Seed Quality Facts: Things to Know Before You Start Growing

Dealers and dispensaries charge exorbitant amounts of money for mediocre weed. If you’re tired of being extorted, you should start growing your own cannabis plants.

In fact, growing weed can be much more cost-effective in the long run, especially if you invest in good seeds.

If you’re interested in buying feminized and optimized seeds of your favourite strains, then you should consider paying a visit to Homegrown Cannabis Co. at once.

If you’re interested in growing your own weed, then here’s a valuable article for you. The secret to good plant and bud quality lies in the seeds. Here are some of the important seed quality facts that you will need.

For novices, it can be very difficult to know which seeds are good and which seeds are duds. If you don’t have a green thumb, these seed quality facts will help you to pick a bunch of the best seeds.

Seeds You Find in the Bottom of the Bag

When you buy weed from your local dispensary/dealer, you’ll find that there are a few seeds lying in the bottom of the bag. Don’t ever plant those seeds, because they’re most likely duds. In fact, they’re actually just adding to the weight of your bag.

Good quality cannabis strain seeds have to be feminized, or else they won’t take root. The seeds at the bottom of your bag of weed are useless, and they won’t be of any value at all. This is why you need high quality seed info.

Tip #1 – Always Remember to Obtain Your Seeds From a Good Source

A tip that everyone will always give you is to obtain seeds from a reputed and trusted source. If you don’t know of any well-known dispensaries or nurseries in your area, a quick Google search can help you.

Once you’ve jotted down a list of ‘maybes’, you need to evaluate each of those individually. The best way to do that is to check out what kinds of seeds they have on offer. It’s also a good idea to check out the prices they charge and compare those against others.

Apart from prices, it’s also a very good idea to speak to past customers of the dispensary. You can use social media to look up references and past customers, and ask them about their experiences. If their seeds are good and they’re completely legal, then you’re good to go.

Tip #2 – Figure Out What Kinds of Seeds You Want

Many weed novices don’t know that there are various kinds of cannabis seeds that you can buy at a nursery/dispensary. Here’s a brief rundown of the types so that you can make a better and more informed decision later.

Photoperiodic Seeds

As their name suggests, photoperiodic seeds need to be exposed to alternate periods of light and dark. Most require 12 hours of light exposure followed by 12 hours of darkness. With proper care, you’ll get a bunch of high quality seeds as well.

In fact, photoperiodic seeds are preferred by lots of cannabis fans because the plants can generate a very high yield. On top of that, the buds produced by such strains have a comparatively higher THC and CBD content. These plants do take some time to flower, but they’re tough and well-suited for first-time weed growers.

Autoflowering Seeds

If you don’t have a garden or backyard and want to grow your plants indoors, then you should take a look at autoflowering seeds. Unlike photoperiodic strains, these do not need to be exposed to light to start flowering. They flower automatically after a fixed amount of time.

If time is of the essence to you, then you should consider these seeds – they have a very fast life cycle that’s only 7-10 weeks. If you use the Sea of Green (SOG) technique and plant them in close proximity to one another, you’ll get a healthy yield as well.

Tip #3 – Make Sure That The Seeds You’re Buying Are Feminized

Feminized seeds are produced by nurseries, and these seeds completely do away with the male chromosomes in the seeds. As a result, these seeds can only produce female cannabis plants. Only female cannabis plants can produce the weed buds.

This is the reason why you’ll be much better off buying seeds that have already been feminized. Instead of caring for male plants that won’t give you any buds, you can only grow a crop of very high yielding female plants. Here’s how feminization can be done by even you!

How to Feminize Seeds

Female cannabis plants are forced to pollinate by dousing them with a solution of colloidal silver. Once this is done, the plant will produce seeds that are female with a 99% probability. This method of feminization came about due to Rudich, Baker, and Sell’s 1978 paper.

Rodelization is another effective strategy that you can use to feminize your plants. In fact, this is a technique that can be used to prepare plants with high THC levels.

Can You Tell the Sex of the Seed Beforehand?

Many people ask if the sex of the seed can be understood beforehand. Unfortunately, the answer to this is a resounding “no”. There’s simply no way for someone to tell the sex of the seed unless it grows into a plant.

This is the main reason why nurseries, dispensaries, and experienced weed connoisseurs will ask you to purchase only feminized seeds.

Tip #4 – Judge the Appearance of the Seed

Here are some pointers that will help you to judge the seed quality depending on the appearance. These are not strict rules, they are just helpful pointers.

  • Color: Look for dark colors in the seeds – such as black, dark brown, or dark grey. Viable seeds are usually much darker than the non-viable ones.
  • Sheen: Good quality cannabis seeds that are 80% viable will also have a nice waxy sheen. If a waxy sheen is absent, then you might have to discard that seed completely.
  • Hard Shell: Viable cannabis seeds have a hard shell as well, one that does not give even if you apply pressure between your fingers. This is a preliminary test that you can use.
  • Float Test: A sureshot 99% test of viability is the float test. Take a few seeds and put them in a glass of water and leave them for a couple of hours. The seeds that sink to the bottom are viable seeds, with a 99% probability. The ones that remain floating are most likely duds.

What is the Best Test to Check for Seed Viability?

The best test that you can conduct to check for seed viability is the germination test. Take a few seeds and place them between two moist paper towels, exactly the way you sprouted beans in school. Keep the seeds and the paper towels in a dark place for some days.

Keep checking on the seeds meanwhile, and make sure that the paper towels remain moist. After a few days, you’ll know that the seeds are viable if a small white tail appears on it. This is the radicle and its proof that your seeds are viable and can be planted.

Summing Up

These are the best tips and info that you need if you want to evaluate the quality of your cannabis seeds. The best course of action is to always source the seeds from a reliable dispensary or nursery.