NorthernOrganics said:

Good friends are hard to come by. Lucky me, I got one. An old friend of mine found a hidden stash of herb seeds that he collected between late 90's and early 2000's in his travels of the United States. I help him out from time to time and he showed his appreciation by giving me a bunch of these old seeds. I'm going to grow them here and we will see what's in there. I'm hoping to find some good old school and share it with people who appreciate that kind of thing. View attachment 1306634

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• scarify the seed shell with a rolled up piece of sand paper. Don't need super aggressive grit, 300 should be adequate. roll it up like a straw, grit on the inside, cover one end drop the seed in, then shake it like it's your weiner during alone time until it's nice and scuffed up.
• soak the seeds for 24 hours in water
• give the seeds a bath with hydrogen peroxide then soak for 24 hours. h2o2 bath help break down the seed shell and let moisture in which triggers the growth hormones telling the seed "let's go!" it will also help kill any pathogens that may be on the outside of the shell which could lead to damping off or other diseases a seedling from old seed stock may not have the umph to overcome.
• gibberellic acid (GA3) soak for 24 hours. this is a PGR, so use it as a last resort. It can lead to etoliation of branches, but also serves to stimulate the growth hormones of a seed. Do not use past getting a seed sprouted! Also, it may be of limited accessibility in some countries. If you can obtain it, keep it in its original packaging as the look of it resembles speed (white, crystalline powder). Smells nothing like speed, but LEO won't give a shit when they see an unlabeled white powder.
• crack the seed shell just slightly (there's even a tool for this)
• mix and match the above until you get a handful that actually sprout and don't stall at the seedling stage

tobh said:

"insert knowledge here"

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NorthernOrganics said:

removing the embryo from a seed and planting directly in sterile fluffy medium, requiring a microscope and lab environment

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NorthernOrganics said:

I peeked at the seeds yesterday. The shells turned dark and seemed dry and papery. I used some 220 sandpaper to rough up the surface and the shells fell apart revealing the innards. Some of the shells split right in two, some just cracked up. I dusted with a little more mycorrhizae and put them back in the paper towel. View attachment 1308008

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NorthernOrganics said:

Good friends are hard to come by. Lucky me, I got one. An old friend of mine found a hidden stash of herb seeds that he collected between late 90's and early 2000's in his travels of the United States. I help him out from time to time and he showed his appreciation by giving me a bunch of these old seeds. I'm going to grow them here and we will see what's in there. I'm hoping to find some good old school and share it with people who appreciate that kind of thing. View attachment 1306634

Click to expand...

JerzeyMike said:

Northern, I have almost the exact same scenario going on. My guy was military, same tine frame and all. I also have not been able to pop a single one. I have done h202 and water into paper towels. Heres say two in the papertowels.
Good luck with yours, back to the drawing board here.

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NorthernOrganics said:

I thoroughly cleaned a small glass, put 6 seeds, covered with water and filled the rest of the glass with 3% h202. About 2:1 ratio of 3%H202 to water. Seeds are floating, not sure if that's a bad sign. Put it somewhere warm. Round two.

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