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If you want to start growing your own marijuana, it’s important that you understand how to germinate weed seeds at home.
Germination is the process of a new plant developing from a seed. While you can purchase many types of seeds from numerous sources, starting marijuana seeds will always be the first step in starting a marijuana garden. You can purchase seeds from an array of online seed banks, but look for seeds that will produce sprouts of optimal quality and genetic diversity.
Growing Marijuana from Seed to Produce Your Own Seedlings
Growing marijuana from seed isn’t any different from growing any other kind of plant from seed. Like all other plants, your marijuana seeds need three basic things: heat, air, and water. Provide these conditions, and there’s little else you need to know when it comes to how to germinate cannabis seeds.
Soak the Seeds
The first step in germinating pot seeds is to soak the seeds. You need to be careful not to over-soak them, however. If you have hard seeds, you will need to soak them for no more than 32 hours – usually, 24 hours is plenty.
Your pot seeds will begin to sprout once they receive both heat and water. Once these conditions are met, the taproot will begin to burrow through the shell of the seed. If there’s not enough water, however, the seedling will die once the root breaks through. Make sure the roots are kept moist even after the seed has sprouted!
Apply Heat
As per the last recommendation, it’s also important that you know how to germinate cannabis seeds with the right amount of heat. Heat can be tricky – not only do you need to strike a balance between perfectly warm and too hot, but you need to make sure there isn’t too much or too little humidity. Consider investing in a couple of incandescent light bulbs and placing them over the germination area to make sure temperatures and humidity stay at ideal levels.
Care For Your Seedling
The heading for this tip is actually a bit of a misnomer ! you want to make sure you care for your seedling but you need to not over care for them. Don’t touch the seedling as it’s developing, particularly the white taproot, as it can easily break. Leave the seed alone and wait until it has germinated before you do anything else.
Plant Your Seeds
When you plant a germinated seed, you need to make sure you don’t go too deep in the soil. Usually, a quarter of an inch to an inch below the surface is plenty. Make sure the taproot is planted down!
How to Germinate Pot Seeds: Check for the Best Quality Seeds
The best experience in starting marijuana seeds will always begin with the highest quality seeds. In general, dark-colored cannabis seeds are the most likely to sprout – so longa s you keep them in the right conditions. A seed that is light green or even white will have almost no chance of growing.
Another tip for checking seeds is to see if you can crush them – if you can, then they are bad. However, this tip is often given with poor results. Not only will a crushed seed automatically be a useless seed, but the strength of a seed often has little to do with its ultimate germination.
The Best Methods for Germinating Cannabis Seeds
Germinating Weed Seeds via Direct Planting
Some people wonder how to germinate weed seeds without a lot of extra effort. This is that method. In nature, a seed sprouts simply by falling into the soil and developing a taproot in the earth.
As a result, you can germinate weed seeds simply by plopping your cannabis seeds into your medium of choice. You won’t have to worry about transplant shock, nor will you have any extra work involved. However, you do need to make sure you provide the proper growing conditions from the get-go.
How to Germinate Marijuana Seeds with a Paper Towel
The paper towel method of germinating marijuana seeds is one of the easiest methods of growing marijuana from seed. All you need is your seeds, some paper towels, and two plates. Invest in inexpensive paper towels, as these will be non-porous so you can lay seeds on them without worrying about them getting stuck.
You do need to be careful using this method, as it’s easy to damage the taproot while you’re transferring sprouted seeds. The paper towel can also dry out and hurt your seeds! However, besides that, paper towel germination is a tried and true method of starting marijuana seeds.
Start by soaking four sheets of the towels in distilled water. You want the sheets to be totally soaked, but not dripping. Place two of the paper towels on one of the plates and put the seeds on them, roughly an inch away from each other. Use the other two sheets of paper towel to cover the seeds.
Then, cover the seed and towels with the second plate. This will help to lock in moisture. Check your seeds often to see if they have germinated. In order to improve germination rates and speeds when you are germinating pot seeds in this way, make sure you provide temperatures between 70 and 90 degrees.
In most cases, it will take about one to four days for your seeds to germinate in this way.
Using Started Plugs to Grow Cannabis from Seeds
Another trick that you might learn while discovering how to germinate weed seeds it by using starter cubes or seedling plugs. It’s a popular method of starting marijuana seeds because it is essentially foolproof.
To do this, all you need to do is place the seed into a plug or cube and add water (these plugs and cubes can be bought from most retailers who specialize in starting marijuana seeds). Place the seeds in a room with the proper temperature, and your seeds will germinate in just a few days. This is the best method of how to germinate weed seeds for lazy gardeners, as you can essentially set the seeds and forget about them.
Germinating Marijuana Seeds by Overnight Soaking
Soaking your seeds is one of the easiest ways of starting marijuana seeds. All you have to do is place the seeds in a glass of lukewarm water and allow it to sit overnight. This is one of the best methods if you are trying to find out how to germinate weed seeds that are old or hard. The soaking process will rejuvenate old seeds!
Use a transparent glass container, as you’ll be able to see the white taproot emerge. Usually, this takes less than 32 hours to do.
Creating a Germination Station
A final option is to purchase or make a germination station. To do this, place a plastic dome over a plate and then add a heating pad. You can get an inexpensive germination station for less than $50, and it will have a plastic top to ensure great humidity control.
How to Plant Marijuana Seeds That Have Sprouted
As soon as you see the tap root on your seeds, it’s time to transplant your seed into the final growing medium. To do this, you will want to start with small, two-inch pots that offer good aeration. If you don’t have tiny planters that are already well-draining, you can poke holes in the bottom of plastic containers.
Begin by filling the containers with loose potting soil. Poke a hole in the middle, pressing about a quarter of an inch into the soil, with your finger or a pen.
Use a pair of tweezers or small tongs to transfer the seed to the hole. Be gentle! Make sure the taproot is facing down before you cover the whole thing with soil.
Next, water the soil with a spray bottle. This will help prevent flooding of the soil, which can wash away your delicate seed. Later, you can use an actual watering can or another method of watering, but at the beginning, you need to be careful that you don’t suffocate your plant.
Once your seeds have been planted, turn on your grow light. This heat will not only provide your plants with the light they need but also the heat. The heat will accelerate the germination rate.
Keep a close eye on the temperature and moisture of the soil – watch out for fungus that can be caused by overwatering! – and within one week or so you will see a seedling emerging from the soil.
Is Germinating Pot Seeds Right For Me?
If you want to grow your own marijuana, it’s important that you start with the proper tools. Aside from a great grow room and all the soil nutrients you will need, you also need to have seedlings to get your plants started.
While you can easily purchase clones from online sources, it’s much more fun to experiment with starting seeds. Once you get the hang of how to germinate weed seeds on your own, you will be rewarded with robust plants that meet your ideal specifications.
So be patient – some seeds will be total fails while others may take longer to sprout. Others, however, will pop up quickly and grow even more quickly – these are the plants you will come to cherish!
