Trying to germinate seeds from the 90s

Hello all. I have a pill bottle of seeds that were collected over a few years in the 90s. The seeds weren't kept in ideal conditions however I believe some of them to be viable as I will explain below. I know that I could easily save myself some trouble by ordering seeds and may eventually end up doing exactly that but in the meantime I am on a quest to revive these if I can. So here is the deal.

First attempt: Initially I attempted to germinate a large quantity of the seeds (as I believed I would have a low success rate) by soaking several of them in a glass of tap water for 2 days. Some of the seeds cracked but none of them were able to escape the shell beyond just a tiny tiny white "spike" barely emerging. None of the seeds survived beyond this and roots/sprouts never formed.

Second attempt: Next I tried the paper towel method with the same results as above.

Third attempt: I tried soaking for 1 day and then transporting 50 of the best looking soaked seeds into rapid rooters in a humidy dome with a heat blanket keeping them around 80 degrees. it has been about 5 days and I'm thinking that they have all failed.

Fourth attempt (in progress): 1 soaked several seeds that i scuffed up with emery boards in ph 5.9 water that had a tiny amount of rapid start rooting enhancer (1 drop diluted in a plastic beer cup, bottle recommends 1 teaspoon for 5 gallons). I soaked these for about 16 hours and then moved them to a paper towel between 2 paper plates soaked in the same water/nutrient.

So here's the deal. I know that some of the embryos have to be alive enough to crack the shell and start to grow so maybe all hope is not lost. I have read on the intarwebs about stories in which scientists have germinated very old seeds, sometimes extracting the embryo to do so. Is this something anyone has tried? I've also had a hard time trying to find a straight answer as to the shelf life of cannabis seeds. I understand that much of that has to do with how they are stored etc but it would be nice to know that someone has succesfully grown from seeds that were about 15-20 years old. Please let me know if you have any ideas on how to revive these seeds or help them germinate. Thanks!

Do you have or do you know anyone with an AeroGarden? I use it exclusively for germinating and sprouting with great success. You also might want to put some seeds in the fridge for a week or so to simulate winter dormancy and then try sprouting them. This might actually wake some of them up. I began using the AeroGarden when I began experiencing the same problems you describe and now, no more problems. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

No, I don't have an aerogarden, perhaps when I have some extra cash I'll pick one up. In the meantime the update I have is this morning one seed from "attempt 4" cracked fully and actually looks healthy-ish. This is all experimental and I may be killing it but I havent heard any better ideas so here is what I have done. I have a 30 site ezcloner that is basically just a aeroponics rig with a ton of 2inch holes in the top for neoprene pucks. I dropped netpots into the holes instead of the neoprene and then dropped rapid rooters into the netpots. The ezcloner is loaded with 5 gallons of water with a half a teaspoon of the general hydro micro and half a teaspoon of rapid start root enhancer, ph is 5.9. I placed the seed into one of the RRs and covered the hole with a tiny bit I ripped off and then put a single t5 over it. I'm going to be running the ezcloner on a timer because after running all night the RRs seem overly soaked. Would love any input as I am just going to continue to soak large quantities of the seed and then experiment with the ones that crack until I have a healthy female or I'm out of seeds.

Here is what I do and I have a 90 percent grow rate, although my plants themselves need help I always can germinate my seeds.
For starters tap water can be contaminated with extra stuff like chlorine and other chemicals if you are using tap let it sit for 24 hours in an open container in a worm place so the chemicals evaporate out, if this sounds like to much work just use bottled water.

Then heat the water up preferably in a pot not the microwave, not to a boiling point but to a bath water feel. Than take 50 grain sand paper, very fine course, and score the seeds gently on both sides. This helps I have read all over I don't know how but it's been working for me. After you score the seeds place them in a cup of the worm water and place the cup in a place it will stay worm, ie a hot water heater will be perfect. Place a other larer cup over the first one to allow no light.
return in 24 hours and most if not all the seeds should have sunk to the botto. Of the cup, this point you have maximized the water intake. By the way paper towel trick is pointless..
once the seeds have sank you can then place them in germinating soil that is lighky watered or damp do not drench the soil, if you have grown before you know that this could easily defect the plants growth.
place the soil with the seed under the preferred light, a regular 40 watt cfl is fine for this point but if you use a bigger one make sure it's not to close to the plant
after a few days you should see the sprout and there you go.
Ive pulled up seeds out of carpets and planted them and god knows how long they was there, seeds don't really expire, they just take more work to get started if not kept properly


Good luck and happy growing

Thanks for the reply with your experience I think you're right that heat is important. I just began a new experiment I wanted to log here. If anything seems to work well I want it to be documented someplace. This might seem a bit odd but after reading a few things I've found (not specifically about canabis) I'm trying out another batch of seeds that I have tied up in a coffee filter and have soaking in the nutrient/root solution like a tea bag. This time I have an aerator running in the tub of water that I have the seeds seeping in.

subbing for any results, like seeing older genetics salvaged
i have seen various tricks, but haven't done them myself, but there are ways to revive very old seeds, or so it is claimed