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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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
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.
, wish you the best with germination.