I’ve tried all kinds of things and am almost out of seeds now. I think I’m going to try this method, since everything else has failed. If it doesn’t work, then I can’t say I didn’t try… Lord I hope it works, though.
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@Hippiechik
I hope you do 
Someone recently just used my technique to get their older, stubborn beans going after all other attempts failed.
Just make sure to do it as outlined, they left a few cliff notes about the process under their initial one to help someone else who had questions on the technique.
But if you have any questions at all you can always ask me. I really want to see you succeed.
It’s really easy to do tho, and I’ll be sending you good vibes. 
†
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@HappyTrees23s here are some more tips you sent me; thanks again!
So I was having the same issue as you with some beans from the 70s.
I tried everything I could, but nothing worked.
BUT I finally mixed a few methods together, and took some advice from a member here, and got about a 98+% success rate.
First I soaked the beans with a diluted solution of 3% hydrogen peroxide and some Poland spring water.
I did a 6-12 hour soak that was 2 Tablespoons of 3% hydrogen peroxide mixed with 2 cups of spring water.
I shook them in the container every so often.
And if any sunk I took them out !
You don’t need to leave em there for 12 hours. Probably better if it’s less time, but I know I left some in for 12 hours and they still worked. I even left some for around 24 and they worked. But I think around 6 - 12 hours is safest.
Then I took them all out and washed em off with spring water only.
(As my friend @buckaroobonsai just spoke to me about, it is a very important step to rinse the h202 off, so don’t forget.)
Next I took a small plastic Rubbermaid container, like the cheap small square ones from the dollar store, and I filled it halfway with Organic worm castings. I sprayed the worm castings down with a mister just enough to know the the top layer was wet. Like 10-12 sprays. Don’t let big pools of water sit on top, but it should be wet.
Then I placed the seed gently on top, not buried. Just resting on the top of the WC. I give it one more most, seal it up, and place the container in a warm dark place.
I had beans from the 70s pop in less then 24 hours this way when EVERYTHING else I tried failed.
I didn’t see how many beans you had left, but I would try at least one or two this way. It has worked for me.
I tried 15 beans using all types of other methods, and nothing popped. But as soon as I tried this way I popped 6 out of 7 with what I had left of those old beans, and 100% for every newer bean from other strains I’ve tried since.
If you try it let me know, but I’m sure it will work for you.
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@HappyTrees23s I just finished mixing up some new formula.
I mixed about a quarter teaspoon of molasses, a quarter teaspoon of brown sugar, and a very tiny amount (enough to coat the tip of a spoon handle about 1/8”) of clonex gel to a cup of hot (not quite boiling) water and divided into 4 cups, with a little left over. One of them got a VERY tiny amount of gibberelic acid- just a whisper of it, too.
I will label them and see how they do. This will be my seed soaking experiment. I’m hoping that it will help.
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Is there a consensus of what technique has been found to work the best from the compiled information in this thread to date? That would be nice to have just that pinned until a better technique is found then pin that.
My guess would be no.
Why?
Everyone thinks that their method works the best.
If you are feeling frisky, maybe try a couple out and report back with what you find.
A side by side test is always best for real scientific facts, but hey at this point anything is acceptable. 
I personally have not tried it as of yet, but the worm castings are most likely your best bet.
I am pretty sure a live worm bin would prove to be even better than bag castings.
Also, I feel you should try your best to understand what each individual component does so you can use it as it is intended with precise aim and pinpoint accuracy to achieve the desired goal perfectly.
This approach is the opposite of throwing anything and everything at the project with a shotgun approach hoping for something positive to happen.
If you don’t understand what you are doing and why you do it you are just shooting in the dark.
Shooting in the dark can lead to unwanted consequences.
For example, if you are trying to slow growth and you add Gibberellic acid but it has the opposite effect than the desired one because you did not understand how it worked.
All of the things mentioned here have scientific merit under the proper circumstances of course.
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This could prove to be important for seed germination:
Glutamic Acid promotes seed germination by counteracting the effect of abscisic acid (ABA)
Also, I feel science shows a bleach/chlorine solution is a better choice than H2O2 for sterilization.
