How long do seeds last?

I'm just getting back into growing, and I have some older genetics... unopened original TGA from like 2012, Super Silver Haze from the early MRN days, etc.

Given that I'm growing really small time I don't want to just waste genetics. I don't have a setup to hold a mother plant and take cuttings. I also don't want to wait so long the seeds go bad. I almost want to just grow out half the pack, hope for some males, and then get all the seeds I could ever want. Something tells me that's way too easy and not how shit works, but I'm a complete novice again and I can't remember shit.

What would you guys do? Any input is appreciated. Am I stressing this too much?

Depends on how they were stored. If they were in your fishing tackle box, I doubt they'll germinate. In the fridge or freezer then your chances are better. You can try GA3 on a few (use exactly as directed on the label). If that doesn't work, try SuperGerm.




Good luck.

The very first seeds I popped was around 1988 when my best friend and I found one of his dad's old stash boxes in the garage. We sowed about 100 seeds and at least a dozen popped. Later we found out that stash was from 1976 or 74, can't remember exactly. Those seeds were stored in a hot (and cold) garage for over a decade. Seeds are impressive, especially when stored well. Some things have been well proven to increase germination rates. One of the best is hydrogen peroxide, which chemically scarifies the seed coat and sterilizes it-I just use the regular 3% h2o2 and mix 30 ml of it into 500 ml water-soak for 12 hours only. After that I plant directly into coco (potting soil is fine, seed starting soil is better). I prepare that soil by running a normal mix of liquid kelp and fulvic acid through it-both of those have been proven to increase germ rates, and you can also use them as a soak at their normal rates-I do 4 ml per gal of liquid seaweed and 1 ml/gallon of Mr Fulvic. If you use Ful Power, you can go the full dose which is something like 25 ml per gallon. I also keep some of it in a sprayer and mist the soil surface a couple of times per day to keep the seed moist. Don't do any pre-germ methods beyond a short soak in one of those. Here is a good guide for the rest of it. https://www.mandalaseeds.com/Guides/Germination-Guide
Good luck! Totally worth going to the extra effort to ensure you sprout a few!

H2O2 only offers sterilization and extra Oxygen. It has zero Hormones. All plants and seeds produce hormones to bring seeds out of dormancy. Some even force dormancy. Take tomatoes for example, without the jelly surrounding the seeds to keep them dormant (with AA hormones) you'd get tomatoes sprouting on your counter right from the tomato itself.

If old seeds don't have the necessary hormones to reverse dormancy, in the amount it needs, it's just gonna rot.

Well, depends on storage method.

"Svalbard Seed Bank can store roughly three of each sample. Under the current temperature conditions in the vault (temperatures similar to those in a kitchen freezer) the seed samples can remain viable to begin new crops for anywhere from 2000 to 20,000 years."

I had a badass seed collection go 0% Germ Rate.

Pop what you have & hope for the best.

Jason Twice said:

I'm just getting back into growing, and I have some older genetics... unopened original TGA from like 2012, Super Silver Haze from the early MRN days, etc.

Given that I'm growing really small time I don't want to just waste genetics. I don't have a setup to hold a mother plant and take cuttings. I also don't want to wait so long the seeds go bad. I almost want to just grow out half the pack, hope for some males, and then get all the seeds I could ever want. Something tells me that's way too easy and not how shit works, but I'm a complete novice again and I can't remember shit.

What would you guys do? Any input is appreciated. Am I stressing this too much?

Click to expand...

Run them.

this plant was grown from a date seed that was over 2000 years old