for both of us! I’ll keep you posted and plan to make more if I do get some to pop!
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@ceilingless @Elpolloloco I haven’t tried it yet on older seeds, but I’ve had great success in general with germination following this process:
- Scuff the edges by hand or in a shaker
- Soak in H202 solution 12 hours, up to 24 if no tails
- Place into Jiffy pucks soaked in weak solution of Ful-Power and kelp then squeezed gently out and fluffed up
- Heat pad and dome, no spraying them directly
I think the fulvic really gives them a kick in the pants when it comes to accessing the stored nutrients inside, it matters more than the kelp IMO
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Good to know! I may give that ful-power a shot!
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Thanks @Dirt_Wizard
Any ratios you suggest on the kelp? I’ll take a look at the ful power as well.
If I don’t get any of these to go I’ll give them a try.
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Nothing precise, I usually just mix 750ml of water with a teaspoon of Ful-Power and add about a 1/2 of a teaspoon homemade kelp extract, just cold-soaked kelp meal and water in a jar in the fridge. I doubt using more of either would hurt unless you really made it strong, I’ve probably mixed it twice as strong before and didn’t notice a difference either way.
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I think it was @G-paS I first saw doing it, she soaks in fulvic too but for me, my first priority is to get the seeds clean and oxygenated so I use hydrogen peroxide for the soak to accomplish both, then soak the Jiffy plugs in fulvic like she did with paper towels to give them a good environment to emerge. I think the fluffed plugs, whether the peat or coco ones provide a good airy but moist environment for a weak first root.
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I have added a
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Grabbed some ful-power this morning and gave the seeds a mist. Carefully Pulled a few out of the seed shell per Snowhigh recommendation on the PotCast.
The embryos seem to be alive and viable, but slow growing.
I have high hopes for that ful-power! Thanks for the recommendation!
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I’ve got my fingers crossed for you all over here, those old Snowhigh seeds are surely full of treasure!
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Heart of Darkness (Narrow Leaf Afghani x Uzbekistani x Black Congolese)
This one really stood out from the F2 so far. Coming from the Afghani side I believe.
Transplanted 10 total plants into 1 gallon pots for the OP Reproduction. 6 Weeks in from Germination.
I am also running some of Snowhigh Black Congolese and can see the similarities in some of the HOD females. Going to put some of these in the OP as well!!!
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Holy shit
Are you making F3’s?
And Black Congo Bx sounds cool, too.
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The leaves are beautifully narrow! I’m staying tuned, looks like some fun stuff coming your way!
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How are the little babies doing?
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Still a little stalled out, but the embryos I can see seem to be happy still.
I hit them with a little coconut water and some more ful-power this morning.
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If that ends up not working, there’s certainly a lot of different ideas I’ve seen people have success with for old and difficult seeds. Off the top of my head:
@Astrodude and others have success using fresh aloe meat as a germination medium
I see friends who grow hot peppers talking about them having similar thick seed shells and they use a few different soaks to soften it and let the embryo emerge, including a mix of saltpeter and gibberellic acid that you can get as a cheap kit or make.
@Guitarzan and @Upstate have played with a lot of techniques and might have some ideas? I know DMSO is one of the wilder ones, for its barrier-crossing transport properties.
The most advanced set of techniques I’ve seen, if you’re feeling ambitious, is this one from Frank at Purple Caper Seeds:
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I am going to make F3’s of these. I used one male in the original pollination and selected three females to keep. The label on these seeds had the 6 Star so picked these to germinate. Going to do an open pollination with a couple males and females to open up the gene pool again and pass them out to the community to whomever is interested. Going to put a bunch of others landrace sativa / haze / and some of my select breeder cuts in the project. I know the HOD is sold out and likely gone but I feel these are some really unique genetics that are incredible breeding tools
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DMSO is a very interesting one! I’m gonna dig into that
Thanks for your help, Dirt Wizard
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Old seeds are tough. One key is to keep them moist enough for weeks without drowning them. The Coco method is promising. If you can get the real coco( unprocessed), even better. @Guitarzan has gotten into many more methods than i have. For me, I have a worm farm now so i can use fresh castings. I plan on using the castings( always peroxide first) in between paper towels like normal, but with a small amount of fresh castings/ vermicompost in there and seeds on top of the castings. A castings taco with seeds for toppings😁
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The aloe contains gibberellic acid and other growth hormones. In lieu of fresh castings I’d add an aloe soak ( put seeds in a chunk of aloe plant) for 12 hrs and then plant into living soil.
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Here’s a link to something called the germination bomb:
Germination Bomb For Old Or Difficult Seeds
You put blackstrap molasses, Superthrive, H2O2, and DMSO in a cup of water. You make a little pressure vessel from a pint mason jar, an aquarium pump, some air line, and an airstone. The seeds and solution go into the jar, put the lid on it, hook the hose to the pump, and turn it on. The idea is to soften the shell and force the carbs, vitamins, and growth hormones into the embryo. The link has a lot more info. 
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