I sent some to a friend in spain. Grew a plant like 3 feet and pure fire! He said! So i dunno man.
707 Headband by @Scissor-Hanz
I heard someone say, that oily seeds do not go bad, it is only harder to make them sprout, i think it was from @Knospe, i actually heard it from.
HppHrvst 
Oh, itās good smoke alright. Maybe 1 out of every 15 I did not like.
I have a few going now. I have better luck than most people with those for some reason. I soak them 2-3 days with some water and 3% H2O2. Then a light cracking and pop them in the soilless mix.
I have one of @Scissor-Hanzās headband growing now, though i tried about 7 seeds 1st time and no luck, so i stuck 5 more in a little water then added a drop or two of 3% hydrogen peroxide, changed the water mix about 3 times and after a week/10 days 3 had sunk, i then put em in paper towel and ziplock on a v.low heat mat for a wee bitā¦ then when the one 1 plant i have sprouted,ā¦ before that i had had two pop tap roots but not crack the soilā¦!
Good luck with your seeds cracker @MadScientistā¦
Pic of the headband 
Itās been growing slowly but itās taking off a wee bit nowā¦ Iām sure youāll get a few growingā¦
i reckon thereās a 20/30% germ ratio ā¦?!
Happy growing ,
Gaz
I was gonna contribute the seeds to the winners of the 710 cup we got coming and well, @Scissor-Hanz told me he was gonna send some others than the headband, because here people are starting to learn and if i give them those seeds they are gonna say they were dead.
Took this from another website, browing thruthe internet for germination methods.
Germinating old seeds is of great interest to me. I have a pretty good collection of seeds dating back to around 2003-2007 plus bag seeds that I saved from around 1996-98. All the seeds I saved from back in the 70ās are long gone, sigh. I am using some of the old bag seeds for these experiments. They were stored initially in film canisters (with dessicant) at room temp until around 2000, when they went into the fridge.
Here is the original inspiration - I saved this post from the original Cannabis World forums years ago:
Through the university, I have been exposed to a āgermination bombā that coincidentally was the same university Steve Tuck attended and learned the same technique (contrary to what he would tell you). Hereās what he stated about it @ OG during his stint and simply, it is as follows:
"Also hereās a free bone for all you old schoolers, while in collage me and a buddy developed a pressure bomb to open/germinate really old seeds. I have taught this trick to a few friends who were amazed at how well it works but neccesity is the mother of invention, hereās how it works at home.
Take an old mayonaise jar and punch a hole in the top a little bit bigger than an aquarium bubbler hose, and run one through it, silicone all around hose on both sides and allow to dry overnight. Now put a little bubbler air blower in it with a stone on end. Now fill with water and 10 drops of superthrive or similar concentrated b1 solution. Next use 10 drops of DMSO per 8 oz.'s of water, float old seeds on top and screw lid on tight, run motor [aquarium air pump] for 24-48 hours to build a little pressure to imbibe fluid in seeds then place on 90 degree F wet dirt and they will usually get a good percentage of those with a spark left in them, let stay at that temp for 3-4 weeks in dirt as some may be slow to respond. You should be able to get DMSO from a pharmacy. And personally I like to add a little sugar water as old seed loses itās carbohydrates over time. If you cannot find B1, a kelp based mixture will work as well."
The nutrient solution he stated can, obviously, be replaced by the natural banquet of hormones in kelp (like 3LB & VC stated). This āgermination bombā essentially covers each mode of seed scarification in heat, pressure, and water. The air pump provides constant agitation which in turns creates oxygen which is the most abundant element needing in root formation. I have improved my germination by easily 80% since using this technique. I grow solely landrace and heirloom cultivars so needless to say most seeds I posses are old and require special attention.
Whatās great about it is, that if the seeds sink - theyāre viable. And as I stated, this germination bomb covers all forms of scarification. In my mind, it is the ONLY way to germinate seeds.
And oh yea, DONT USE PAPER TOWELS! Yes, they may work and get the job done(for freshly produced hybrids). But it is an artifical medium and devoid of the microbes necessary to break down (tough, old) seed coats.
For a germination medium I use worm castings and mychorrizal innoculated perlite.
GERMINATION BOMB EXPERIMENTS
Initially, I was primarily interested in whether the seeds would germinate. Since the long-term goal is to pop some of the elite seeds in my collection, I will be germinating the seeds in medium. I will keep track of how many seeds actually grow as well as how many germinate.
I use pint size mason jars with metal lids. Since the air pump I am using has 4 ports, I run 4 jars in each experiment. One jar is a control, the other three jars have different strengths of whatever additive I am testing.
