Part One
I should have had this posted weeks ago… but – you know… shit happens… 
After I was gifted 23 seeds of circa 2007 vintage from Swe-can, it was time for the ‘rubber to hit the road’. The ‘gathering of research and materials’ was finally out of the way. So the dilemma was - do I try an untested protocol with these vintage seeds or what?
…A session later and the answer was plain.
I had a few CBD seeds, progeny from a previous run laying about so I ran tests on them.
There is lots more that I won’t bore you with but the TL:DR is:
- the Ultra sonic cleaner functioned as suspected.
- 9 minutes seems to be good from visual observations.
Cool shit
There is a standing wave pattern established in the tank that causes the seeds to cluster in twos and threes or longer chains. They pull together like little magnets. You can get them to follow your finger tip around the tank and other silly tricks.
Perfect stoner science shit! 
The paper towel for the seed soak was saturated with the ‘Gold standard’ solution. CBD Seeds popped (100%) in about 36Hrs. and placed in the peat pucks. The pucks were soaked in the same solution I hardened them off and planted in 3 Gal pots (recycled dirt).
Now the Main Event, I’m committing these 13 year old seeds.
Visual seed analysis
Four of the 23 were initially eliminated, 3 damaged in transit (one black), another had a pinhole in the shell and was black inside (leaving 19).
Seed size ranged from medium small to coconuts. Seed color varied as well. It is apparent we have a range of potential parents here.
A random 9 were selected for the ultrasonic cleaner and the balance went to the ‘control’ group. They took 48 to 72 Hrs to pop {anxiety…} 
The results were, we got 5 to sprout from the ultra sonic cleaner and 3 from the control group.
These were transferred to peat pucks soaked with the ‘gold standard’ solution.
This solution:
8oz of R/O water
10 drops of B1 vitamin solution (Superthrive alternative)
1 cc Black Strap molasses, (un-sulphured)
1 tsp 3% hydrogen peroxide
13 drops of DSMO (dimethyl sulfoxide)
Was highly touted on an organic gardening site… with little explanation as to function. Other than older seeds have a tendency to pop and die as their energy storage (the cotyledons) has been depleted. The molasses and B1 are to help with that issue and the DSMO is intended to facilitate transport into the seed.
I discussed this with my kid (Waterloo Biology degree) last week and he immediately dismissed it all as pure ‘bro science’. “Seeds don’t work that way dad…”
Observations
The CBD seeds (9 min. of the ultra sonic treatment) 100% germination in 24 ~36Hrs.
The old seeds: 5 popped in 72 Hrs. And were transferred to the peat pucks. All seeds showed noticeable swelling from the soaking process. After 4 days I transferred the rest of the dormant seeds to the pucks – just in case they wake up.
You can see my ‘humidity domes’ these work well with 4 puck clusters. I cut a couple notches out of the base and leave the tops off for some air exchange. I like the peat pucks, the peat resists mold and I have never lost a seedling due to dampening off. A little water needs to be added every couple days to maintain correct humidity.
I ended up collecting 3 stragglers to bring the total to 8 (OK, 7 plus a runt). That is about 40% germination.
Why is there always a runt?
I noticed that all the seedlings including the CBD went into an odd ‘suspended animation’ for a week. No sign of issues but no growth, I haven’t seen that before so I’ll blame the germination solution. After a week of this I dosed them all (8 + 3) with some Dynomyco and that produced results!
Autopsies
I could see a couple had tried to pop and gave up so I was curious what the rest of the ‘duds’ looked like. I pulled apart the pucks and had a closer look.
2 were black inside, 1 was immature, 4 popped and died. There were 4 that looked good inside, absorbed fluid but stayed dormant.
Conclusion
The ultra sonic treatment looks like it has potential, a few more runs should give enough data to decide if it is neutral or has positive benefits.
That germination solution needs work. Molasses promotes mold on the pucks. I’m thinking distilled water, H2O2 only next time and inoculating with myco as soon as possible.
Achieving 40% germination with 13 year old seeds is impressive but I attribute that to how well Swe-can took care of these seeds.
Coming up
Part Two
) supposed to do in this context? First time I read that, only knew it from making cream with Sebring’s formula.
