Ways To Effectively Keep Cannabis Seeds

Cannabis seeds, with their durable outer shell, look pretty hardy. And while nature has definitely designed them to withstand many variety of conditions, cannabis seeds aren't immune. Quick changes in temperature and excessive humidity, for example, can quickly ruin batches of seeds. Luckily, caring for your seeds is straightforward. Keep reading to find out how.

Your Seeds Are Living

Most people forget this, but it's worth remembering: your cannabis seeds are alive organisms. Before they grow, however, they are in dormant rest, much like some animals when they sleep. And like all organisms, seeds can perish. When storing your seeds, you'll want to provide them the best conditions to make sure they remain viable until you're ready to plant and plant them.

Ideal Conditions for Cannabis Seeds

Cannabis seeds have four key enemies:

1. Humidity
2. Temperature
3. Light
4. Oxygen

Preferably, you want to store your seeds in a cool, dark, and dry place. Whenever possible, keep your seeds in their original packaging. At Royal Queen Seeds, we've specially designed our packaging to safeguard our seeds until you're ready to germinate them.

If your seeds get exposed to light or rapid changes in temperature, these conditions will make them to consume their nutrient stores before they ever reach soil, meaning they won't have the nutrients they need to germinate. Excessive humidity, on the other hand, can cause fungi to grow on your seeds.

Effects of Humidity on Cannabis Seeds

Humidity is definitely one of the biggest threats to your seeds. Here is how different levels of humidity (% relative humidity) influence your cannabis seeds:

Need advice on handling humidity for your plants? The Grow Guide gives key tips for maintaining healthy development environments.

Storage Methods to Store Your Cannabis Seeds

For short-term storage, a dark cupboard or drawer with stable temperatures is usually fine. Try to keep your seeds away from areas of your house that are prone to the natural temperature changes of your area environment.

If, for https://nativesusa.com/ (nativesusa.com) example, you reside in an area with very warm daytime temperatures and cold nights, try to protect your seeds from these changes and don't keep them outside in sheds or garage.

For extended storage, it's best to keep your seeds with desiccants, such as silica gel, in a sealed container inside the refrigerator. Remember that accessing the door of your fridge can actually produce some pretty major temperature shifts. If you happen to have a second fridge that gets used less often than the one in your kitchen, pick that one to keep your seeds.

Again, whenever possible, keep your seeds in their original packaging. If you do break packs of seeds and have extras, transfer the additional seeds directly into a sealed container.

Ziplock bags, for example, are perfect because you can eliminate all the air from them to create an almost vacuum-sealed container for your seeds. Once sealed, put your bag inside dark plastic bag or black container to guard your seeds from your fridge light.

Low-humidity fridges are the best to store seeds. The problem is when there is dampness in the fridge, since humidity is the worst enemy for seeds (more harmful than temperature, light, oxygen...). For this reason, it is preferable to store the seeds in No Frost fridges.

Can You Keep Seeds in the Freezer?

Yes, cannabis seeds can be preserved in the freezer. The more extreme the temperature, the more gradually they decline. However, it's typically not essential to freeze your seeds. Meet the conditions we outlined above, and you should be able to maintain your seeds for up to 5 years and still get excellent germination rate.

Knowing Which Seeds to Grow and Which to Store

When you're ready to germinate your seeds, examine them and germinate any seeds with damage to the outer shell first. The exterior of your seeds is designed to protect the sensitive genetics inside. Seeds with breaks in the outer shell are a lot more vulnerable and won't be stored.

At Royal Queen Seeds, we take pride in our work and want to guarantee every grower only has the best genetics in their garden. That means we inspect all of our seeds before packing. If you find any damage to your RQS seeds, contact with our help team immediately.

Methods for Germinating Older Cannabis Seeds

We've all located stray seed somewhere at the back of forgotten drawer or cupboard. Here are a few tips on how to grow weed seeds:

Pre-soaking with enhanced carbonated water

Before growing your old seeds, try immersing them in carbonated water fortified with fulvic acid, germination booster, hydrogen peroxide, or gibberellic acid. For best results, use ambient water and soak your seeds for half a day in a dark place.

Scar your seeds

Aged seeds often have extremely tough outer shell. Carefully scratching this shell with light sandpaper can help moisture and warmth penetrate your seed at the time of germination. Try carefully scarring your old cannabis seeds just before submerging to help them grow.

Take off the seed's ridge

The ridge is the marginally elevated side of your seed. Like parts of the shell, this ridge can become extra tough over time. Eliminating it gently with fine Stanley blade can help your seed grow.

Slice open your seed

In desperate attempt to germinate your seeds, creating small cut in the outer casing may help. However, this is no miracle cure, and you'll need to be careful to avoid harming the inside of your seed. If you damage the embryo, the seed will never germinate.

Remember, some old seeds just won't germinate no matter how much you try. If possible, avoid getting more seeds than you plan to plant so as to avoid having any difficulties at the time of germination.