How Long do Seeds Last

i found some seeds that are 20 years old from a strain my buddies girlfriends parents grew in the mountains, really some of the best bud ever, i threw them in a wet napkin cause you never know but forgot to tell my wife and she threw them away, is it worth dumpster diving or 20 years is too long. on another note i spoke to that girl just the other day(found her on facebook) to try to get seeds and she said that strain was long gone. i asked what happenend and she hasnt responded yet.

If they weren't refrigerated or frozen I think they will be 100% inert. Don't quote me on that because mother nature works miracles sometimes.

I would say they are toast, but it would be interesting to recover them to see if they actually pop. If you recover them, let me know if any pop.

EDIT: Just read up on a guy growing 30 year old seeds. Yours could definitely sprout.

will do its worth dumpster diving in the morning. this strain really was above and beyond anything going around at those days. i cant wait to see why it stopped cause they grew for years.

20 year old strain + possibly long lost genetics = better get your ass in that trash can.

stuccodude said:

will do its worth dumpster diving in the morning. this strain really was above and beyond anything going around at those days. i cant wait to see why it stopped cause they grew for years.

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Here's a trick that helps for older seeds. Too late now if you already soaked them.
You take for vegetable seeds, basically any veggie seeds. Soak them for 24 hours then remove those seeds. Add the cannabis seeds to that water. The veggie seeds release a chemical which helps them germinate. Starting seeds in paper towels is a bad forum method which won't die. Just planting them in the soil is better. No other botanist/horticulturist uses a wet paper towel to start anything. No commercial greenhouse would ever do it. Handling the taproot is not good.

thats why i love this site, danielsgb i thought the wet paper towel was the best way but not handling the tap root makes sense.

stuccodude said:

thats why i love this site, danielsgb i thought the wet paper towel was the best way but not handling the tap root makes sense.

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Here's a bit from Uncle Ben's thread about seeds. When in doubt, folllow UB.

Your seedlings will be much better off if you germinate directly in soil - less handling and mechanical disturbance means less chance of physical damage to the plant's taproot (and roothairs) and less food reserves used to position itself due to the natural hormonal influence called Gravitropism. That translates into less food reserves used and increased seedling vigor, especially in the very early critical stages of seedling development.

Wet paper towel - yet another lame forum paradigm, aka "popular thought" method that really sucks. The health and vigor of your baby has been compromised.

Anybody can germinate a seed, that's not the issue which I carefully laid out in my archive.

UB

Dive dive dive!!!

A few years back I had some seeds that were between 11-16 years old that germinated. we unpacked some boxes that had been in our garage since we moved in 1995.
No refrigeration, no freezing, they were in a film container that was packed in a cigar box, their genetics are still in some of my plants today.

Go find your seeds.

I've had some seeds that were 5 years old. The batch consisted of 2 strains where one strain hatched about 50% and the other had nothing.

A mini strainer. Put seeds in it. Wrap in wash cloth. Turn faucet on hot water, let it get warm. Turn down to a drip and put strainer under the drip. 7 days is about how long it will take for very old seeds. Good luck and get in that dumpster!!

Get in that dumpster! Its almost impossible to find old strains nowadays and as far am i am concerned almost all new strains are crap

I have always had almost 100% success germinating beans by soaking in a cup of water until they sink and then putting them into a damp paper towl in a plastic bag for a couple days. Superb ganja! It is perfectly fine to do it this way. Especially for noobs.

I found some old seeds a couple years ago, a collection decades in the making (brown envelope in a box) and found several viable. First, if they are white or gray, probably a no go. But if they are at all brown or speckles, those may work. I used the same seed starting protocol I use for lupines. Soaked them in very hot water overnight. The seeds that sunk to the bottom (you can push lightly in the AM), I "lightly" nicked the hull with an emery board and potted them into the same soil I use for all my other plants "Sunshine Natural & Organic Professional Grow Mix", on a heated mat. Germinated in just a few days.

thanks everyone. i just got off work but the napkin was soaked and its been cold out so in the morning im gonna retrieve them. be one hellava story if they were cracked and sprouting.

I would have been in that dumpster the moment I found out they got thrown out. Growing new and different strains is always fun, not knowing how the plant will grow or how the end product is, a big mystery. I hope you find them and they do germinate.