15+ Year Old Seeds

[Norby]

Stored open in an attic that gets below freezing and up to 100 in the summer.   Found 2 in an open vase and brought them home to crack.  Put them in a petri dish for 2 days and then physically cracked them with my thumb.  The embryos are still alive and I put one into a hole in soil and covered with a plastic bag to keep humidity in but allow low light for energy to get the roots growing into the ground.  I don't think they have enough energy to actually grow without some help.  I don't think they would've ever been able to crack the seed hull. 

So what do you think?  any other ideas to help these 2 along?

[t-pain]

theres Gibberellic Acid , it may help.

or Salicylic acid.

 

forum post on starting old tomato seeds:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0503232131692.html

 

good luck

[FranksHotPeppersAndMarijuana]

Plants don't utilize light through their roots to make energy so exposing them to light won't help.  I think that you are risking some sort of mold or algae growth by exposing roots to light.  Especially in a container you are keeping humid.

[jointedone]

Have you tried soaking them,like making sprouts? Or like how you have to soak dried beans before you cook them? Heck i'd try it, you have nothing to lose.I also have some 20-30 year old seeds. No idea what they are,just that they all look different. I wonder if mj sprouts are good? Got to try it I am curious.

[FranksHotPeppersAndMarijuana]

I think jointedone is right.  They should be soaked but it may be too late since they are cracked open now.  I don't think you gave them enough time.  Probably the old wet paper towel technique would work fine.

[I wood]

Scarifying the outer seed coat before soaking might help the older, less vigorous ones make it out of seed.

[Norby]

 

Scarifying the outer seed coat before soaking might help the older, less vigorous ones make it out of seed.

 

If I find anymore I may do that.  I figured the seed coat is just there to protect it till germination so I took off one side to lessen resistance and energy expenditure.

[Norby]

Plants don't utilize light through their roots to make energy so exposing them to light won't help.  I think that you are risking some sort of mold or algae growth by exposing roots to light.  Especially in a container you are keeping humid.

http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/101/2/363.full.pdf

Yes, they do if exposed to light and if the cotyledons open slightly the first set of true leaves will produce energy while the root structure grows away from the lo level of light. From watering too close to the base I've exposed roots on mj and have seen them green up.

[Norby]

I think jointedone is right.  They should be soaked but it may be too late since they are cracked open now.  I don't think you gave them enough time.  Probably the old wet paper towel technique would work fine.

No these were seeds that were not stored well and need special care if they are to make it at all. I'll try scarring if i find any in packs but these were open stored in an attic for 15-20+ years.  the glass vase and being in the attic they could've been seeds from when 25 or more years ago.  I started thinking about it and I hadn't really lived up there since I was 18-20(25-27years ago) going to college.

[FranksHotPeppersAndMarijuana]

I don't think you read or absorbed the study you posted.  I did read it.  Its results are applicable to certain types of plants and in certain environments.  I doubt you are replicating the growing environment described.  They pumped in 5% CO2.  Normal air has .04% CO2.  That is a concentration of CO2 that is 125 times higher than the air we breathe.  That creates a growing environment for a plant that is hugely beneficial to it.  Plants use CO2 and expel oxygen so that is one happy plant environment.  Mold on the other hand uses oxygen so the experiment's environment was hugely detrimental to mold growth.  On top of that the experiment was done in lab conditions which were sterile.  I am guessing your environment isn't sterile which means you are risking algae growth as well as mold.  If you do a google search you will see all sorts of marijuana forums discussing this exact topic.  I haven't seen one where exposing roots to light ended well.  But knock yourself out. 

[Norby]

Ok. smokey.  No I didn't read it I didn't have to.  You said roots don't photosynthesize.  All I had to do is prove that they do.  You never qualified conditions.  So your wrong, roots do utililize light at least under certain conditions and possibly others.

 

So it looks like the first seed I physically cracked has the root shoot just past the edge of the seed hull. Keeping my fingers crossed.

