Whats up all? I am new to the forums and so this is my first post. I am pretty knowledgable about the basics of growing and even some of the not so basics. I have harvested a few successful crops of great homegrown. I grew out some f1 hybrids i got through emery and also random females from some regular seeds from extraordinary seeded weed i had gathered, so its safe to say i am not too experienced with breeding but it has always been interesting to me.

Anyway thats my introduction....my question is this theoretically speaking of course. Lets say a good friend of mine has some seeds from the greatest weed he ever smoked. The only seeds he ever came across that he thought maybe saving the seeds would be worth while, they are old about 15 years or more. I know thats a long time but germination isnt out of the question. Its from hawaii so i would imagine it's probably sativa, i am not sure what to expect.

I was hoping someone with some experience could give me some input. If it was that good and any of the seeds are still viable how would you go about utilizing this strain? I figure growing it out to maturity if its female and keeping clones and if its malle storing the pollen would be first step. But what would be the most desired option...trying to cross polinate with the other siblings or crossing with another plant and than selective inbreeding?

I know about hybrid vigor and already read the faqs and it said that its good to introduce new breeding stock into a gene pool. It said to use breeding stock that had recessive genes instead of dominant which i understand but what kind of breeding stock has ressessive genes? If I had a large breeding stock of p1s sativa/indica and hybrid what would be the best kind of traights and species would be best to introduce to this population? (I am assuming its a hawaiin sativa but lets just say a hybrid that has very unique great tasting and potent phenotypes)

thanks

I posted this a while back, it is really your only hope....

I have personally had issues in the past with germination of seeds ordered online, some orders simply having no success whatsoever... I have found that the use of GibberellicAcid (GA-3) can force nearly all troublesome seeds to germinate.

Gibberellic acid is found in the outer tissue layers of most seeds, when water is introduced the hormone saturates the embryonic tissue of the seedling initiating seeds germination. One can artificially add Gibberellic Acid and compensate for the degradation of the hormone that can occur over time or through environmental factors.

X-RAY damage can also be a troublesome issue. X-RAY damage to the embryonic cells of the seed can lead to an insensitivity to the gibberelins necessary for germination. Again, adding this hormone to the soak can greatly increase your chances of success.

One word of warning, Gibberelic Acid is responsible for cell elongation in plants, meaning that if used, you will most likely see some stretching of your seedlings. Also, MORE IS LESS! This is a very powerful hormone, it has been used to germinate 1000 year old seeds from extinct species! Use only a few grains per liter of water and add nitrozime or liquid-karma to further increase success rates. If you use too much, your seeds will simply die, again better too use too little then too much.

Super-Grow Scientific Plants Products sells the stuff dirt cheap and is of good quality, my plant physiology professor buys from them for his own "experiments." He's a kindred spirit God bless hippy professors!

More formal information about the use of gibberellic acid as well as a source for gibberellic acid seed germination kits click here:
Seedman's Gibberellic Acid-3 (GA-3) Kits
These kits make it easy to experiment and find the right PPM of gibberellic acid, I just got it myself and its easier than using a vile of the stuff, especially since it's so concentrated. It is still cheap but more expensive than Super-Grow.

Hope this helps some people out there, I have been working with plants since I was 12 (I was a geek/dork/nerd of unbelievable proportions) and this stuff is unbeatable! I was able to germinate seeds from pine trees in one week that usually take a fire of 700+ degrees and one year of weathering to sprout... yeh I did Bonsai, again I was a geek. Hope this helps people and I hope it gets more attention in this newer section because it can save your investment. If you do use this, please post your results and concentrations for everyone!

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wow! sounds like u might really have some special genetics on ur hands... will u be growing inside or out? also about what genetics to possibly cross your plants with. i have had success crossing skunk#1 with a lot of bag seed mothers. the skunk always adds potency and consistant vigourous hybrids. the skunk seems to lack in some potency tho so it might also be fun to cross it with some new crazy superstrain.... best of luck

been on vacation....thank u very much for the responses. I would try heated seedling mat hopefully i could get the seeds to germ if not i would definately try the acid technique. outdoors would be ideal but our grow season very short so indoors would be the way to go for me.....any other ideas for crosses?

Oh and the site I mentioned above isn't around any more, try ebay.

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