I used to have a hot pepper plant called Guam Boonies, native to the island of Guam. It was a woody bush plant, unlike other pepper plants. It had to live indoors under a plant light and in front of a south facing window. Long story short, it died after a year and I had no time to start a new one.
So now those peppers are 10 years old. I remember when I planted that one, it took 4 to 6 weeks for germination. I figured the seeds would be dead by now, being kept in a baggie in the cabinet. But I wanted to grow them again, so I broke up one of the dried peppers and put it in a wet paper towel and baggie on a heat mat, in front of a south facing window. I included the dried pepper skins with them. After 5 days, nothing. Then I got some GBA (gibberellic acid) and put a small amount of it on the wet paper towel. Six days later, I have sprouted seeds. I do believe the GBA made the difference, based on the age of the seeds, and how long it took to germinate the original plant seed. So a total of 11 days was all it took to get several 10 yr old seeds germinated.
"Hormonal Regulations During Seed Dormancy:
(i) Gibberellins:
The germination of both dormant and non-dormant seeds has been shown to be stimulated by applied GAs. The stimulatory effect of GAs has been widely reported in seeds where dormancy or quiescence is imposed by different mechanisms like incomplete embryo development, mechanically resistant seed coats and presence of germination inhibitors."
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