A fun way to grow your cannabis from scratch is to either germinate cannabis seeds; or if you’ve bred your own plant, you can grow the offspring.
The Best Way to Germinate Your Cannabis Seeds
If you conduct a Google search, you will come across several different methods for germinating cannabis seeds. Experienced growers might have already figured out their own unique tricks, but for those who are getting started, there’s a particularly simple method that has been proven to work.
All you require are your cannabis seeds, paper towels, and 2 clean plates.
Step 1: Soak 4 paper towel sheets in distilled water. Ideally, the sheets should be soaked. However, they shouldn’t be dripping wet.
Step 2: Place 2 of the paper towels on the plate and start placing the cannabis seeds, spacing them about 1-inch apart, and use the other 2 sheets of water-soaked paper towels to cover them.
Step 3: Take the second plate and flip it over the first one to cover the seeds and create a dark protected space.
Humidity and Temperature
Cannabis seeds perform best at moisture levels of between 70- and 80-percent relative humidity. Ideal temperatures are between 21°C and 26°C for optimal germination.
You need to keep your germinating seeds within this optimal range for the best results. Lower humidity or temperature levels may result in slower, less successful germination while higher humidity or temperature can result in rot or fungus growth.
Mistakes You Should Avoid
Practice always makes perfect, and many growers have discovered numerous ways how not to germinate your cannabis seeds. To prevent new growers from making similar mistakes, here are some of the things you should avoid doing with regards to germinating your cannabis seeds.
1. Allowing the Medium to Over Dry
Successful germination is possible within several hours or days, but proper moisture levels are required. If the grow medium, such as a paper towel, dries out completely, the seed will no longer be absorbing moisture. The result will be halting of germination activity and the seed will never open fully.
It is generally advisable to check on the seeds at least several times each day to be sure that the grow medium doesn’t dry out. It is particularly important if you are managing the temperature using an additional heat source.
If you actually find that the grow medium is drying out, you can apply a few spritzes from a water bottle with a spray nozzle.
2. Germinating Seeds Directly in the Soil
Germinating your seeds directly in the soil might sound like a sensible idea, but this often results in failure to germinate. This is particularly true if the grow medium wasn’t watered prior to the planting of the seed, but rather was watered afterwards.
Planting directly in the soil not only runs the risk of planting the seed too deep, but it may also get drowned with excessive amounts of water. Seed germination in a paper towel is ideal and makes it a lot easier to manage.
3. Leaving Your Seeds Too Long
Leaving seeds to germinate for too long is another common mistake. For the most ideal transplanting of the seed, you need to do it when the tap root is about 1cm, but no more than 2cm. If the leaf is visible, it may cause damage to the root while transplanting. Furthermore, additional damage tends to occur to the seed the longer the root is exposed to light and air.
How to Transplant Your Germinated Cannabis Seeds
Once your cannabis seeds germinate, you can transplant them into your grow space or garden.
Step 1: Find a suitable grow container. You might be tempted to plant several seeds in one container, but that restricts root growth and reduces the quality of the overall plant. Seeds are ideally transplanted into smaller pots (approximately 2-inches in size).
Step 2: Fill the grow container with your preferred medium, ideally loose, airy potting soil and make an indentation using a pencil or pen in the middle, approximately ¼ deep.
Step 3: Gently pick up the seedling using a pair of tweezers and drop it into the hole ensuring that the tap root faces down. Cover lightly with soil.
Step 4: Water the soil. Initially, water the seedlings using a spray bottle, but make sure that you don’t over-saturate them.
Step 5: Monitor the seedling for the next 7 days and you will see it starting to grow from the soil.
It is worth noting that the germination of cannabis seeds isn’t an exact science and doesn’t always go as planned. Seeds are sometimes dud or will be slow to grow while others might pop up very quickly. This is usually determined by the genetics of the plant and will help you in determining which plants you want to focus your breeding and cloning efforts on.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for information and entertainment purposes only and is not intended to reflect the specific views of the publication.
