I use it at 1-2 drops per litre for seed soaking although I’m sure the instructions call for a heavy dose for this purpose, I’ve heard mixed opinions on its viability, but I’ve not had a failed pop since I started using it.
I have, however had negative results using it on freshly rooted cuttings, the stuff is strong for sure so use with caution.
As for how long I soak, I dunk em for 12hrs or until they sink and then 12 hours in paper towel is usually enough to crack em. I’ve not popped anything super old though, max a couple years, so results may vary with an ancient bean.
Thank you @Lucy247420. I’ll try your method. All the instructions on the bottle breakdown to 1/4 teaspoon/gallon I have a 1 pint bottle of it and even on a bottle that size, the fonts are incredibly small, so I may need to check again using magnifier to be sure.
As far as I can tell, the main ingredient in Superthrive is vitamin B1. They don’t list the ingredients, I had to search for it.
The bottle says not to use it for every feeding. I ignored that warning in 2003 and my plants actually slowed growth, where when used at most once per month, they grew very lush. Honestly, I haven’t really used it much in recent years because it has such a strong odor and I have other excellent nutes to use. There have been more than a few folks here that mentioned using it for seeds, so I thought I’d as one of you your actual technique. Several people have also mentioned using molasses fore germinating. I’d think they could be mixed together since they have different purposes.
Zen Hydro carries it for the same price I paid like 10 years ago.
@Enstromentals, I too thank you for the video. I ordered so gibberillic acid (eBay). I can’t wait until it gets here.
EDIT: @Lucy247420, the last time I searched Amazon and eBay was 2-3 years ago. I wanted to replace my very old supply and no one was selling Superthrive at either site. I don’t know what was up with that, they both have it for sale now and it is the same price as Zen Hydro. All these years and the price remained stable. Time for me to order a fresh supply.
@Enstromentals, thanks again for posting the video. I ordered some gibberillic acid (eBay). I can’t wait until it gets here, I found seeds from 6 strains I had and thought I had lost forever. They range from 2005 to 2012. I thought I’d tossed all my old seeds.
I also have had some barley seeds soaking for 2 days. I am going to try the SST (sprouted seed tea) mentioned in the video.
@Cobra50 ga3 will cause stretching that’s why it’s not the go to right off the bat. Kevin is the man to really thank I’m just passing along his knowledge.
Last week, I was cleaning up under my bed. There were so many dust bunnies that I could not see what was under there. I found a couple of nice wooden boxes that used to house diamond Blanchard wheels. I decided that if i clear coat them, they’d be good risers for my plants. When I opened them, I found I had seeds from 6 strains in there. I hadn’t forgotten them, I just never thought about them because they were old. Here is what they were:
White Russian - May 2005
Karpov - July 2005
Neville’s Haze - august 2005
Karpov x Blue Widow - April 2006
SRL -March - 2007 (I don’t remember what the initials stand for, can’t find it in my erratic records)
St. Loius Sleeper - August 2012
Friday, I took 5 seeds from each strain except the Karpov and the Karpov x Blue Widow. I just took 3 seeds ea with them, because I have only about 25 of each of those and surprise, surprise, they were both favorites). I soaked them in a weak H2O2/water solution (1 part H2O2, 20 parts RO water). Nothing changed by the end of the 24 hours. I then upped the H2O2 after seeing a video on YouTube where they’d germed seeds in paper towels at a 5:1 ratio favoring water. I mixed 1 oz 3% H2O2 and 5 oz RO water. At the end of another 24 hours, I had cracked shells in some. I then changed them to soaking in 5ml of molasses, and 2 drops of Superthrive mixed with 1 liter of the H2O2 solution I’d soaked them in. I checked in on them every 8 hours or so. I had some very slow growth action going with a handful of seeds. I’d order some fulvic acid through Amazon and it had arrived by noon today (Sunday. Amazon has some pull with the USPS). I drained all the molasses/Superthrive\H2O2 solution from the containers and cleaned them with straight peroxide and rinsed them. I mixed the fulvic acid with pH adjusted water (5.95pH) at 35ml Ful-Power to 1 gallon of water. I put enough solution in each container to leave them sticking above the waterline by maybe 1mm
After all the seed groups soaked another 6-8 hours, I checked in on them and was surprised to find:
3 White Russian seeds with tap root started at about 2mm long (WOW! My oldest seeds at 13.1 years old! )
1 Neville’s Haze seed in the same condition
1 SRL seed also with about a 2mm protrusion
1 St. Louis Sleeper with a tap root about 5mm long
The 2 Karpov strains still had 0 germination activity.
None of these guarantees they will become plants, I had 1 tap root almost 12mm long on 2 Headband seeds and they didn’t survive. BTW, the Headbands are the reason I want to be able to sprout fussy seeds. The seed base descriptions of them sound like they will become a favorite. And if I recover some or all the strains I thought I’d never see again: BONUS extraordinaire!!!
