How to Germinate Marijuana Seeds Successfully

Are you ready to begin your education on how to grow weed? Then lets get started. Once you have decided how, where, and what you are going to grow, (my guide here can help with this) it is time to actually start growing. This process begins with germinating the weed seeds. If you are unfamiliar with germination, it is the process by which a seed is sprouted before being grown in dirt or hydroponically. Proper germination gives you a much higher rate of success with growing marijuana from a seed.

Marijuana seed germination is really a simple process, however, you should practice first on lower quality seeds until you get the hang of it. No reason to destroy those top quality pot seeds when you are just starting to learn how to grow marijuana. Successful germination takes a combination of 3 things - water, warmth and darkness.

It is very important to keep all the materials that will be touching the seeds as sterile as possible. Contamination can very easily kill a young seedling. I recommend using filtered water, or at least letting tap water stand for a day or two before using it on your seeds. Normal tap water can often contain harmful chemicals such as chlorine or floride which will kill your marijuana seeds.

Many people start seeds in a paper towel or some other sort of soft, absorbent medium. This method is fine for ditchweed seeds, but if you are serious about growing then you should use seed sponges.  With sponges you have less risk of mold and trauma from over handling the germinated seed. When you place the seed into a presoaked sponge, it does not matter which way the seed points as the new emerging root will anchor the seed into position before sending up the sprout.

Most seed sponges come with a center hole about 1 1/2 inches deep and ready to accommodate a seed. The seed sponge is about 3 1/2inches tall and 1 1/2inches wide, tapering to the bottom. The styrofoam holder comes with the seed sponges. The one shown here has been altered but they usually hold 15 sponges which can also be purchased separately.

Before you drop your seed into the sponge, always pre-soak them in pH adjusted water. pH level at 5.5 to 6.5 seems to be a good general range for best nutrient absorption.  For extra nutrients you can add 1 drop of Superthrive per gallon of pH adjusted water for seedlings.

The styrofoam container has been placed in a plastic container with 1/8inch of water in the bottom. This keeps the sponges moist but not wet so the sponges can absorb the water up towards the seedling. Try to keep the water at room temperature so that the seeds and seedlings are never disturbed or shocked by the water temperature.  Ideal room temperature for germination can range from 70-80 Fahrenheit.

The seed will usually germinate within 3 to 8 days. It is possible with a vigorous seed, that the fine root hairs may even appear at the surface of the planting medium. Use a magnifying glass to make sure you are not confusing the root hairs with possible damp off mold which can develop in the same spot. If you suspect mold, a dry Q-tip dipped in dry Rootone and sprinkled sparingly on the affected area will eliminate damp off and if it is just root hairs, they will not be damaged by the Rootone application.

Day#6 Seedlings Up

The Seeds and seedlings are about 2 feet from the lamps. The seedlings are up 2-3 inches above the seed sponges with the first set of true leaves [cotyledon] visible.

Transplanting your Seedlings

By day #8, these seedlings are showing a fine web of white hairs which are the beginning of the root structure.

They are now ready to be popped into the 4x4 Rockwool cube shown behind the sponges. It's very important when using Rockwool as your growing medium to first soak and flush the cubes or slabs overnight in plain water. Then soak another 12 hours in water pH adjusted to 5.5-6.0. Rockwool is high in alkaline 8.0-8.5 so you must soak to adjust.

Before inserting the sponge and seedling into the pre-soaked Rockwool, dig out the center hole in the Rockwool a bit more so the sponge will slide in without injuring the fine root hairs. The sponge must fit snug enough into the cube so the root hairs grow into the surrounding Rockwool forming a strong root ball.

A melonballer is a great tool to widen the hole.

After transplanting the seedling sponges into the Rockwool cubes, put a water proof tray underneath the cubes and position them 24" below the lights.

Keep the new seedlings and clones under the same HPS 450 lamp as the Mother Plants. Some growers like to have separate setups for seedlings and clones. The results are very good using the same space.

Old 5 gallon paint buckets thoroughly washed with soap and bleach make great platforms for raising or lowering the level of plants to lights.

Additional Tips

The germination success is going to depend largely upon the viability of the seed. This simply means, the ability of the seed to produce a root tip and the hypocotyl which is the embryonic stem.

Since a grower rarely knows the age of the seeds, it's a crap shoot. Generally, the highest rate of germination comes from the freshest seeds and decreases as the seed ages. Also as the seeds age, they will germinate more slowly, sometimes taking up to 5 weeks. With proper storage, seeds remain viable for 2-3 years. Some seeds will germinate at 5+ years, however because of the length of time to germinate, the older seed is more susceptible to the problems that attack a young germinating seed such as damp off.

The germination success is going to depend largely upon the viability of the seed. This simply means, the ability of the seed to produce a root tip and the hypocotyl which is the embryonic stem.

The best seed storage generally agreed upon is putting the thoroughly dried seeds into a paper envelope then storing the envelope in an air tight container in a dark, cool place. Freezing seeds may cause them to crack and over dry. They may still be viable, however why begin with a built in set of problems?

In selecting the individual seed, look for the larger, more deeply colored seed with a luster instead of the smaller, pale seed with a flat finish.

In the quest for growing the best plants, the big cosmic joke is really on the "experts". Many years ago after switching to hydro, a grower had huge plastic garbage bags filled with really old soil from a crop that had gone to seed. The stored soil had molded, then dried and in mid-January with 0* temperatures, he dumped it into his outdoor vegetable beds. By early April when it was still below freezing at night, he was stunned to discover hundreds of the healthiest looking 4-5inch seedlings growing leaf to leaf that he had ever seen. He had to do the weeding deed [since it was too visible] as after years of the most tender care, attention and by the book techniques of germinating seeds, he could not believe that under the most adverse circumstances, a whole tribe of really healthy cannabis developed with no human help.