Germinating super old seeds

[Adrian]

I use a cold frame coverd of one wintering veil fold in 3 and one wintering veil above the pots.
In the background i have put of clay balls.
The night the temperature is up 4°C > at out (minimum 2°C) and the humidity  is at 99%.
The day the temperature is up to 31°C above the pots and the minimal humidity is 30%.
I note that the humidity is more important than the temperature for the germination
It was a great sucess for the germination of my tetsukabuto seeds.Some seeds who look liked totaly flat are germinate.
But the more important before this stape is to put the seeds in water up to they sink or get fat.

[Andrew Barney]

I have nothing to contribute on the seed germination front. I just wanted to say way to go Joseph! And way to go for someone saving those seeds despite his early death!

Keep us up to date on the success of this!

[Andrew Barney]

Just learned that 4-5% alcohol soaking seeds can dramatically increase seed germination. Also 4-5% vinegar.

Similar to the 2-4% bleach.

There are a few scientific studies with graphs online from universities to back this up with data. Not sure if there is a synergistic effect of using them together, but would be curious to see a trial.

But alcohol and vinegar kind of make sense when you think about natural rotting fruits. I wonder how many inhibitors dissolve in alcohol easier that water. Some also speculate the alcohol vinegar may speed up germination and even help things like drought tolerance in corn.

https://www.csub.edu/~ddodenhoff/Bio100/literature/effectsofethanolonriceplants.pdf

https://emerginginvestigators.org/articles/presoaking-seeds-with-vinegar-improves-seed-development-and-drought-tolerance-in-maize-plants-ecc0efbf-524c-4a32-85c0-3d593827b8f9/pdf

http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0315/ijsrp-p39122.pdf

I wonder if this would dramatically help hard to germinate seed such as rubus.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Abdul-Hameed-27/publication/287542665_Ethanol_priming_An_effective_approach_to_enhance_germination_and_seedling_development_by_improving_antioxidant_system_in_tomato_seeds/links/57016d5408aea6b7746a7cf7/Ethanol-priming-An-effective-approach-to-enhance-germination-and-seedling-development-by-improving-antioxidant-system-in-tomato-seeds.pdf

[Jeremy Weiss]

I might try this this year with my crowberry seeds (which I understand are also super hard to germinate).