obiwansativa
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Any updates? I love those photos of the old seeds
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revisited my old friend the other day and he dragged out the rest of those 35 yr old seeds. there were a 2 surprises; Thai stick and seeds, and about a gram or two of what I believe to be some Colombian
I have tried sprouting each of them over the past year or so except the Thai which I will give a try first.
here is a little glimpse of the stuff, and of course I tried some in a bowl and believe it or not I am high. Not fresh WW high, but I def got a buzz.
Thai
this is a large zip of Mexican mix
this is a medium zip of Oaxacan
together I bet it is over 2lbs of seeds
Colombo Gold
Kono Gold
Colombo mix
Maui Wowi
No do not bring them here!!!! Lord Indica does not remember the days of the pure sativas. Snow was the time you harvested your tiny worthless sativa buds. Now if that Colo gold is from the fall of 1980, Do whatever you can to save that. That batch was one of the best sativas. Some of those seeds sent to Kona became instant Kona gold in 81. I had seeds from trips to Maui in 76,78. Kona in 82,85. Time to see what I still have. By the way the flowering time is measured in months not days lol.
the Colo Gold is from the 76 or 79 superbowl trips in Miami. I'm leaning towards 76. It was very very good. I still have a few of these.
The Kona is 81. I don't have them any more. I kept trying to sprout them til they were gone.
I hear they can take the genetics from old seeds. If so I need to know how to get the rest of the Colo and Maui to someone that knows what to do with them.
I imagine they are pure land race strains I have.
I just watched strain hunters vid of them in Colombia. He wanted to trade the guys seeds. In a few years when his strains taint all the land race in Colo. He will have the only pure land race Colombo.
From most of the specials I have seen. Not much land race in Jamacia, Morroco, and a few of the other places they have visited.
Crack some of them seeds open... if they are white inside and not a little shrivelled up nut they should pop man
. Chances are they are old dead and dried out.
I have had excellent results sprouting 20, 30, and 40 year old tomato seed with a Black Tea soak. A two to sixteen hour soak seems to be the time-frame for best results. We are not quite sure what it is in the Black Tea that "wakes-up" the seeds or somehow helps it to sprout (The tannins in it have been suggested).
I have successfully sprouted 40+ year old tomato seed that was practically dust; meaning... it was probably in the same environment as your seed was. Out of 50 old tomato seed varieties sent to me [from the early 70's to the mid 90's) I only had two that did not sprout. One variety there was only one seed and the other two seeds, so it is a proven method we just do not know the science behind it... yet. So brush off those failed methods, pick up some hope, and giv'er another try. You can do it!
Here is another post from a couple more-seasoned breeders/growers [of tomatoes] than myself: Guru #1
In 2007, I got a pack of Mozark tomato seeds from Dr. _____, University of Missouri, Columbia. The pack was marked "1964" but I never found out if they were kept in refrigeration or not. Dr. _____ just said he found them "in the lab."
Dr. _____ told me in an email that he had gotten 50% germination using bottom heat. I soaked the first batch of 100 seeds in a mild black tea solution overnight in the refrigerator and germinated them in a folded paper towel soaked in the tea and enclosed in a Ziploc bag. The bag was kept on top of the refrigerator for 7 days.
I got 50%+ in the first five or so days, and ended up sprouting 72 seeds (72%) after a week or so.
I ran another test with the same batch of seeds when I was ready to start my seeds for the season, and just put the seeds directly into starter mix dampened with a very light solution of Miracle Gro fertilizer on a recommendation from Carolyn _____ to use some sort of high nitrogen product in a very mild solution. With bottom heat on that tray of seeds, I got around 45 - 50% germination.
I've never used bleach as a germination aid because I've had adverse results treating seeds with bleach in solutions stronger than 1:4 Clorox:water when soaking over 4 minutes, as a disease treatment. I found soaking longer than 4 or 5 minutes dramatically reduced viability of the seeds. But that's just been my experience.
As a result of these experiences, I usually start with simply going to the starter mix dampened with a mild solution of high nitrogen fertilizer, keeping the starter tray damp but not sodden, covered with plastic wrap, and either setting on a heat mat at 80*F + or -, or set in a warm spot. The reason? Simplicity and to avoid over-handling and fiddling about with paper towels and little rattail sprouts.
Guru #2
I ran a controlled test soaking old seed in tea a few years ago. The optimum time for soaking in black tea is 16 hours. I ran soak tests with 4 hour intervals from no soak, 4 hour soak, 8 hour soak, 12 hour soak, 16 hour soak, 20 hour soak, and 24 hour soak. The 16 hour treatment gave best germination. Also, adjust the temperature to exactly 85 degrees. I tried it cooler and I tried it warmer and 85 was best. One special note about this though, some of the wild species of tomatoes like to get really HOT before they will germinate. I've had exceptional results with them by letting the greenhouse get up to 120 degrees for 2 or 3 hours. This year is a good example, I had 1 seedling from a S. Pimpinellifolium from TGRC. After the heat treatment, 20 more seedlings popped within 3 days. The seed had been in the start tray for 4 weeks before the heat treatment.
Some of my results:
Amazing Grace 7 of 7
- Raycjeskove 5 of 8
Beduin 7 of 11
- Fanal 13 of 75
F.H. Crow 5 of 7
- Fline 5 of 16
Adelia 35 of 50
- Georgian 1 of 3
Brandywine x Stupice 2 of 8
- Milzani 2 of 19
Loomis 4 of 6
- Karzelek Pulawski 30 of 47
Jagged Leaf x Potato Leaf 1 of 5
- Variegated 3 of ?
Neris 9 of 10
- Heineman's Vortreffliche 1 of 19
I hope this posts fosters new life into those with old seed, and to bring that old seed out of storage for a try with a proven method that actually works.