SUPPLIES NEEDED
Glass jars with tight screw-on lids. I use wide-mouth 1 pint Mason jars since replacement lids & rings are easy to get (the lids are going to rust, probably sooner rather than later)
Aquarium air pump
Small airstone for each jar
Air tubing
Silicone sealer
Drill
Drill bit the same size as the air hose
Wood block (scrap)
BASIC SETUP
To prepare the mason jar:
Set the lid on top of the piece of scrap wood to drill the hole in the lid. This greatly reduces the chances of getting sharp shards around the edge of the hole as you drill it. The hole in the lid needs to be just large enough to pass the air hose through. Put a small air stone on the end of the hose coming out the bottom of the lid. Set the lid on top of the jar & adjust the length of the hose inside the jar so that the airstone just touches the bottom of the jar. Seal around the hose on the top & bottom of the lid with silicone; allow to cure.
The jars are filled halfway with water (8 oz). In general, I use reverse osmosis filtered water. The experiment with GA3 was done with distilled water because the instructions specified distilled.
Put in each jar (this amount to 8 oz water):
10 drops Superthrive
1cc food-grade molasses (from the grocery store, a previous experiment using horticultural molasses resulted in a problem with mold)
1 tsp 3% hydrogen peroxide
The jars are set on top of a seedling heat mat to keep them warm with a towel draped over the top to block light. Attach the air line to the air pump and plug the pump in/turn it on. .
EXPERIMENT 1 - DMSO STRENGTH
A word of warning - DMSO is not something to handle casually. It can be dangerous. Before opening the bottle, wash your hands and any exposed skin thoroughly & put on rubber or surgical gloves; long sleeves are also a good idea. Be VERY careful not to get any on your skin. DMSO will take anything it comes in contact with (including anything that is on your skin) and help it to penetrate into your cells - this includes oil, gasoline, and everything else. The system below works reasonably well without the DMSO (unless your seeds are really old or were not stored well), but I suggest scuffing the seeds before putting them in the mix if you donāt use it.
The first experiment I did was to see how various strengths of DMSO affected germination. DMSO can be found easily at Tractor Supply Co or most feed stores. DMSO facilitates penetration of the nutrients & amendments through cell walls/membranes into the seed - no scuffing required. This experiment was done using reverse osmosis (RO) filtered water.
Each mason jar has a different amount of DMSO per 8 oz of water:
Jar 1 - 5 drops DMSO
Jar 2 - 8 drops DMSO
Jar 3 - 10 drops DMSO
Jar 4 - 13 drops DMSO
The jar with 13 drops of DMSO had the best rate of root development. Of course, since the seeds are 18 years old & werenāt stored well at the start, most of the seeds didnāt develop beyond popping roots. Here are the results:
Jar 1 - 16 of 20 seeds cracked. 14 developed visible roots about 1/16 - 1/8" long
Jar 2 - 17 seeds cracked & all developed roots average 1/8" long
Jar 3 - 19 seeds cracked & developed roots average 3/16" long
Jar 4 - all 20 seeds cracked & developed roots average 1/4" long
Once the seeds had roots at about 1/4" long, I transferred them to seed starting trays with purchased sterile seed starting medium. I watered the seedlings with a dilute mix of nutes, Superthrive, & a bit of molasses. Most of them died, but 1 seedling from the jar with 10 drops DMSO grew & 2 seedlings from the jar with 13 drops DMSO grew. They were not the strongest seedlings, of course.
After running this experiment, I decided I wanted to test other mixes, so I will not be using as many seeds for future experiments. I want to use the same seeds for all experiments to eliminate that potential variable. If I keep using 20 seeds in each jar, I wonāt have enough seeds to complete all of my experiments. I am also going to germinate using my normal mix of perlite with a bit of vermiculite rather than using a purchased seed starting mix. I grow in an Ebb & Flow system, so itās easier for me to start the seeds in the same medium I will use for growing. I put the seeds into cups of perlite with a pinch of vermiculite around the seed.
Since the jar with 13 drops DMSO worked best, that will be included in my standard mix. The new mix is (this amount per 8 oz of water):
10 drops Superthrive
1cc molasses (from the grocery store, a previous experiment using horticultural molasses resulted in a problem with mold)
1 tsp 3% hydrogen peroxide
13 drops DMSO
EXPERIMENT 2 - GA3 STRENGTH
Using 90% GA3 powder, I created a 150ppm batch of GA3 by dissolving 1 scoop (1/32 tsp, 0.8 gram) GA3 in 0.5cc 91% rubbing alcohol in a shot glass. The alcohol evaporated as I was working on dissolving the powder, so I added more alcohol as needed (I used close to 1cc total). I then added the dissolved powder/alcohol mix to 16 oz distilled water. I used distilled water (purchased) for this entire experiment since the GA3 instructions specified it.
