Germinating old seeds

Prince4118

Prince4118

Well-Known Member
I'm lookin for some good advice on how to get a good germination rate on old seeds, I put them in little baggies rapped in aluminum foil and put in dark wooden box a few years back and had forgotten about them, I recently found them again, the majority still look nice and dark and reasonably healthy but they won't pop can anyone offer some help?? I remember them being awesome smoke and would like to keep the strain going
 
heavyset

heavyset

Active Member
maybe you should have waited to see tap roots before taking them from the soaking cup.dont give up on em i planted some beans once and they were dormant for weeks i got pissed turned off my lights and went to check my box months later for a new grow only to find 8 dead seedlings. 4ever420
 
DirtyNerd

DirtyNerd

Well-Known Member
I like the water soak leave them in there then in a couple of hours tap them till they sink leave them in there for 12 hours or till you see them crack open a little then transplant in to wet paper towel and leave 24 hours and you should see the root if not wait a day longer then once you see the tap root put them in rockwool or coco or soil what ever your growing in

Took me a couple of times to get it right but now that's what worked best for me lost a couple of seeds trying other shit :) never again

use water thats a little warmer then room temp also cover and leave in the dark
 
Prince4118

Prince4118

Well-Known Member
I try the water soak method and they don't crack and they don't crack in paper towel that's why I'm asking for other ways or ways to help it along as I only have a few seeds left and do t want to waste anymore
 
Husseinps

Husseinps

Well-Known Member
Try scratching the seeds with sanding paper. I saw this in a video but I can't remember its name.

Roll the paper like you would prepare a filter for your smoke. The coarse surface inside. Then close it one side with your thumb and put the seeds inside. Close the other edge and shake em for a min.

Hope it works
 
Prince4118

Prince4118

Well-Known Member
Yea they all sink within the hour but don't pop , I just tried the sandpaper idea with a few seeds and put into paper towel I'll keep y'all up to date on that attempt what's an easy way to see if these seeds are still viable I cracked one open and it's still nice and white inside like the inside of a sunflower seed
 
Husseinps

Husseinps

Well-Known Member
Prince4118 said:
I had 1 seed crack nicely the tap root became visible and stopped and hasn't changed in 24 hrs
Click to expand...
This probably means that the proteins/other nutes that are originally present in the seed are exhausted. I know they decompose with time to simpler molecules.
I would transplant the soonest possible in this case.

I'm storing hundreds for next year, i hope they make it. I'm glad to give them away for an indoor grower, i got them for free.

Goodluck
 
Prince4118

Prince4118

Well-Known Member
DirtyNerd said:
If they are not cracking at all that's very odd when you soak them are they sinking at all ?
Click to expand...
Giving a quick reply on the seeds I had soaking in water, I know I'm not meant to leave them in the water for too long but I thought the seeds were too old so I just left them in the water still checking every 12-24 hours and bam like 6 days later one has cracked with a tiny root showing so I put her into seed raising soil and put the others back in with a water change using water from the same source lets see how they go and if she will break the surface of the soil will keep y'all updated
 
qwizoking

qwizoking

Well-Known Member
That's not near long enough for you to be having issues with germination...even in horrible conditions..yours were in bags in the dark at room temp? Issues are on you

Most of my seed stock is over 5 years old, with a sizeable portion 20+. And they all germ fine, at least 75%. Even the ones loose and forgotten about for a decade in my trucks tool box, that's in the tx heat too
 
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