How To Germinate Marijuana Seeds

Marijuana seeds will usually be good for about 2 years after they are produced by a female plant. Under ideal conditions, some seeds will last for up to about 5 years. Keep them in a cool dark place away from moisture.

When you decide a seed is ready to be used to grow a plant, you will have to initiate plant growth by germinating the seed. Germinating a marijuana seed is comprised of supplying the seed with moisture and keeping it in a dark place that has a fairly constant warm temperature.

When the appropriate conditions are given to the seed for a long enough time, the plant will sprout a root. After the root is about a quarter of an inch long the seed can be placed in an environment where it can grow.

Seeds can be germinated in different ways, depending on the intended growing environment. If you are growing marijuana hydroponically, you can germinate the seed directly on a small piece of the media that will be used in your hydroponic garden, by following the method described below.

If you are going to be growing marijuana in soil, you can germinate the seed directly on the spot where it will grow. Simply place the seed where you want the plant to grow and cover it with about a half inch of loose soil.

Keep the soil around the plant moist (not wet) by spraying it with water (aged for at least 3 days) in a hand sprayer. Keeping the seed moist but not wet by spraying it may not be possible, especially if you are growing outdoors. So you may wish to germinate your marijuana seed indoors using the method described below.

Just about any seed can be germinated in this manner, from tomatoes to marijuana. Instructions are given here for using paper towels. It is recommended that you start germinating the seed on paper towel, but you can use the same media used in your garden (if you are hydroponic marijuana grower).

You can start seeds that will be grown in soil on hydroponic media like rockwool, but this is not recommended. After the seed has sprouted, place the seed (with rockwool or other media) directly in the soil it will be growing in.

Substitute your media for the paper towels described if you are using rockwool or some other media and keep in mind rockwool and other media might have to be soaked in pH adjusted water prior to use, especially when seeds are involved. Follow the manufacturers instructions.

What You Will Need
a plate
a bowl
marijuana seeds
paper towels (or hydroponic media)

The plate you use will have to have a flat center area and the bowl will have to fit in the center area of the plate.

Take your plate and bowl and run boiling hot water all over them to kill any germs, you should do this to the paper towels also making sure they don't fall apart. Then squeeze the paper towel until it does not drip water unless you squeeze it a little.

Take the 1 or 2 sheets of paper towel and carefully fold them till they fit into the bottom of the plate. Turn the bowl upside down and place it over the plate, the paper towel should not stick out around the outside of the bowl.

When the paper towels reach room temperature, remove the bowl and place the seeds on top of the damp towel then cover them with the bowl again. The plate and bowl should be dark enough to block sunlight or kept in a dark area or covered to block sunlight and stored in an area that is clean and warm.

Check daily and add small quantities of water when needed to keep moist. This is true also if you germinate seeds on a small piece of rockwool, oasis cubes, or medium other than paper towels.

When the seeds sprout, and the white shoot emerges about a quarter inch, transplant (root down) into your soil. Treat very gently, don't touch or break the root tip.

If you started on hydroponic media you can place the media containing the seed directly into the garden without touching the seed itself. This is a good idea because a minimum of stress is caused to the plant.

Some seeds take up to 12 days to start germination, but most will germinate within 24 to 72 hours. Be patient, give your valuable seeds a chance to sprout before tossing them out.

I've never tried but if you require more room to germinate your seeds, you could try a suitably sized pot or pan with a lid to perform the same function as a plate with a bowl placed over it.

Do NOT use bleach or mix bleach with the water!!
Never, never let the seeds dry out!!

Soil growers who plan on growing marijuana either indoors or outdoors can use a mini-greenhouse with a heating element. These are used to germinate the seed and let it start to grow and establish a root system without being transplanted.

Seeds are germinated by placing soil in the tray of the mini-greenhouse and moistening it with water. The seed is then put on the soil and the top is placed on the greenhouse. The greenhouse is moved to a dark area and the heater is plugged in.

After the seed has germinated, the heat is stopped and the plants are allowed to grow a bit before being transplanted into the soil that they will be grown in.

Temperature And Marijuana Seed Germination

Regular room temperature (about 65-80 degrees F) will be fine for germinating a seeds strain that originated in a colder climate. But higher temperatures are necessary to ensure optimal speed and health when germinating and growing some seed strains that originated in areas where it is very warm all year long.

If you don't know where your seed strain originated, try germinating a single seed at room temperature. If your seed doesn't sprout, try germinating another seed at a temperature 10 degrees F higher until you find what temperature works best. Of the 20+ marijuana strains I've grown, only 3 had problems germinating at room temperature.

I was having problems germinating some seeds that I have. I took 5 seeds and tried to germinate them using the methods described above. The temp was about 70 degrees on average. Then I took another 5 of the same seeds and tried to germinate them using the methods described above. The temp there was 85 degrees on average.

In the first group (70 degrees), only 1 seed germinated, and it took over 5 days to sprout. In the second hotter group (85 degrees), all 5 of the seeds sprouted within 5 days. I had never thought of this before. All the strains are equatorial in origin, so they need hot weather conditions (like in nature where they come from).

When germinating marijuana seeds:
Most seeds will germinate at 70-75 degrees F.
Nearly all seeds do best at about 78-80 degrees F.
Some seeds require up to 85 degrees F.
Never exceed 90 degrees F when germinating.

The Big Book of Buds:
Marijuana Varieties from
the World's Great Seed Breeders

This full color guide shows various marijuana strains from around the world. Includes info like plant type (sativa or indica), flowering time, where to plant (in or outdoors), expected yield size, origin of the strain, taste, strength of stone, etc.

Intended for growers who want to compare different marijuana strains to decide what type of seed is right for their particular situation. There are 3 volumes, each book is alphabetically arranged and has descriptions of about 100 varieties.

Volume 1 contains a number of easier to find strains (like big bud, bubble gum, haze 19 x skunk, jack herer, master kush, northern lights, super skunk, white widow) as well as some other strains that are hard if not impossible to find.

The Cannabible

Of the 1500+ strains of marijuana the author of this series of books has studied, he put over 100 into each volume. Superb images (over 400 full-color photographs) of both living plants as well as the harvested product are shown in each volume along with descriptions of their aromas, flavors, effects, and origins of the strain.

Volume 1 would be the most useful to almost any grower. It contains most of the popular marijuana strains available at the present time. Volumes 2 and 3 contain primarily harder to find strains that experienced growers would be interested in.

A person interested getting all 3 books should look at the cannabible collection, a three volume soft cover mini-edition featuring the most popular marijuana strains from volumes 1,2, and 3. Links are provided below to soft cover editions, each book was also released in hardcover form.