In addition to the base mix shown previously, I used the following:
Jar 1 - control, no GA3 (8 oz distilled water)
Jar 2 - 50ppm GA3 (5.333 oz distilled water & 2.666 oz of the 150ppm base mix GA3)
Jar 3 - 100ppm GA3 (2.666 oz distilled water & 5.333 oz of the 150ppm base mix GA3)
Jar 4 - 150ppm GA3 (8 oz 150ppm base mix GA3)
I put the seeds in a 1:20 mix of H2O2 & water (1/4 tsp H2O2, 5 tsp RO water) for 1/2 hour to kill pathogens on the shell before putting them in the pressure jars.
After 36 hours in the pressure jar, I put the seeds into cups to germinate:
Jar 1 - 4 of 5 seeds popped open, one not popped. One seed the shell was completely off and the cotelydon leaves were opening. The one that did not pop is in position 4 (bottom left); the one with leaves is in position 3 (center)
Jar 2 - All 5 seeds popped open with roots growing. One seed the shell was completely off and the cotelydon leaves were opening. The one with leaves is in position 3 (center)
Jar 3 - 4 of 5 seeds popped open, one not popped. One seed the shell was completely off and the cotelydon leaves were opening. The one that did not pop is in position 4 (bottom left); the one with leaves is in position 3 (center)
Jar 4 - All 5 seeds popped open, one just barely. One seed the shell was completely off and the cotelydon leaves were opening. The one that did not pop well is in position 4 (bottom left); the one with leaves is in position 3 (center)
Long term survival:
Jar 1 - 2 seedlings grew successfully. The seed that hadnāt popped open never grew.
Jar 2 - 1 seedling grew beyond 1st set of leaves; very stretched - survived a couple of weeks but died. The other 4 grew but did not survive to grow 2nd set of leaves. All somewhat stretched.
Jar 3 - The others made it above ground, but stretched & ended up dying - from the center out, oddly. These died out second quickest. The seed that hadnāt popped open never grew.
Jar 4 - The others made it above ground, but stretched a lot & ended up dying - from the center out. These died out quickest.
The GA3 did not seem to make a significant difference in the number of seeds that developed at least a root tip. The more GA3 in the mix, the shorter the eventual life of the seedling & the more stretch it experienced. The germination bomb without the GA3 seems to be the best long-term germination method.
Future Experiments:
I want to do another experiment with DMSO using 15, 18, and 20 drops per 8 oz of water. Since the strongest mix I tested at the beginning was the best, I want to find out if a stronger mix is better.
I want to try an experiment using IBA in the mix.
I would also like to test using different sources of nutrient for the older seed - molasses, sugar, kelp, mild mix of standard hydro nutrients
Hope you read it, and helps you in some way. Will try it myself.
HppHrvst 
Thanks but I lost interest halfway as none of this is anything Iād doā¦ lol.
Cheers anyway bud ,
Gaz
Just trying to use everyday objects around the house in science experiments.
Am only seeing if it helps with some aloe as other methods not working.
@Scissor-Hanz, Iām having trouble germinating these seeds using just distilled water. How much of the 3% hydrogen peroxide to water are you using? The difficulty getting a successful sprout just makes me want to try the plant all the more, but I gotta get them to normalize somewhat first since my germ rate is less than successful at the moment. Iām hoping the H2O2 will help for me as well. Iāve never found it necessary to do anything other that plains distilled water in the past, although on retrospect, had I thought of it, I may have been able to save some of my seeds that went bad and still have the Blue Widow I liked a dozen years ago as well as my accidental crossing of a Blue Widow fem x White Widow male. That one was actually my favorite. I had hermed those genetics so many times, they ended up becoming extremely difficult to herm near the end and often didnāt at all, further leading to the demise of that particular plant.
Iāve used 3% at a rate anywhere from 2:1 to 50:1 but Iām not sure what the recommended dose is.
They need abrasion/shell cracking or you wonāt get many. Most will not germinate from simply sitting in a wet towel. I lightly crack them like a sunflower seed after 2-3 days in a paper towel and get about 30+% to grow to maturity.
Since this method works for you, Iāll try it myself. I had attempted to crack some that werenāt already cracked, but the shells were so soft I was afraid of crushing the embryo inside. I didnāt try every seed. Iāll try them all. Any that seem to be too soft Iāll use the abrasion method.
I changed the paper towels and water for both containers of seeds today, making certain to remove the plant bits by wiping each seed. I set out to bury the one seed with a nice looking root, but the root was weak and came off. I buried the one that had the dark spot instead. The spot wiped off as though it had a bit of the food from in the shell. Looking at the root under 20x, it didnāt appear to be damaged, so fingers crossed.
The 40 in the larger container will all get cracked or scratched.
