How long do you wait for old seeds to sprout

Hi, I've got a bunch of old seeds (4-8 years old) that I'm trying to work with. I took 10 and soaked them in water for 24 hours then dropped them in the coco. After 4 days 2 popped up, but nothing for the rest (it's been 8 days now). Would you guys give up by now? Anybody else working with very old seeds? Thanks,

The oldest seed I have worked with recently are from a little over a year ago but thats just when i got it out of some bud. It could be a bit older who knowd. Out of the the 6 I tried to germinate over the past couple weeks, 1 has -Sprouted and is a healthy 3 week old plant. 1 seems to be cracking its she'll in the wet paper towel. The rest have failed. The 3 small seeds I tried all failed and 2 of the 3 larger seeds seem to have succeeded. I go from the cup after they sink, to 3 or so days in a damp warm paper towel. Mine aren't as old as yours though so I'm sorry I couldn't relate to your question as much as others could

Yeah I did the same thing with year olds. After a week I toss em

Old seeds older than 18 months need special handling

a great part of the success of the germ relies on how the seeds were stored

freezer is best, fridge OK, but in a box stored with your socks etc is a no no!

assume latter is the way, consider scarifying the seed first

then soak in a glass of your cleanest RO water

once its sinks, to the damp kitchen towel trick for 24-48 hours

then to a damp rapid rooter ...is best

to my blog on germing : https://www.rollitup.org/Journal/Entry/germination-101.31319/

good luck

almost all my seed stock is ~20yrs old
i do a proper germination...meaning wet papertowel at 82°.
in 48hrs what doesnt pop gets trashed. most will have leaves and shedded the shell by this time



good luck

I have a seed that was 5 years old going in my current grow. I germed it using the paper towel method and it worked fine, it just took a little longer to pop than the 2 newer seeds I had germing with it. Generally though I'll leave seeds 1-2 weeks, I know that's a little longer than some growers but I've had a seed pop (with a little bit of help from me) after a week so I like to give em a chance.

Your post subject sounds like the start of a joke or a wise saying

As for your question i have no clue

Anon Emaus said:

Your post subject sounds like the start of a joke or a wise saying

As for your question i have no clue

Click to expand...

One bright day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight. Back to back they faced eachother. Drew their swords and shot eachother. A deaf policeman beard the noise and came and killed the two dead boys. If you don't beleive my stories true, ask the blind man, he saw it too.

I give seeds noooooooooo longer than 7 days to germ I've got several seed batches 3 years old I store my seeds in vacume sealed bags in the freezer I just place the seeds on a paper towel mist with a spray bottle fold the paper towel over the seeds mist again until saturated then drain off the extra water then place in a gallon bag that I do not zip the let set on a heat pad for 3-4 days this is all it takes most of the time anything longer takes a one way trip to the trash