Starting Cannabis Seeds

The basics:

Seeds need warm, dark and moist.

What you’ll need:

• 2 plates
• 4 sheets of paper towel
• water (I use pH’d reverse osmosis water, or rainwater/melted snow)
• seedling germinating matt (optional)
• seed(s)

What I do:

• Soak seeds in pH’d water for 12 hrs. This is done so water can soak through the outer coat and start seed germination.  If seeds float – gently poke them, it might be a hidden air bubble/surface tension preventing them from sinking. If they stay floating, soak for another 12 hrs. Many will say skip the soaking step and go straight to paper towel for germination. As a hard shell seed, I prefer to soak first.
• Put the paper towel on one plate and wet with water – let the excess water run off so the paper towel is moist but not dripping. Place seeds between the damp paper towel and cover with the second plate.
• Keep your seeds warm – I put my seed plate on a seedling germination mat to ensure 20C to 30C germination temperatures. 
• Check seeds daily for moisture and sprouting. This can take a few days to a week depending on temperature.
• Once you see a tap-root emerge from the seed, GENTLY transfer it to its first home.  The root is very sensitive, the less you disrupt the roots from here on in – the better! Some transfer into peat pods or rockwool, I go right into solo-cups with a seedling mix. Your transplant medium should be moist, but not wet! Do not over water! Too much moisture can cause problems & many fail here. Cannabis does not like wet feet!
• Keep your planted seedling on your heat mat. The root will grow down and the seed will grow up. When it starts its upward journey above ground – This is when I add light. Weak light will lead to leggy starts. I have a small fan blowing over starts to help strengthen the stem as it grows.
• Once roots are showing on the peat pod/rockwool, or for me out the bottom of solo cup drain-holes, it’s time to transplant. I go from seed to Solo Cup, then into a 2 gal fabric pot – (see picture at the top).  Be gentle with roots! Do not over water!
• Grow your plants!  Keep lighting 18:6 to encourage vegetative growth and watch for pests.  Let the root ball somewhat dry out in between waterings. DO NOT OVERWATER! I suggest topping/FIM’ing and low stress training once your plants reach 5-6 nodes. These training methods can help increase bud-site production AND to helps to control height. I eventually transplant into a larger pot a few weeks before switching to flower.

Happy growing!