50 year old seeds

Hello everyone, I’m looking for advice on reviving some really old seeds. Here’s the story for those taking the time to read this! Over the past few years my horticulture skills have gotten very good, i wanted to find some old genetics to play around with. I asked around and believe it or not, my 90 year old uncle gifted me a bag of seeds that were rolled up in a plastic baggie, in a sock and hidden away since 1972. They came from Ithaca New York. I wont get into how he remembers the date since it’s kind of personal. There is at least 200 seeds left, After I went through 60 seeds and got one to pop. It was very difficult to grow, ended up a male but STUNK like light citrus and heavy skunk. I managed to grow it out and I made a couple crosses with it and also collected and saved some pollen. Any ideas on bringing these dead seeds back to life? I dont want to waste anymore seeds with bad germination techniques. Thanks !

WELCOME TO RIU
no offense but I’m calling BS
BUT QUITE A FIRST POST

You could try embryo rescue and germinating on agar.

You basically need to use tissue culture techniques for seeds that old.

Try some Petchuli and back sweat .

buckaclark said:

Try some Petchuli and back sweat .

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Already tried that! Haha

waterproof808 said:

You basically need to use tissue culture techniques for seeds that old.

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Yeah tissues work better than paper towels for seeds that old.

Dreypa said:

You could try embryo rescue and germinating on agar.

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I’ll look into that, thanks!

I've had good luck with 30 ml of hydrogen peroxide per 500 ml of water in a 12 hour soak for my older seeds but I'm talking about stuff I've had frozen for 6-7 years at the oldest. If they're really that old you should try to contact Todd McCormick at the AG Seed company. He has tons of experience with older genetics and is big into preservation. He's put out a call for people to send in old beans if they have them to be brought back if you are feeling generous as well.

Pop them all -

Scientists recently resurrected 2000 year old date trees ( seeds ) in Israel. If they managed to be viable then they will sprout.

I was in Ithaca in 1972, probably sold him that oz, don’t bother.