StinkFingerElmo

I've got some seeds that are about five to ten years old that I'd really like to sprout, (I need the variety!)
I usually use the paper towel on a plate method but it's not working yet for these oldies. Anyone got any tips or ideas?

BTW, there was another thread on this topic awhile ago but it seems to have gotten slightly off topic....something about first posts and bumps??

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"The Stickiest Things Are Often The Best." - Mother Teresa.

mr. hyde

you can try scuffing the seeds first with sandpaper or similar rough surface but that's about the only thing i've heard people using to get old or hard to germ seeds to improve germ rate. i've never tried it to know if it works or not though.

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StinkFingerElmo

Yeah, I was just reading about scuffing, I was also thinking about cracking the husks by hand, then there's that hydogen peroxide theory...

And I just had a wacky thought about adding a small amount of some kind of detergent to the water, to act as a surfactant and maybe help the water soak in a bit more, but that might just be the weed talking...
I need some more ideas.

__________________
"The Stickiest Things Are Often The Best." - Mother Teresa.

The Doorman

Old seeds have a hard enough time germinating with out "hand cracking" or putting soap in the water. The only thing is to keep them warm not hot and time. I had some really old seeds over 5 years old and out of the 150 I got 15 to germ. They were bag seeds so no big deal.

StinkFingerElmo

Bit of an update,
I'm still waiting for the paper towel method to crack these oldies, they've been on the plate in a warm dark spot for about a week now I think, still nothing. So i stuck a few in a glass of distilled water about 24 hours ago, they all floated at first but after about 12 hours they all sank, no movement there yet either.
I'm determined to sprout some of these seeds so I suppose scuffing is next.

Does anyone think it's worth adding some hydrogen peroxide to the water?

At the same time I 've been trying to crack these oldies, I've germed and planted half a dozen of my "standard" seeds using the paper towel method, that only took 3 days from seed to sprout poking it's head out of the dirt, no soak or anything, so my methods work, (of course),

To Be Continued....

__________________
"The Stickiest Things Are Often The Best." - Mother Teresa.

Awake204

How did you store the seeds, SFO?

Awake204

Check this out, its a good read on seed germination:

Seeds and Seed Germination

Also might want to look into Gibberellic Acid, seems like it may aid in germinating dormant seeds

jadins_jurney

I ran across a packet of seeds the other day when I was cloning some plants, it had "2002 Decent" written on the packet. Seeds were not taken care of very well during storage, stored inside a tool box in the shop.

Dropped 14 seeds in the extra plugs of my float & grow tray when I cloned this past Sunday. 6 year old bag seed planted directly into plugs, no soaking, no paper towels, RO water in the tray with 3ml Rapid Rooter per gl., we'll see how it goes.

JJ

StinkFingerElmo

Still no movement anywhere, 48 hours in the glass of water and 8 days or so on the plate...

The seeds were kept in a paper bag in a tin in a cupboard, not the best long term storage method...

I'll keep trying.

__________________
"The Stickiest Things Are Often The Best." - Mother Teresa.

StinkFingerElmo

The label on some of mine said "1998 good home grown"

__________________
"The Stickiest Things Are Often The Best." - Mother Teresa.