Germinating old Seeds

I havent been able to ascertain how much aloe to use. A tablespoon of liquid gel? More? Can i use too much? Also where do i find gibberelic acid? Seedbay ( i think it was) had some briefly but gone now. Edit… I see the link@ spaceman gave out. Going to try it. Thanks( ga3)

Please describe this. You mean a vice?

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On the Aloe, you really CAN’T use too much!!! Some buy the Aloe Vera Water, but the Ms has Aloe Vera growing all over the house. I rip off a Fan (5 or 6 inch piece), slice it lengthwise along the edge, peel it open and with a small putty knife, scrape to get the gel. I even put small pieces of the leaf matter in the solution. Mix it up well and let it sit covered until Lentil/Bean Soak is completed (24 hours). Combine the two and mix well…….ready to go. I normally soak seed 24-48 hours. P/S - I also use the Gel as Aftershave Cream, cuts and, burns!!! Any Garden Outlet sells GA3…I get mine from eBay, very inexpensive, I might add. I purchase the 99%. Doesn’t take a lot to get 35 PPM. $10 worth of GA3 (5 - 7 grams) will last you YEARS!!!

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Thank you for all the great information! My seeds and my face will be loving this! I assume the aloe is used to soften the shell?

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BOTH the Aloe AND the Pea/Bean soak produce an enzyme that aids in penetrating the hardened shell…I THINK the GA3 accelerated it’s effect. I’ve read where some add a few drops of DMSO to the mixture, but I use my DMSO for muscle soreness!!!

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In-vitro germination is also supposed to be very effective in germinating older seed stock. I’ve germinated seeds in-vitro, but I killed them trying to take explants from them. I have all the materials I need to try another run. I have some older seeds that the g-rate is around 50% on, so I’m gonna try them out.

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Boy I would love it if you would make a small thread on how to do that. I’m really in isolation, so anything I learn I have to learn for myself or from you guys.

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That’s the second time I’ve heard of that stuff. I’m going to have to get some.

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Walmart, any Tractor Supply, any Farm-related Store has DMSO. It’s natural (distilled from the bark of a tree). It’s one of THE BEST agents for transdermal uses known!!! I use it on sprains, aches (hip, calves, wrists)/ It comes in Liquid or Gel form. Check out DMSO.net………Sebring uses it in his CBD Creams and Salves. EVERY country, but the USA uses it for Humans. I bought it from the neighborhood Pharmacy when in Spain. Folks in California used to drive over to Mexico to buy it, especially the “Senior Citizens” like myself.

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Here’s the document I used when I did it. It came with a tissue culture kit we got from Phytotechlab.com. It has recipes, and instructions for 3 different media formulations, one of which is seed germination media.

You don’t need everything in the kit to germinate seeds, each recipe lists the ingredients required to create that specific type of media.

This isn’t in the document, but one of the big drawbacks for home tissue culture has been contamination. There’s a heat tolerant bactericide/fungicide product called PPM, “Plant Preservative Mixture”, that you cook directly into your media at a ratio of 1ml/L. If you use PPM, and a glove box, or flow hood, you’ll greatly improve your chances of success.

Full disclosure, I’ve been plugging away at TC for a year, and I can get callus, and shoots, but no roots at all. I have germinated seeds, and I know for a fact that PPM works, but beyond that, I’m a TC n00b. :slight_smile:

I have a TC document dump on Dropbox. It’s 3 zip files one on basic lab procedures, one on setting up a low cost TC lab, and one that’s specific to cannabis tissue culture. You can get all 3 of them here.

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Did you ever read the stuff i posted on tissue culture ? specifically the need to switch the ratios to promote rooting once you have the callus and shoots.

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Hey man. :slight_smile: I don’t think I saw the doc you’re talking about, but I have read about that before. It’s basically the same media as shoot production, but you use IBA instead of TDZ, and you use Murashige & Skroog Basal + Vitamins at 1/2 strength. The document I work from is in that Dropbox dump.

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A vice could work if you’re careful enough.

Something like this is what I had in mind:

But you can probably go to the hardware store and rig up something that costs much less and is just as effective.

I’ve used pliers too, but they require a much more delicate touch, as there’s nothing to stop you from blowing the seed apart. It’s much safer to turn a screw, because the travel is limited by the threads.

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@ lefthandseeds And @ guitarzan… Man! This is great! Seed popping time is coming up soon. Next full moon. Just before I think. This info in this thread is a gold mine. Can’t wait to see what old stuff pops! Going to order a lb of redworms for the vermicompost bin too!

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There i is a tissue culture thread on here it might have been yours even but I posted some links to cannabis specific tissue culture methods.

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So I have some seeds that are over 15 years old ( Apollo 11) and Im wondering if I get them to germinate will the plants grow like they were from fresh seed ? Will they be weak plants ? Might try them outdoors this year . Should I bother ?

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They might grow at a slower pace. I’ve had old beans really take there time in Veg. You won’t know though until ya pop em. Good luck. :v:

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Thanks for the reply . I gave some to a friend a couple years ago and they germinated but they killed them before they had a chance to grow . So I believe they will germinate . I am more concerned about how they might grow out . I think Ill give em a shot .

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A-11 is one of my all time favorite flowers. Curious as to the breeder of your seeds,
Bros Grimm’s or Joey’s?

Best of luck germinating those seeds, hope they all grow well.

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I had bros Grimm C99 back then but now that you mention it the original A11 seeds might have been from Joeys then I made seeds . It was a long time ago . lol

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