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Well, I am sorry to say that this attempt at germination was a flop. 
The only thing that grew was mold.
I will try again soon.
It might be the sugars from the molasses ??
Sorry it didn’t work for you 
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I honestly don’t know. I am going to keep trying, though! (I still need a heat mat so I can do this properly.)
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Did you try the Hydrogen peroxide soak/wash and Worm Castings technique ?
A few members here used it for their old/stubborn beans and they said it worked for them.
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Damn I wish I saw this post earlier man. How did everything turn out ?
And even if the seeds don’t sink it dosnt mean their not going to pop. You should definitely still try them.
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Here is a finished technique I came to have amazing success with.
I hope whoever comes looking for help to get their seeds started, finds this and has as much success as I have. Thank you for everything OG community. I love you all
†
Well here’s the entire Tek I designed. I just copy and pasted it from my notes. Its a bit long, but I tried to make sure it was clear to understand, that any tips/notes were included, and that I didn’t forget anything.
Need a Few Things
- Organic Earth Worm Castings
(I used Organic worm castings from Home Depot. They came in a yellow bag. Cost about 9 dollars and I think it’s a 8 pound bag ? But if you have fresh even better.)
-
Hydrogen Peroxide 3%
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Spring Water
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Small seed soak container with lid
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Small Rubbermaid container with lid
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Spray bottle
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Veg light (low watt)
(Optional)
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Sandpaper
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Heat mat for Worm Casting Bins & Soak Containers to sit on.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask me 
This Is a Copy From My Notes
Okay it’s a bit long, but it’s hard to simplify it. 5 or 6 members had some beans from the 70s that nobody could get to open. Im not sure which methods they tried, but when I received some to test my luck I tried maybe 8 or 9 different teks from online, and used more than 50 or so beans, but nothing worked for me. So I decided to put a few ideas together, tweaked some stuff a bit, and it worked perfectly. But this is the Tek I designed and use to open older seeds.
First I made a Diluted H202 solution. Easy.
My Hydrogen Peroxide Solution
2 Tablespoons of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide Mixed with
2 Cups of Spring water
My Simple Tek
I use small plastic containers from the dollar tree to do a soak in a heavily diluted H202 solution for up to 10 - 14 hours. Or untill it sinks with a heavy shake.
The H202 causes seeds to float, so it’s important to start doing a shake every hour after about 8 hours of soaking.
As soon as they sink I take them out.
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After 14 hours I remove them even if they haven’t sunk.
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If they don’t sink it dosnt mean their bad so use them anyway.
It certainly won’t happen for every viable seed.
-But if it does sink, remove it from soak or it will drown and die.
- Ive also been seeing that placing Soak Containers on a heat mat helps. I have even seen a few seeds pushing out a root after only a 6 hour soak when they were placed on the heat mat to soak.
They were different strains, and one was 5 yo, and the other was around 2 yo.
After The Soak
- From the soak to sink I do a quick tap/spring water wash. Just dump the H202 out and fill the small container with tap water, shake, dump, repeat.
Then I place them all in a small dollar tree Rubbermaid container with a lid containing EWC from the day before.
*So the day before, while seeds were soaking, I took a small, square Rubbermaid container from the dollar tree. (the ones that are like 4 x 4 or smaller. They come in 4 or 5 packs)
I placed some Organic Earth Worm Castings in the bottom of it. Only about an inch deep. I then sprayed down to field capacity with Tap or spring water from a mister.
*My thumb is almost exactly an inch to the first joint, so really place about a half inch to a full inch of EWC in it and mist it. Then put the cover on tight and let it sit in a warm place overnight.
The next day I take the seeds and just place then directly from the rinse, on to the TOP of the EWC.
DON’T bury it at all. Just rest them on top. Give them a mist, and then cover with the lid. Leave it in a warm, dark area and just LITFA. They should pop in 24 - 48 hours. I’ve had some pop almost a week later, but I’ve had seeds over 50 years old pop open in 24 hours this way. They acted like they were just made.