I’m thinking the Karpov strains will be good candidates for GA3 (gibberellic acid).
@Enstromentals, yeah, I got that. He said to be very careful because of it. I only intend to use it one the ones that don’t respond well to other techniques.
I have some barley seed trying to sprout. I started it about 5:00 pm last Thursday (72 hours ago). That is some tough stuff to germ. The seed is very dry and hard. I just checked in on it again 2 hours ago. There were some nubbins on some. Hoping it means they will sprout soon. Using sprouted seeds to replace enzymes and hormones that have diminished with age is a very interesting idea.
Bad news on the sprouted seed tea front. After 3 days they were nowhere near sprouting. I looked up “germinating barley seed” on the internet.
The instructions were the same as Kevin’s instructions in his video. I watched 3 videos on the subject, the 3rd said, “its best to use seeds still in the hull because the seed gets damaged removing it.”
I did like the video said and went to a health food store and asked for barley seed. The lady asks, “Pearl barley?”. I told her I said I just know “barley seed”. I’ve never seen a barley seed. I’ve eaten barley. I like it, but I never saw it cooked.
I read the package when I started germing them because I didn’t see shells on them. I looked for “shelled” in the package. Nothing. I looked only in the large font for the information.
I re-read the package. In some of the smallest print on the package it said “pearled barley has had its hard outer layer removed”. My cataracts make it difficult to read small print on a package, so I usually don’t. (I have an eye dr. appt this week, we’ll see if they are “ripe” yet. Why couldn’t my big vision problem have been glaucoma? )
Oh well, at least I know what to look in the next package.
Just get malted barley (like used in beer brewing). It has already been (professionally) germinated and dried at peak efficiency. Grind it, too dress ot, and water it in. No muss, no fuss.
Sad to report that only the one St Louis Sleeper is still alive and I am not too sure about it. Its tap root wasn’t smooth like normal. I put it in coco and have been watering it with a fulvic acid solution of 18ml/gallon. I usually like the tap to be extending out to twice that length because the wait for emergence is shorter, I just decided to take a chance.
I wasn’t actually expecting any to germinate except, maybe, the St. Louis Sleeper since they are only 6 years old. So I don’t feel bummed about it. And, this was only the first try. I have several hundred seeds left. Going 5 seeds at a time let’s me stay hopeful longer.
The next try will be using just one of the strains. I don’t know what I’d have done if I had a minimum of keeper from each of the 6 strains. I’d have been VERY sad to toss any out, and yet, I could only SQUEEZE in at most 4 plants (except The awesome little LowRyder x LaDivas I got from @ReikoX, I always have some space in Veg), in Flowering is where my little plants go to get huge. They typically go in around 18ish inches and at least double their height. I had a plant over a year ago that went in at 16.5 inches and harvested at 51.25 inches. As a result, I run out of Flowering very quickly. And, it is currently back to hot outdoors again, so my Flowering room is running 87°+ so I try to keep everything spread out for air flow.
Plus, I am still waiting on my GA3 and malted barley (to make sprouted seed tea) to get here. They both are supposed to be excellent for popping old beans. eBay sellers seem to take longer to actually get their merchandise to the post office. Almost every time, they print out a label and get a tracking number so they can say it has shipped and then don’t get it into the hands of a postal worker for up to (usually, actually) 48 hrs. Amazon sellers are usually faster than that, but they didn’t carry GA3.
Oh well, it is about time I learned to be patient. It is totally opposite to my nature…
@MadScientist, I like a pair of hemostats. I hold the seed tightly enough that my fingers get pinched. This gives me an idea of how much pressure and allows a gentler, firm action. It took me a half dozen or so seeds originally to determine how much pressure to use. I get it to JUST crack without opening the shell.
Edit 2: Added the photos
I grab the seed with the seem in between both jaws…
I gently squeeze letting my fingers give feedback on how much pressure I am squeezing with.
Edit:
I saw this when you first posted it, then forgot it when I was searching for an easy method for germing old seeds. I just re-discovered it and will give it a try. Not a “simple” method, but it does provide a method for germinating in water. It seems, logically, that it would provide the best chance for success. It just means buying one more product, DMSO. But GA3 and sprouting seed tea may work just as well.
Hey @Cobra50 read a couple of your post here looks like @ReikoX touched on it already being a hombrewer since the Early 90’s I believe you already had malted barley to start with, it would of never sprouted for you no matter how how long you soaked it it was already sprouted by a maltster and dried in a kiln to stop the germ process, the nubs you referred to is something a homebrewing sees after they grind it and mash it to start the brewing of beer in the mash after conversion… ya it’s actually the initial taproot of the sprouted barley! Hope the clears it up for ya ! Prost!