Thanks for the tips! 
Edit: On re-reading after saving my reply, I noticed one sentence made little sense the way it was worded. Corrected it.
Iām confident youāll get one. Once itās softened, crack the shell as lightly as possible. Another method thatās worked is to just plant a bunch in a 2 gal and wait a few weeks for some to come up.
@Scissor-Hanz, while going through and cracking seeds, I was using a 5x magnifying visor. I found that all the seeds that had really soft shells were already cracked. Then I noticed that most of them looked like the 8 in the following photo. The 8 photos are of seeds I havenāt cracked yet. The connection point of many of these seeds were apparently already open. Iām pretty sure these will fail.
Notice how they look open and hollow at the connection point. Some of the hollow ended seeds were also cracked as well. Iāll look at some seeds that werenāt wetted yet and see it they are already looking the same. There were several that looked like a normal seed and when cracked they looked ready to stick its root out. Hoping those will make it.
@ReikoX, you get 10% germ on 20 yo seeds? That seems to be a really rate for seeds that old. What is your normal germ technique for these?
Edit: Forgot to add photo. 
I donāt know what to tell you bud. As I told everyone, they are old seeds that were stored at room temp in a temperate climate. So thereās lots of duds in there now. Iād suggest not trying to baby them, plant a bunch in some soil and hope for a few. I canāt tell you much about the science of it.
@Scissor-Hanz, Iām not complaining, just reporting what I found. I donāt know if anyone had looked that closely at them and I am just saying that I found this. You told me in the beginning they would be very difficult to germinate. I think the hollow end is probably one of the reasons they are difficult. I am finding this an interesting learning experience and thought someone else would also find it interesting.
I cracked all the seeds. In the past, I only did that when it seemed the seed was having trouble cracking the shell itself.
I may have tossed the first group seeds too soon. I had it in my head to ignore any that didnāt crack on its own wasnāt going to anyway, so after 10 days I tossed them all and started anew.
Germinating old seeds is a useful skill to develop.
Cheers, brother. 
No worries, man.
ā¦I threw a bunch that I planted back into the soil bin because they didnāt do anything for 2 weeks. Next time I filled 2 gals, a bunch popped up in my garden. Soil/seeds went from wet - to bone dry for a while - to wet again, over a month or two. Something in that process seemed to help, lol. Iām stumped by those also.
(My philosophy is to try to prevent them from rotting, in the long time it takes for them to wake up 
)
@Scissor-Hanz, that is much closer to how Mother Nature germinates seeds than the way most of us here do it.
Also like Mom Natureā¦
Iāve often marveled that we get plants to grow in 24/0 lighting when Mom gives them time to sleep and grow roots in quiet. I use 21/3 myself to give them some quiet time as well. There is so much that we do as growers that are absolutely as precise as we can get like pH setting and nutes mixing and feed schedules. Mother Nature provides a randomness in all that and she does a fine job without human āhelpā. 
Iām glad to see that you are doing that with your seeds. I was thinking of doing something like that myself because the biggest reason I scrapped the first container of seeds is that a couple of them had gotten moldy. I decided not to wait for anymore to get moldy. I wasnāt sure how much dry time the seeds could take. I was thinking of putting them in wet towels for a day or two then switch to dry towels for a while and watch closely for signs of needing moisture. I prefer the towel method so I can see how they are doing. Unlike Mother Nature I get concerned about how they are growing at all, she is much more confident in herself than I. Since I still have 50ish HB seeds Iām going a 20 seed test like that.
It is clear to me that I need to not put the HBs in my normal schedule, Iāll need to actually have them completely outside the schedule and squeeze them in when they actually grow.
I appreciate the help with germinating these seeds, I figure you would know better than anyone else as they are your seeds.
The seeds in question were stored well, Ancestral Skunk. I followed the suggestions of Chimera and sterilized some jars of distilled water and a bleach solution in a pressure cooker. I then washed the seeds for a few minutes, rinsed them well, soaked them for 24 hours and planted directly in the no-till bed.
How many did you get going @ReikoX, and were they long in the soil.?
Hopefully youāll find a keeper or twoā¦
Happy growing ,
Gaz
Iāve had success popping stubborn beans with a few drops of superthrive but I donāt even know if they still make it, I heard itās snake oil but it seemed to make a difference back then. I still have a bunch of it stored away.
I got six out of fifty going, one damped off, three were female. One had male flowers about 4-weeks in, they all had male flowers in the buds by the end. No keepers kept, rest of the seeds were given away.
I was wondering if anyone had tried soaking old seeds in compost /worm tea? Thoughts concerns? Havenāt had to my self but Iād probably try it! I was thinking that there are natural forms one could use for GA but none come to mind now will have to crack some books and research!