The same seeds wouldn’t pop in any other tek I tried before this. I tried maybe 9 other teks with no success. This one thou, this gave me a 98% success rate on the older seeds of several strains.
Transferring Seeds to Soil
Now also just as important is how you plant them. After the seeds show a tap root from 0.5 to 1 inch long, I carefully transfer them to a seed start mix in a solo cup.
The important thing here is NOT to bury the seeds completely.
Just bury the tap root, leave the shell ABOVE the soil.
*Older seeds don’t have a lot of energy left in them, so sometimes you can get a root, but they won’t be able to push through the soil. So I bury them up to the shell, mist em a few times, and place a Ziploc bag over the top of the solo cup. That’s it.
I’ve had great success this way, and it’s easy to do. I use it for ALL seeds I want to start now.
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If you do the soak, then it is important to rinse
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Even if you choose not to follow this guide, and do not do a soa, quickly washing any of your seeds with the hydrogen peroxide solution, and then rising them with water is something you should consider.
The Hydrogen Peroxide is used to kill and clean off any molds or fungus spores that may be on seeds. -
Use this rinse especially for seeds made outdoors. They are more prone to collecting all sorts of spores on them.
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These spores or fungus will lead to killing off your seedlings, and is the reason behind why some seedlings dampen off at the stem and die.
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Again, not necessarily, but it helps keep your beans clean and your seedlings from dampening off.
Planting Seeds
I always only bury seeds up to the shell.
New or old.
Like I said, I’ve had beans from the 70s open for me in 24 hours where all other teks I tried failed. 7 of 8 popped within 24 hours, and the 8th popped within 48.
But just leave them in there untill you have a long enough tap root. And if it’s been a few days just let it sit. Some older beans I had took a little over a week before they opened up, so give them time. But besides that exception, everything has popped within 48 hours.
*Also optionally, some people liked to sand down your seeds before the soak. Just make sure to keep an eye on them in the soak container.
As soon as they sink, they are good to go. If you leave them for to long after they sink, they can drown.
- These are the size of the containers I use for the soaks. I grabbed an 8 pack at a dollar store.
Any craft store should have these as well.
- These are the containers I use for the mini WC bins. Found a 5 pack at the dollar store as well.
They sell smaller containers like this too, and they come in ten packs.
- Should look like this after a day or two.
Happy Growing !!
†
-Happy
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Hi Everyone,
Just to toss another log on this fire, here’s a video tutorial of using Gibberellic Acid, GA3 to pop old seeds.
I used GA3 successfully for some 20 year old bagseed on a lark, nothing to lose. After a few experiments I found that the lowest concentrations worked best. Higher concentrations were better at getting every seed to crack, but the resulting plants were weaklings.
The sweet spot was between 50 - 100 ppm. Not as many seeds sprouted, but the ones that did were able to be grown out.
GA3 is also capable of inducing sex reversal but the few experiments I did in that direction were not successful.
Hope this is helpful,
-Grouchy 
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Proper storage is the best germination technique for older seeds.
I’m lazy. Plant in Promix, water, leave alone, make sure stays moist. They don’t need much help.
I’ve done this on well stored 20 year old seeds no problem.
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Got a purple old seeds that I’ve been trying to pop read some things about giberelic acid. Have not tried yet but is there any other techniques out there that I might wanna try?
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There are the old standards…gluing a bit of sandpaper in a match box and shaking them around in there…soaking in kelp/h2o2/molasses/miracle grow solutions…gibberellic acid like you mentioned…I know a guy who swears by keeping seeds in his mouth for awhile (saliva enzymes being the rationale)
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Wow I’ve never heard the saliva one before. I have heard of the h2o2 with sugar before which I’m gonna be trying next. Sandpaper I’ve trued but did not work on these seeds. Did however work on others I’ve tried. The purple seeds that I have seems like they are just too old and have not been properly stored. Prob more than or around 20yrs old!
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Here you go @DGCloud . You’re welcome.
Other users report outstanding results. This technique supposedly succeeds where others fail.
Highly recommended content right here:
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Keep trying! There may just be some magic left in those old beans,good luck 
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