Now if ya want to do SST with barley by al means go for it you’d probably need to go and get raw barley at a grain co-op ir something similar but for ease like @ReikoX said a homebrew shop sells the stuff for like a $1/lb be it 2-row or 6-row won’t matter ! … oh that gets me thinking FC has Budweiser barley field trials behind their plant wonder if they wouldn’t mind missing a few grain stalks! Lol
It’s not germinated and won’t. When the sales lady asked me it pearled barley was ok, I thought she was talking about a brand name. I probably wouldn’t have bought it if I’d paid enough attention to see it had no shell. I had asked for barley seed (the video that @Enstromentals posted said “you can get barley seed from your local health food store”). Mine only carries the pearled version.
One person on YouTube said, “shelled barley seed can be difficult to germinate” . That person is a master of understatement. I’ve tried 3x, each time rinsing and changing water at closer intervals. It ain’t happening. I only did 2 more times because I was waiting for my orders of barley seed and malted barley to arrive. I ordered a pound of each like 30 minutes after I read @ReikoX’s message above. The malted barley must’ve been a shorter trip to get to me as it arrived today. I ordered the malted barley crushed to save a little wear on my blender blades.
I am going to make some SST from the malted barley this after noon and use it. When the seed gets here, I’ll make some from freshly sprouted seeds. I’ll use both to see if there is a difference in how the seeds like them.
There isn’t any very close to where I live and my cataracts prevent me from doing an long drives. Day or night they make it difficult to see when any light hits them, its like suddenly putting on a pair of cloudy gray contact lenses. I ordered through eBay. the seed was about $7/lb and the malted was about $9/lb. Not as cheap as a homebrew store, but acceptable. Especially if it helps to sprout even one of my old seeds that were stored under my bed for 11-13 years. I love a good project.
I was wondering the same thing. I was going to go to a farm supply site to find out, but I see once again @ReikoX was able to provide an answer.
I was wondering how you knew that, @ReikoX. You really like your home made highs, eh?
Edit: added the following:
No wonder @99PerCent thinks you know everything about growing cannabis. I think you do, and more.
In the this posting from @MadScientist (the germination bomb) the original poster says near the end that this is used for exactly that. He goes on to say that if you don’t have any to work with, to scuff the shells before putting them in the g-bomb. I’m not going to buy any until I’ve tried with the products I have on hand or on order.
I received a fresh bottle of Superthrive, mine was at least a decade old. They are still using that tin cap on the bottle. It seems like they do that knowing it will rust away and most people will just buy more instead of transferring it to an all plastic H2O2 bottle and cap. I just bought a 2 ounce bottle since I obviously didn’t think it worth using all the time. I really only bought it for use in germinating.
I also received a pack of powder to make humic acid. I am now questioning if it is necessary since I have fulvic and according to BioAg website, fulvic is derived from humics. But, for under $10, it isn’t a horrible thing to have on hand and like fulvic acid, it can be used with any nutrient, so I don’t think it’ll go to waste.
According USPS website, my GA3 will arrive tomorrow. I had already started a second round of trying to germ 5 pcs each of all 6 old strains before I decided to just do one strain at a time. Of those six seed groups, 4 actually have tap roots wedging the shells open. and out of them both the White Russian (the oldest group of seeds I have from days past) and the St. Louis Sleeper have an emergent tap root as well, with both protruding about 1mm.
Ya I watch the vid in the above thread it was misleading to me with the whole barley thing wish we could of saved ya the headache just a bit earlier . There are other seeds out there that probably could be used also for SST like popcorn, and Alflafa chalked full of plant hormones (tricontinol ) and zeatin ?(corn) once sprouted good luck in getting those babies to sprout I’m pulling for ya!
@Tinytuttle, I was wondering what other seeds could provide similar help. Hell, alfalfa sprouts are available in any grocery store. The health food store should have fresh, all organic alfalfa sprouts ready to go. That is, of course, they clean them so much that they lose most of their nutritional value the way most prepared food do. I think the health food store would be most likely to have its nutritional fully intact.
I’d have liked it better it he had gone into more detail with barley and GA3. But, a little experimentation should provide specifics, it just takes longer without a jumping off point to start at.
Thanks for the advice.
And that advice. I bought several types of desiccants for storing seeds and pollen, I’ll make sure to put some in with chopped malted barley and refrigerate it.
Sounds good in theory but alfalfa sprouts at that stage have already lost most of the important stuff needed , you want to get the seeds at the stage like what we do for our cannabis seeds just sprouted with and emerging taproot then blend it! The truth be known all bet a lot of seeds could provide something to the tea! I’v even heard weed seeds being used in SST (dandelion) perhaps! Some crazy shit Right there!
)
My cataracts make it difficult to read small print on a package, so I usually don’t. (I have an eye dr. appt this week, we’ll see if they are “ripe” yet. Why couldn’t my big vision problem have been glaucoma? 
)
I’ll look for it.
Right there!