Well aged seed...

M

Mr. Ask

Active Member
I did a search first ! Did not find a definitive answer to my query.

Okay. Say if you have some good originals that you bought and banked 12-15 years ago what do you think the chances are of germination? All were stored in a cool dry place and or the fridge (not freezer) for this period of time. Most in little glass vials or small zip lock bags in a Tupperware container or glass jar. Relative humidity is very low.

So the question is up to $150 was spent on some of 10 packs. You could not or did not sprout them for various reasons. You do not want them to be all duds. Is there a way to revive these aged beans while germinating to increase the chance of viability? By use of products such as gibberellic acid? Or is there something better to help them to germ? I have read in the past of peeps using Super Thrive but times I have used that stuff it just kills everything. Even outside in my veggie garden.

I really need some help with this inquiry. Hate to think the major bucks I spent are now worthless because I could not crack them in 2-3 years.
 
vostok

vostok

Well-Known Member
I store my seeds long term in the freezer

and for a very good reason ....viability?

scarify first simply by adding a piece of sandpaper to a jar

insert seeds and shake like hell for a minute

this roughens up the outer shell allowing water to enter ...easy?

then insert to a jar with RO water and a pinch of honey stir well( or aloe - vera, its got them grow hormones)

keep warm for 24 hours ..until seeds sink, once water has entered the shell casing ...it sinks

then move it to a damp paper towel, keeping warm and damp for 3-4 days

Good Luck
 
ryan1918

ryan1918

Well-Known Member
as long as seeds are kept in cool, dry places they will be fine, I've known someone to grow 10 year old seeds and turn out just fine, seeds can go bad in a week if you don't keep them in the right area.
 
M

Mr. Ask

Active Member
Thank you vostok and ryan for your replies. I know the basics for germ'n beans. But I am looking for a more definitive answer. I guess there is no guarantees for success with aged beans. Will try cracking similar beans of the same age that didn't cost so much first to see the results.
 
breakdancer0003

breakdancer0003

Well-Known Member
never tried storing for 10+ years but the blue berry, orange bud, and white widow I am currently growing are from 5 years old fem seeds and the RBS was 8 years old. they were all stored in the back of the fridge haphazardly and they held up pretty well considering what they were / went through. Everything just lined up again to get back to it and at least some of each made it though.

2/5 blueberry
3/5 orange bud
4/5 White widow
1/1 RBS

To put it lightly "Not the best germination rates" but I will take it considering what I did / didn't do for the seeds


Vostok hit the nail on the head explaining the best chance you have at popping them in my opinion.
 
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littleflavio

littleflavio

Well-Known Member
Im pulling a chair, and if anyone could answer pls do. Ive been doing this for awhile now and want to up my ante on germinating seeds, ive done several runs and encountered several problems but germinating seeds is the most frustrating one, i have 90% cloning rate and 30% germination rate. Could be bad seeds but could be me also. I do the 24hour method on soaking seeds while most of them shows roots and seeds crack but some seeds or most of it dies or root stop growing. I did several techniques already but usually my temp is 27-32deg celsius. With presoaked soil. Humidity ranges from 70-80%. I tried with and without lights. If anyone can be specific on how they germinate seeds. Like temp, humidity, do u guys put lights?...etc would be appreciated. I never had this problem before not until i started doing this again when i stop 3-4yrs ago. I have learned my lesson and place my seeds inside the fridge with airtight containers, with rice for humidity purposes
 
breakdancer0003

breakdancer0003

Well-Known Member
littleflavio said:
Im pulling a chair, and if anyone could answer pls do. Ive been doing this for awhile now and want to up my ante on germinating seeds, ive done several runs and encountered several problems but germinating seeds is the most frustrating one, i have 90% cloning rate and 30% germination rate. Could be bad seeds but could be me also. I do the 24hour method on soaking seeds while most of them shows roots and seeds crack but some seeds or most of it dies or root stop growing. I did several techniques already but usually my temp is 27-32deg celsius. With presoaked soil. Humidity ranges from 70-80%. I tried with and without lights. If anyone can be specific on how they germinate seeds. Like temp, humidity, do u guys put lights?...etc would be appreciated. I never had this problem before not until i started doing this again when i stop 3-4yrs ago. I have learned my lesson and place my seeds inside the fridge with airtight containers, with rice for humidity purposes
Click to expand...
I have had really good germination rates in this set up
-no pre soak just pop them into the damp moss plugs under some white light and a heat pad
-come back 4 -7 days later plant the moss plugs into your hydro set up or bury them into your top soil

-its cheap ( 100$ US ) including
-heat pad
-light
-moss plugs
-very mild rooting nutes for the small reservoir
-meter
-dome

works well as a small cloner too





 
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vostok

vostok

Well-Known Member
Mr. Ask said:
I did a search first ! Did not find a definitive answer to my query.

Okay. Say if you have some good originals that you bought and banked 12-15 years ago what do you think the chances are of germination? All were stored in a cool dry place and or the fridge (not freezer) for this period of time. Most in little glass vials or small zip lock bags in a Tupperware container or glass jar. Relative humidity is very low.

So the question is up to $150 was spent on some of 10 packs. You could not or did not sprout them for various reasons. You do not want them to be all duds. Is there a way to revive these aged beans while germinating to increase the chance of viability? By use of products such as gibberellic acid? Or is there something better to help them to germ? I have read in the past of peeps using Super Thrive but times I have used that stuff it just kills everything. Even outside in my veggie garden.

