20+ year old seeds, let's grow 'em

[Leeboy]

 

[Harpua88]

I almost forgot about your old seeds run, you're doing great.....some things are out of your control, things happen.......manually taking off the helmet (whether it's the 2 seed shell halfs or the membrane) is always a tradeoff. I found that half the time they'll pop off after a few days by the strength/will of the seedling, and if not, yeah you gotta probably manually take it off, which they sometimes don't like. Either way sometimes they cause a little cosmetic damage that works itself out, and sometimes it pretty much kills them.

As far as figuring out what strain an unknown seed is, yeah you'll never get the actual name (who's name anyway?), but over the full life and obviously through flower/harvest/cure, you can at least come up with enough descriptions, the leaves, the shape, smell, bud structre, etc. to hopefully come up with a fairly narrow range. "Unknown" but with a lot of descriptions can make for fun breeding if you save notes. As you work it through generations it gives you your own unique variety that no one else has, it's all yours. :)

 

[NorthernOrganics]

Like you said, we will never know what they truly are, but after growing to completion we might have some desirable traits of yesteryear to breed with. I want to get some cuts out to folks who are into breeding, if something turns out to be special. Conservation is my game plan here. They might all be poo, though.

 

[Leeboy]

Whatever happens Bro , you’re giving us hope … respect

 

[rasterman]

I’ve actually had seeds take a month to pop open , in wet zip locks and in dirt . Some in dirt I’d forgotten and given up. Had them amongst 150 pepper plants . Surprised when up a sprout came next to one that was replanted in the same cup as one that sprouted weeks earlier . Don’t give up

Lol that's been my experience too
Last summer I had volunteers in every pot due to a seed test that had completely failed the previous summer.

 

[bongsmoker421]

Lol that's been my experience too
Last summer I had volunteers in every pot due to a seed test that had completely failed the previous summer.

I have a 1 month plant that is 2 inches tall, finally showing signs over faster growth

 

[NorthernOrganics]

The lone ranger clones are rooting, so I'm flowering this 20+ year old seed. Gave it the flower topdress.

I'm going to call it Vintage #1 until it shows it's character.

In with the big plants.

 

[FlatheadFisherman]

I did pretty much the same with seeds I had from 25 years ago when I grew. Also had no idea what strain they were. I tried popping about 12 seeds and out of the 12 8 popped. I was having trouble seeing them until I put them in the ground after about 7 weeks. Around a week and a half later the 4 I put on the east side of my deck all showed signs of being male and the ones on the west all female. Not sure how that happened but it did lol. I ripped the males out and kept the girls going. I got a pretty good harvest and 2 of the plants produced some real tasty buds.

The seeds weren’t refrigerated or kept in an air tight container. Seems I must have just gotten lucky.

Good luck and look forward to keeping up with your progress!

 

[Harpua88]

I just finished going through my old trunk, it had all my High Times from the 80s-90s, and other assorted stuff from around then. At the bottom........4 seeds. I have no idea if they're from the Skunk #1 and Northern Lights genetics I got from Neville's seed bank in '88 and worked until '94, but I don't think I'd have bag seeds in my trunk. Then again, they were loose......

So they're almost 30 years old, loose, not refridgerated.......I'm certainly gonna try though.

 

[NorthernOrganics]

I just finished going through my old trunk, it had all my High Times from the 80s-90s, and other assorted stuff from around then. At the bottom........4 seeds. I have no idea if they're from the Skunk #1 and Northern Lights genetics I got from Neville's seed bank in '88 and worked until '94, but I don't think I'd have bag seeds in my trunk. Then again, they were loose......

So they're almost 30 years old, loose, not refridgerated.......I'm certainly gonna try though.

I saw the pics of the old high times mags. Awesome stuff man. The best luck I had sprouting the old seeds was with starter plugs under a humidity dome, without soaking the seeds first. I got 10% or less germination rate with all my tried methods until I tried the starter plug tray, then I got closer to 40%.

 

[Harpua88]

I saw the pics of the old high times mags. Awesome stuff man. The best luck I had sprouting the old seeds was with starter plugs under a humidity dome, without soaking the seeds first. I got 10% or less germination rate with all my tried methods until I tried the starter plug tray, then I got closer to 40%.

Yeah I'm gonna have to maximize every aspect to give them the best chance.......warm, humid, maybe a pre-soak with a little Peroxide......I'm thinking I should get some sort of kit/dome for rooting cuttings that could also serve as a seedling starter. I'll do it soon because if any if the 4 pop I'm going to move them outdoors. If they are those seed bank genetics I'm gonna pollinate the hell out of 'em. ;). Or use a male to pollinate something if I only get a male.

 

[rasterman]

I just finished going through my old trunk, it had all my High Times from the 80s-90s, and other assorted stuff from around then. At the bottom........4 seeds. I have no idea if they're from the Skunk #1 and Northern Lights genetics I got from Neville's seed bank in '88 and worked until '94, but I don't think I'd have bag seeds in my trunk. Then again, they were loose......

So they're almost 30 years old, loose, not refridgerated.......I'm certainly gonna try though.

I found a seed in a briefcase from 1996. Didn't sprout though....

 

[Harpua88]

I found a seed in a briefcase from 1996. Didn't sprout though....

My expectations are low. :(

 

[gristle]

Like you said, we will never know what they truly are, but after growing to completion we might have some desirable traits of yesteryear to breed with. I want to get some cuts out to folks who are into breeding, if something turns out to be special. Conservation is my game plan here. They might all be poo, though.



Sign me up if you are sharing the love, got a few things I could trade you for. Awesome post man, glad you shared it with us.

 

[NorthernOrganics]

Update on the first 20+ year old seed in flower.
Vintage #1

 

[bongsmoker421]

I wish I could smell it

 

[NorthernOrganics]

I wish I could smell it

If it turns out to be special, you might be able to. I'm hoping to grow out a big mother and spread some clones around, or maybe I'll get a male from the other seeds that sprouted.

 

[Goodshit97]

If it turns out to be special, you might be able to. I'm hoping to grow out a big mother and spread some clones around, or maybe I'll get a male from the other seeds that sprouted.

Id be down to pay for a 20 year old strain. I dont even care what it is lol.
Well, its gotta be female

 

[MDK]

Currently running a few old bag seeds myself. Had a pretty legit hookup before it went legal so I made a tackle box and started my own seedbank back in the dark days 12 years ago. These seed have been through the ringer misplaced stored in a tote in a hot garage in the humid midwest. Quite a few failed...but some worked.

Alien og bagseed - est 6-8 years
Kashmir Kush bagseed - est 5 years
Face on fire bagseed - est 3-4 years
Ice - 1.5 year

2 Yakuza(Tokyo og) bagseed - sprouted pretty fresh out of the bag...this is apparently a China town cut of some real stinky basic og kush. Both plants look way different ones bushy cabbage the other is more spaced out...different phenotypes or ones a male lol

 

[MDK]

I got quiet a few old beans that have been questionably stored.

I definitely would like to send some out to 1 or 2 people who may be interested in the challenge and the chance to find a tasty cut....free try for any takers