Fresh seeds

[buckeyebonger]

i have been growing for somewhere between 40 and 50 years in the last ten years i started getting seeds from seed banks. i also produce my own seeds by ordering regular seeds and doing my own pollination. in the last two weeks i started a new grow using seeds from three breeders from a seed bank. ( i don't want to give any names because i do respect their business). my own seeds have at least a 75% germination rate. of course i know they are fresh. the ones from seed banks appear to be going downhill. i'm lucky to get a 10% germination. as my seeds get older they also get a lower germination rate. on my last three or four grows i don't think i had fresh seeds. i germinate them together so it is the same soil, water heat, light etc. i simply don't think they are fresh. i think they have been sitting around looking for a good home for too long. any ideas or banks or breeders that get better results? i read the reviews and people talk about great germination rates. i get it from my own, but not the others.

 

[Dwight Monk]

Do you soak your seeds or just right into your medium? Many folks do the 24 hour soak before going into their medium, I seem to have much better germination rates doing that personally. Some folks scuff the shell lightly with sandpaper for older/more stubborn seeds, but not something I have tried so no experience with it myself.

 

[buckeyebonger]

i have soaked them, put them in damp paper towels, scuffed them etc. i've tried just about every method . the ones i create through pollination germinate fine. in this last grow, i used almosst 30 seeds from seed banks. i got germination on three of them. with my own seeds, i have germination on about 30 of them. same method.

 

[Dwight Monk]

I haven't run into that bad of luck or as of yet, I do have some I bought 3 years ago so I guess time will tell. Some folks store them in Fridge or Freezer but not anything I have tried, I just keep them in a dark place is all at room temp.

 

[SmokingWings]

Interesting.

I have not bought any seeds. Just asked around and people give me seeds. Sometimes they are bagweed seeds and sometimes they are something bought from a seed bank. Sometimes there is a story with the seeds and sometimes not. I keep track of whose seed is whose and the name. Whatever they say it is, is what I write down.

Germination rates have been in the 90-95% area and that includes a batch of Papaya seeds the person said had been in his kitchen cupboard for 4-5 years and that was two years ago. I put 4 right into the soil a year ago. 100% germination and all of them flowered. A year before I pulled 8 seeds out of his container and 7 germinated but I do not remember if they were all female or not.