Any Advice On Germinating Very Old Seeds?

[knoturstyle]

I have some very old / rare seeds from late 80"s. Any advice on best luck for germination. I seen
1 tread about a Super Seed Soak.. Any input would be greatly appreciated . I would really like to
have a chance at reviving this strain. I don't have many left so only have a chance to try couple
techniques. thanks

 

[CelticEBE]

I've done some research on the Manna super seed soak as well. I will give it a shot at some point....but for now I stick to this.

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/cappies-partially-stolen-seed-germ-method.65073/

Here's a vid of the super seed soak if you haven't seen it.....

 

[knoturstyle]

I've done some research on the Manna super seed soak as well. I will give it a shot at some point....but for now I stick to this.

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/cappies-partially-stolen-seed-germ-method.65073/

Here's a vid of the super seed soak if you haven't seen it.....

Hi. Thanks for your reply. I will give your method a try. Myself also have studied the Super Soak
and would eventually like to try. Didn't know if anyone else had ever tried, or had experience with
other methods. I will try your method and definitely keep you posted on results. thanks again

 

[thunderfudge]

Seed tea,cold/hot stratification

 

[Scorpius]

I have some very old / rare seeds from late 80"s. Any advice on best luck for germination. I seen
1 tread about a Super Seed Soak.. Any input would be greatly appreciated . I would really like to
have a chance at reviving this strain. I don't have many left so only have a chance to try couple
techniques. thanks

I have read that a seed soak in Gibberellic Acid 3 at .01% or 100ppm for 24 hours significantly improves germination rates in cannabis seeds. This equates to 1mg of GA3 to 10ml water. Note that the GA3 must be mixed with a minute amount of alcohol (90%+ ISO or ETOH) prior to mixing with water to solubilize. I have not tried GA3 in this manner myself. I would give you a reference if I had one in my notebook but I know I have read this in more than one place.
GA3 can be purchased on Amazon for around $10/2g.
It is also extremely effective at the same concentration to cause male flower growth on female plants.
Your project sounds very interesting. You could generate some unique hybrids with vintage genetics. At the very least, you may have a pure Mexican sativa on your hands if it was from earlier in the decade!

 

[Sativied]

Remove the shell manually and plant the naked seedling directly. Scrape off the edges from the seed and then lift one side with a knife or fingernail. The shell is just to protect it physically. Plant the seedling in some fine soil, coco, or rockwool and water as usual. Only did it like 6 times or so but it works. Depending on what prevents proper germination it can help with old seeds.

It gets easier with some practice... took me two minutes using a small kitchen knife:

Scrape both edges, then after removing one side it will usually just drop out of the other side.

Usually the green husk comes off partly or entirely too...

Which is no problem, they grow naked as well. Planted yesterday in soil:

These are not very old seeds, about 2 years, but don't pop as consistent as they used to so just trying it out again, so far so good. As you can see it opened up normally and the tap is already growing. I've done the same thing on rockwool. Even chipped a piece of one of the cotyledons, had a small scar later on but the effect was negligible.