I really need some help with this inquiry. Hate to think the major bucks I spent are now worthless because I could not crack them in 2-3 years.
Click to expand...
This link advises using alcohol(vodka) to activate long term dormancy, old but good stuff

about a teaspoon to half a coffee cup(125ml) of ro water, I've used in the past

https://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/200...ects/J1499.pdf
 
T

TWS

Well-Known Member
littleflavio said:
Im pulling a chair, and if anyone could answer pls do. Ive been doing this for awhile now and want to up my ante on germinating seeds, ive done several runs and encountered several problems but germinating seeds is the most frustrating one, i have 90% cloning rate and 30% germination rate. Could be bad seeds but could be me also. I do the 24hour method on soaking seeds while most of them shows roots and seeds crack but some seeds or most of it dies or root stop growing. I did several techniques already but usually my temp is 27-32deg celsius. With presoaked soil. Humidity ranges from 70-80%. I tried with and without lights. If anyone can be specific on how they germinate seeds. Like temp, humidity, do u guys put lights?...etc would be appreciated. I never had this problem before not until i started doing this again when i stop 3-4yrs ago. I have learned my lesson and place my seeds inside the fridge with airtight containers, with rice for humidity purposes
Click to expand...
Quit doing all the unecessary BS. Fill cup with soil, wet soil,drop seed 1/8 inch deep and cover, cover with sandwich bag watch plant grow. Lol DO NOT OVER WATER SEEDLING FOR AT LEAST THREE WEEKS,
 
qwizoking

qwizoking

Well-Known Member
this is what i say to people asking that.....
ya its long, sorry

ive tried just dirt attempting to imitate nature and any variations of common methods

the cup of water thing will lower rates, is bad for the seed which is actually still completing gas exchange and is living. can also increase the chances of old stock molding.



sorry its long and choppy,


i combined copy paste of my older posts.
Wet paper towel fold a couple times, place in an open ziploc between 82-84°f„ you wanna see beads on the bag. It should be ready in 24 hours, another 12-24 may be necessary. I fill a cup with my moistened soil mix. I either wet the soil the night before and till it first or moisten untill it will hold its shape and compact at the time I'm doing it (forgot the word for this) ..so as to avoid any rot. Then placed In solo cup, gets a ziploc over the top and in the DARK until I have my first set of round leaves (still 82-84°)
Bags then come off and they goto the sides of my light until the first set of leaves (true set). And temps now are brought down to low 70's high 60's to promote female ratios
..use ph'd water, dont use distilled, promotes bacteria and mold growth. Theres also nothing wrong with the chlorine in your tap

This gives me best results. Out of 40 cheese seeds I just germed, all sprouted and only one died as a seedling (my fault) to be clear these are very old crosses of my own...i have several grow houses, and germ a couple thousand every year right now....not new at this
im opposite, my clone rates with certain sativas are horrible but i can germ anything

As long as they aren't crushed or white they will sprout...and even crushed seeds give me about a 50% rate doing this

The bigger it is when put in soil the faster it seems to sprout. I've let the shell fall off with a set of leaves and all before while still in the paper towel (not recommending this though, but can happen in less than 48hrs), if planted at the same time, putting a seed with a smaller taproot will take longer to sprout than if you had just left it in the bag a bit longer.or germed in straight soil for that matter. I use an open gallon bag with wet paper towel at 82-84°. And i use multiple if running alot of seeds, i normally am. they cant be closer than an inch to one another. 2 is best
(Ive experimented in 2°f controlled increments in a 30° range and found this to be optimimum and the biggest factor)

When you put the seed in the soil, you don't need to bury it, you don't even need dirt to cover it so long as you have high humidity, i use solo cups with a ziploc bag over
, which should have water beads. You don't want to bury the seed to far or compact the dirt when you do. This will drastically increase the time ittakes. Ive had seedlings pop up weeks into veg even flower because they were buried in the soil and i already germed more seed for that container lol

the dark helps prevent mold and damaging exposed roots.

I've never had seed take longer than 36hour's to open and maybe 2 and a half days till it was ready totransplant. this is on very old seed as well

4 days is the longest i expect it to take my seeds to be ready for light
also
fresh seeds wont pop, give about 3 months or longer . on a side note, breeders that give out batches with bad rates and people complaining they are old, is usually because they are too fresh. most of my seeds are very old. cannabis seeds do not need to be frozen or anything specialbefore germing.
you should keep the seeds whilewaiting too germ at room temp and in an open container, rh between 30-40 is best.. not too low, important. for most peoples use i tell em 60 and 60. 60rh allowing the seed to breathe (yes literally) it can repair any "damge" to internals during a long wait. and 60 is cool enough to preserve the seed many years. but ive had seed open in my trucks toolbox in texas lol for a couple decades and germ fine
 
rshackleferd

rshackleferd

Well-Known Member
Seeds are a living thing and they do lose their vigor over time since they accumulate dna damage over time and also the embryo uses the food stores within the seed. This is why you should freeze your seeds it stops this living process. Ive done several test and freezing them does no harm as some would say. I have frozen seeds over 100+ times and even thawed them out real fast in the sun. I planted all ten seeds next to five seeds in a control group and all of the ten grew as fast as the control.
 
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qwizoking

qwizoking

Well-Known Member
lmao thats hardly enough seeds to make a claim

but i do agree with you.
this dna damge can be healed through my mentioned respiration at the end of my post
 
kkt3

kkt3

Well-Known Member
Hmmmm, I used to save the seeds from Columbian Gold that we smoked back in he late 70's. Had a vitamin container full of the popcorn as we used to call em. I will have to go to my parents place and check out a few of my old hiding spots to see if they are still there and then see if I can pop a few of them using some of the above methods!!!
 
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