25yo Master Seeds Malawi Gold "Prem Gold Evo" (Feb 2000) – Viability, pheno selection & pure line preservation

[Mitch]

Hey everyone,

I recently inherited a small stash of old cannabis seeds from my late dad. I’m currently germinating them between cotton pads and planning an outdoor grow in Benoni to preserve the pure line and make fresh F3 seeds.

The packets look like this (handwritten labels on clear ziplock bags with white paper notes inside):

1. **Top packet**: “MAL AWI PREM GOLD EVO FEB 2000 MASTER SEEDS” written in blue pen on a small white label. It says “MAL AWI PREM” at the top, then “GOLD EVO”, “FEB 2000”, and “MASTER SEEDS” below. You can see dark seeds inside the bag.

2. **Middle packet**: “HYBRID BB01 (2020 A) MALAWI / YELLY BEAN 2ND GEN SEEDS”. It has “HYBRID BB01 (2020 A)” and “MALAWI / YELLY BEAN” clearly written.

3. **Bottom packet**: “MALE CUT-OFF” with a red scribble line through it, then “MALAWI SI GOLD EVO AUG/SEP 2000 GEN 2.1”. There’s a big red “1” and “2” on the side of the bag.

The seeds I’m most focused on are the ~30 from the top packet — original February 2000 Master Seeds Malawi Gold “Prem Gold Evo”, pure landrace African sativa (no hybrids). They’ve been stored in an envelope for 25+ years.

Has anyone here ever seen or grown this exact early-2000s Master Seeds Malawi Gold pack, or the specific “Prem Gold Evo” labelling?  

- Success stories germinating 20–25 year old landrace seeds?  
- Any quirks growing pure Malawi Gold outdoors in Gauteng (tall sativa, long flower)?  
- Tips for picking the best male + female for pure pollination in a tent?  

Trying to keep my dad’s exact genetics alive while also getting some smoke and dabs from the grow. Any advice or similar experiences would be massive — thanks in advance!

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

Hi,

I hope the germination was successful? How did it turn out? 

Just some advise, but you can ignore it if you want. Typically when growing a plant outdoors it catches stray pollen and makes "bush breed", cause you never know where the pollen comes from. Even if you do intentional breeding outdoors, you never know how much of your selected pollen or stray pollen influences the next generation of seeds. 

I'm assuming they regular seeds, not feminised?

It'll work much better if you make a bunch of clones of some of the more desired males and females of the batch, keep them number and lable them. Once you harvest the crop, select the best male and female that you already took clones of. Grow them out together in a tent so you know you not getting a mix breed.

Also, right now is end of season. You're sowing right before winter hits. The cold slows everything down, especially everything seedling/propagation related. Sowing/veg time is usually warmer months. You sow in spring as winter passes so there's still moisture in the air and soil from winter, perfect for young plants and the sun isn't hot enough yet to burn seedlings. As the spring warms things up it'll naturally harden off seedlings prepping them for the summer when they enter veg. They veg all summer long through all the long days short nights. As winter comes and the days get shorter, nights get longer, the plants start flowering. Harvest time is usually around now, as winter comes around.