Old Seeds

[OlderStoner]

I'm not able to smoke much these days for various reasons. I went from smoking 3-5 joints a day down to 3-5 joints a year. The last time I was a regular daily toker was about 10 years ago. In all those years prior to that I accumulated quite a collection of seeds. Oh, if back then I'd only known that people are now paying $100 for 20 or 30 seeds....sheeesh, I could retire now with the collection I once had. Anyway, I've read here and there about older seeds. The ones I still have, maybe a couple of hundred or so or anywhere from 10 to 25 years old. I've read that even ancient seeds, hundreds of years old can still germinate. So I planted some (36 to be exact) about a week back. I kept the soil nice and moist and the outdoor temps were in the 80's to low 70's. After a full week, all I see is wet dirt. Not a single one of them sprouted. So this morning I cleared out some soil and just tossed the whole lot of one of my collection containers into it, maybe 100 seeds or more. I figure what they heck, if these seeds are too old to germinate they are of no use to me to hang on to. I will keep this soil moist and see what happens.

Is there any truth to ancient seeds germinating? I would bet that there is always the chance that one of two seeds out of a big collection will still be viable. But the luck I've had with trying to grow from old seeds has not been good.

 

[CA215]

I know you want to keep your seeds at a cooler temperature and away from any source of moisture to keep them a o k, but then again I've had seeds sitting around for 4+ years and they still germinate just fine. If I could suggest, try germinating with the paper towel method in a zip loc bag, set in a dark yet warm place for about 3 days with no disturbance. When I do this I usually get 100% if not 90% germination rate, but i've never actually tried just throwing a seed in the ground. I feel using the ziploc method will let you view your seeds to see if they are even poping and sprouting a root Best of luck to you OlderStoner, just wrote on your intro as well. Welcome to the forums, may your stay be filled with plenty of useful information and high times CA215

 

[OlderStoner]

I've done the paper towel method many times in the past with great success. But I tried that with these older seeds now on more than one occasion and nothing happened. So this time I tried straight into the soil method. And I know there's lots of folks who promote one method or the other and you can read on and on about ferts, care, leaf feeding, insect control, etc... but after all, it's just a weed. And I've had good plants come from just a seed dropping on the ground when I was rolling one in the backyard. And other times I've spent hundreds on lights and grow equipment only to endure months of nerve racking time to get nothing but headache weed. It's really a roll of the dice.

 

[oldhippie64]

there's a lot of truth to old seeds germinating if they're were kept cool and dry. Some growers will use tricks like sanding,scoring or cracking the shell of the seed to aid germination rates, the idea being the the long dormancy period has weakened the plant inside this saves it energy to grow. I've had plenty of success with fresh seeds straight to dirt, I wouldn't just toss them. if you're not planting them at their proper depth that's going to hurt germination.

 

[CA215]

I've done the paper towel method many times in the past with great success. But I tried that with these older seeds now on more than one occasion and nothing happened. So this time I tried straight into the soil method. And I know there's lots of folks who promote one method or the other and you can read on and on about ferts, care, leaf feeding, insect control, etc... but after all, it's just a weed. And I've had good plants come from just a seed dropping on the ground when I was rolling one in the backyard. And other times I've spent hundreds on lights and grow equipment only to endure months of nerve racking time to get nothing but headache weed. It's really a roll of the dice.

It really is a roll of the dice. even buying from a well known seed vendor, are you really getting the real deal. Paper towel method was brought up just for you to see if they pop. Were they popping at all? No sprouts? I say if you have excess seeds, keep trying to see if you can get any of them to sprout, who knows, out of the 100 you might be able to get a few nice plants going. Best of luck to ya, hope you find that one killer plant that brings you pure joy CA

 

[OlderStoner]

Not that my test were anything scientific, but after planting about 120 seeds in three different areas of soil, keeping the soil moist, etc... and after two weeks, there are now zero plants. Some of these seeds were more than 25 years old. Some younger but I'm sure that all of them were no less than 10 years old. With zero plants for all that was planted I think one could lean towards the notion that seeds have a shelf life. I still have about another 100 or so seeds in that collection. I'll try again, but I think I'm going to end up with the same results.

 

[Bettunya]

I've been growing four plants from 50-year-old seeds, germinated with the paper towel method. 15 weeks old now. This is my first grow. Had to get rid of the male yesterday which had grown to 6 and a half feet tall and was finally obviously enough, a male. He was gorgeous, but I'm hoping to get some decent female flowers -- and the internet told me to dispense with the males to avoid seeds, etc. And so it went. BTW, the paper towel method took three days and five out of six germinated. Four out of five survived...

 

[Trala]

I've been growing four plants from 50-year-old seeds, germinated with the paper towel method. 15 weeks old now. This is my first grow. Had to get rid of the male yesterday which had grown to 6 and a half feet tall and was finally obviously enough, a male. He was gorgeous, but I'm hoping to get some decent female flowers -- and the internet told me to dispense with the males to avoid seeds, etc. And so it went. BTW, the paper towel method took three days and five out of six germinated. Four out of five survived...

I am so glad to hear this.

I recently inherited a 5 year old White Rhino seed which has lived in the freezer during that time. Gives me hope it will strike when the time comes.

Personally I always strike my plants in soil. The paper towel method seems so test tubeish to me. I know I am in the vast minority here tho

 

[Bettunya]

I am so glad to hear this.

I recently inherited a 5 year old White Rhino seed which has lived in the freezer during that time. Gives me hope it will strike when the time comes.

Personally I always strike my plants in soil. The paper towel method seems so test tubeish to me. I know I am in the vast minority here tho

Good luck with your seed!

 

[Trala]

Good luck with your seed!

Thank you

I’m going old school and planting it a day after the first full moon in September.

For authenticity I am going to light candles, play Creedence and be wearing a crown of fresh flowers as I do it.

 

[Stunger]

Sometimes I plant directly into soil, but mostly I germinate first using the paper towel method, however I always scarify them first by using a nail file to give them a little scuffing before soaking. I can't really say if it improves things or not, but either way it seems no loss to do it. Scarifying is something that some folk say can help with old seeds.