Vintage seeds; tricks for best germination success???

So after a 20 year hiatus I find myself once again planning a grow. Have a shitload of vintage seeds to pick from, all born circa 2000 to 2006, many obtained through what used to be one of the best seed banks, Heavens Stairway out of Canada, others directly from European and/ or other Canadian vendors & a few from auction sites back then. Sadly Heavens Stairway got busted back in 2006 as I remember, was still in prohibition, hell even the original Overgrow.com shutdown (glad it’s back)!

Here’s my vintage genetics; any thoughts the best way to get the most germination success on 20-24 year old seeds??? They have been stored in complete darkness & without any moisture whatsoever for all that time.



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I just saw this post on Reddit, I know we have a thread on here that goes over old seed germination. My teacher would always do a H2o2 bath, warm water soak, and then in aloe. I’ve heard that you can use Humic/Fulvic acid like in TM-7, using kelp hormones, aloe water, Willow water or apple cider vinegar.

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Also this is the introductions thread! You should introduce yourself and briefly bring up your need for seed germination there!

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Welcome @Cytoman nice stash! It’s indeed time to soak that.

There’s a thread for that here too:

And a bunch of others (more or less experimental) you can easily find with the search function

Wish you a good germ rate!

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Hello. Personally I use pellets, just add warm water, put seeds in using tissues and then you wait, then replant the whole pellet into the pot…some folks are using paper towels, which works as well

Here’s an article I can share, not mine but works: Link

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For having popped early 90s seeds of questionable storage last year or the previous…

+1 on Johnny worm castings method
Then my other go to is to precrack the shells and soak thrle seed in canna rhizotonic for 12 hours then germinate on sponges a few degrees higher than youre used to like +5

Saved a bunch of stuff with these 2

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The best seed cracker (ive tried 2 diff kinds):

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Saving this method, thanks Mithridate.

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Anytime!

Im of the opinion that germinating old/stubborn seeds should be something we got down to a science. Literally. One method should be the very best, or include guidelines as to if a → do such, if b-> do this differently.

We still learning.

Ps. Off the top, in this instant, i cant remember all the hormones, extracts, big ag farm shit i tried. I had 5k seeds to go through, i got to experiment a little. :sweat_smile:

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The best method I have used is a cup of RO water with a tablespoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide.

Soak the seed for 48 hours then place in a cotton towel place in a warm spot heat mat or similar in a tupperware container with lid just cracked and allow the seed to germinate.

GA- Gibberellic Acid also works very well.

Coconut water works well but the first 2 better.

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Hey hempy,

Didnt know you had joined og… we never talked much, just saluting an old timer :saluting_face:

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I have been a member for a few years now, good site and a lot of great members, look forward to getting to know a lot of you.

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Nice stash :ok_hand:, wish you the best with germination.

Old seeds i use Distilled water , put 2 seeds in a cup of water in dark warm place and see if any pop in a few days , if not

I sand down seeds a little by lining a matchbox and gently shake seeds to fine the seed shell a little, and place on damp paper towel in sandwich bag in dark warm place or heatmat and check every 24 hours for activity

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Thx for all the tips my fello Cannabis friends!

On a different subject, deleting my new “Pipsman” account as I found my original name from the old 1st edition OG site which was “Cytoman”. Figure I’ll stick with that instead.

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Very cool! That is an awesome stash, lots of old school genetics there that are that are hard to find in the sea of crosses these days

Great vintage genetics… see a few that interest me. Williams Wonder, Bubba Kush, SK#1, Aurora Indica and Chronic. In the near future hope to see you run some and make seeds!! lol
Good Luck

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I vote kalimist , c99 or black widow to be grown first if I had a choice, a lot of good stuff , Williams wonder , g13 haze , no ultra all great plants from those times :+1:

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Thats 1st pic :drooling_face: :drooling_face: :drooling_face:

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