Sowing old seeds

[TimN]

I decided to sow some of the seeds I've had laying about for some time on 1/12/9. Imagine my surprise when I see after 9 days I've got activity in 16 of 20 pots.

I'm using the baggie method under an LED light indoors. I sterilized my soil which is 1/3 coco coir and 2/3s Turface MVP (calcined clay).

The only one to go seriously sideways was Echinocactus grusonii. I got the seeds from a plant in my yard. It's got quite a colony of mold or fungus so I separated it from the rest. I'll try again shortly. I'm going to wait a few more days for the inactive pots to do something. I've got tons of seed, but I think I need to clean it better.

Some of my seed was marked 2006 and it sprouted. We'll see how they go. I'll take some pictures soon.

[DjonCuba]

Hey dude 15 days ago I sowed Gymnocalycium seeds from 2014 and Astrophytum kabuto from 2013 and some of them are germinating

[briancarpenter]

I have some seeds I got from Mesa in the late 90's. I think I will try to germinate those

[mmcavall]

So how do you guys store the seeds to maintain their viability? In the fridge of just forgot in some drawer? In hermetic plastic bags or in paper envelopes?
Thanks!

[Vipassana]

I store all mine in paper envelopes and indoors (67-80° F). I'm sure storage method plays some role, but a bigger part is the type of seed I think. Pachypodium, Euphorbia, and Adenium seed seem to lose viability very fast and drop off sharply after a year. I haven't seen that from most cactus species. Then again, my oldest seeds are maybe 5 years old.

[Aiko]

I store my seeds in plastic containers in an unheated room. Seeds are usually not older than one year (with a few exceptions). I send out seeds throughout the world, and I usually get good reviews on the germination rate of seeds I distributed. But I guess people are easier in bringing updates with good news than to bring updates with bad news, so I can't judge well enough how this will actually relate to my way of storing...

[TimN]

I had mine in a container (one of those steel shipping containers) in the Arizona sun for a several years, then stored indoors in a closet for several more. They were all in paper envelopes in a cardboard box. Because of all the time baking in the container I was sure they'd be useless by now.

[tumamoc]

I put clean, dry seeds in ziploc bags that have multiple pinholes poked in them. Stored indoors 60-80°F. I've been working with a batch of Peniocereus seed from 2014 with absolutely no sign of degradation. I also live in an arid environment, so that may factor into the good germination rates I get with cacti seed.

[TimN]

I don't know how old my P. greggii seeds are (older than 2012) are but the germination rate was surprisingly good. I'll try to jot down the names of the seeds that haven't sprouted. A. ornatum was one of the pots that hasn't shown any life.