have to check if the gib acid is in there.

If there is anyone in here with reliable method of using gibberellic acid without causing mutations in any of their experiments.
I remember reading a thread a while ago I can’t find where they used this on some old seeds but I can’t find it. I already have this as well.

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Thank you for your time reading my questions, I know it’s a lot and am grateful for any help. :peace:
5-10 year old seeds has been no issue. Ive took them out the fridge and left them for a day to adjust temps. Then germinated via normal methods. But tough old seeds I would look in to oxy plus sterilization methods and then look up coconut water method. Its used by many professionals. The gibrillic method is much harder to get successful plants from as many germinate, stretched and then die. Ive know some that survive to cary mutations that for some reason pas on when some of those plants are used in breeding. The coconut water method should be easy to find and should give better results. Worm bins with fresh worm castings in my experience work very very well too. The balance in nutrients an microbe life along with what ever else they contain works excellent with very old stubborn hard to germinate seed. Some landrace types seem to be used to their own soils and climate along with planting via moon cycles. I found fresh worm castings work well with those types too. Good luck.
 

Kami Samurai

Well-Known Member
Curious how you use a razorblade. Do you run it down the seam? And how much so, until its open?
I did, with a razor after it broke ground. Did it very slowly while holding the seed gently with my free hand. After I split the casing I pulled the casing apart. New problem, there is a sort of membrane around the leaves now.
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Kami Samurai

Well-Known Member
Second one broke ground, I had to do the same thing. This time I was much more comfortable doing it and was much easier. The bottom picture has both in it.
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doughper

Well-Known Member
I've got at least 100 of the smallest cannabis seeds i ever saw.
Probly 7 years old. Could they be from a male? I found a male one time, and I
can't remember if it had them or not. Or i wonder did I get them from
a neighbor who gave me some buds she grew outside one time? Same neighbor.
I'm trying to sprout about a dozen of them, along with some other
very odd looking seeds, that look kinda like cannabis but don't think
they are, and they'd be like 20 or 30 years old. They've been in a paper
towel now for about 24 hours. I'll try to get some pix.
 

Kami Samurai

Well-Known Member
Right on Bud, please do. An older documented germ would be useful to growers in your situation. May be helpful to someone. I don’t think 11-12 years was that difficult because they were always stored properly.
 
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