The second I popped open the next day and that is still in napkins and remains unchanged.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Norby

[pic book]

Scarifying the outer seed coat before soaking might help the older, less vigorous ones make it out of seed.

put sandpaper in a matchbox and shake the seeds around.

[t-pain]

heres a video on testing 5 year old seeds at different Gibberellic Acid aka ga3 concentrations:

also compares it to regular h2o (still reverse osmosis water, of course)

 

[jointedone]

Okay,I am going to see if I can sprout some of my decades old seeds.I will pick each one  and make sure they look like different strains. If any do happen to pop,I will have to number them to "id" them. I sprout my own alfalfa sprouts because commercially grown ones usually harbor e-coli. If they rot,they are dead,can't hurt to try it,right? I only know sprouting,not growing indoors.

[trichcycler]

those commercial seeds(make sure not gmo) can be "sterilized" with a dip n shake in 5% bleach water, rinse, repeat, before growing. This will put an end to molds/pathogens in the sprouting dish.  corn, sunflowers, poppy, wheat, clover, etc from outside make great sprouts indoors.

[t-pain]

what grassmatch, you dont believe in the power of the sunlight uv light to disinfect ? bleach! blooey!

[trichcycler]

you got sunlight uv right now?  not me.

 those seeds sit under the sun for weeks before I get them. I wonder where the ecoli is coming from ? maybe legalized alien seed pickers?

[Restorium2]

you got sunlight uv right now?  not me.

 those seeds sit under the sun for weeks before I get them. I wonder where the ecoli is coming from ? maybe legalized alien seed pickers?

Organic fertilizer. lol

[Norby]

From cows fed unnatural foods.  Had they been grass grazed they would not develop it.

 

My well in NY tested highest Ecoli levels in the county. Nothing but corn fed cattle around me.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Norby

[t-pain]

cows arent supposed to eat corn. its too acidic and cows have stomachs for grass not corn.

[jointedone]

They don't eat regular corn. They eat the silage,that is the corn left after harvesting and the stalks ground up. Take my word for it. Fed many steers to fatten them up for the Fair,they don't have top teeth to grind the corn up in their mouths like horses do. They eat hay but not the higher quality like horses do. They usually eat the big round bales you see out in the hayfields. Bovines have a thick tongue with barbs on it like cats do. The actually wrap that tongue around the grass or hay and pull it out,unlike other livestock with top teeth. You want meat,Black Angus. You want milk,Holsteins or Jerseys,my preference. Your farm lesson for today,fellas. Tomorrow I will tell you how to feed bulls,and why you NEVER do it alone.

[mibrains]

Tomorrow I will tell you how to feed bulls,and why you NEVER do it alone.

 

LOL

oh do tell..

 

please?

 

[pic book]

http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/101/2/363.full.pdf

Yes, they do if exposed to light and if the cotyledons open slightly the first set of true leaves will produce energy while the root structure grows away from the lo level of light. From watering too close to the base I've exposed roots on mj and have seen them green up.

'have seen them green up.'  Now that i think of it, so have i.  Outdoors, monster roots break the soil 3-4 inches high, and then go back into the ground.  the portion above ground--sometimes--greens up, sometimes remains bright white while another root beside it turns green.

what makes roots decide to do a horizontal 's' curve from the plant into the ground, then back out?  And what makes some roots turn green, and have big white bumps on them?

Edited November 22, 2014 by pic book

[mibrains]

'have seen them green up.'  Now that i think of it, so have i.

 

yep...

 

me too

 

anytime a primary root is exposed to direct light for an extended period of time it will for sure and certain develop its own "bark"

 

if left in the light a root will become a "stalk"

 

it is all about cellular mitosis developing symbiosis and what each cell is meant to do at any particular time.

 

roots can and do "become stalks"

 

i have seen it many times.... first hand.

 

as the soil settles the upper roots become covered with bark.

 

same as any tree...

Edited November 23, 2014 by mibrains

[Norby]

I use some white buckets now(and some opaque green) and I can see that the outer roots in the white buckets are green as the stalks.