Germinating Cannabis Seeds - My Most Successful Method
Germinating cannabis seeds is something most growers do without thinking, but I always hear of people saying success rates of 60%, 80%, etc. I never seem to have this problem so I thought id share my method which seems to give me 100% success even with older seeds. Its a mix of 2 methods commonly used.
Step 1
My first step is to fill a glass with normal tap water. I will then leave this water to stand for 12-24 hours, this allows the chlorine to evaporate off. Next, I add my seeds. I will leave the seeds in the water for no more than 12 hours. Through germinating 100's of seeds over the years I've learnt 12 hours is the perfect amount of time. After 12 hours in a dark place, some of the seeds should have sunk to the bottom of the glass, if not a good tap on the seed and it should sink, if it doesn't that's not an issue. The 12 hours in the water has softened the shell, any longer and I've noticed you can drown the seed.
Step 2
Once my seeds have spent 12 hours on the water I like to transfer them damp tissue paper. This is an important step and something I see being done wrong. You want the tissue paper damp, not wet. I literally meant no excess water over damp. I normally give the tissue paper a good soaking and then squeeze it heavily between my hands. It hardly feels wet once I've done this. In the wild seeds don't want a bog or swamp to germinate, just enough moisture to start their journey. You want the tissue to be pretty thick as well. If using standard toilet roll I find 12 squares folder down to 1 square to be perfect, no perfumed tissue either, plain white tissue, normally the cheapest is perfect.
Step 3
I now Place my seeds in the damp tissue covering 1 half as I will shortly be folding the tissue over to cover the seeds. Do not compress the tissue when you fold the tissue over the seeds. A seedling wants room. Established plants do not want a tight compact medium to contend with, a seedling definitely doesn't. I will normally just push around the edge of the folded tissue, sealing it.
Step 4
This is where I see most people making mistakes. I place the damp folded tissue containing the seedlings into a ziplock bag. Gently squeeze all air out and seal it. You do not need a heat mat, you don't need to keep your seeds at higher than room temperature for what comes next. Put the ziplock bag into a kitchen cupboard or similar. If your house is below 10c then find somewhere warmer in the house, do not add actual heat to the process. Trust me, nearly 14 years of germinating seeds and adding heat to the process has always given me fewer germinated seeds. Store somewhere dark, even cool. Now for the next mistake, I see more from new growers.... Be patient. Leave that sealed bag in a dark place for 3 days. Many seeds will be ready in 2 days but do not be opening the bag 10 times a day looking to see if they are ready. Everytime you do so you change humidity, light levels and temperature, all these things will slow or worse stop the germination process.
Using the above method I will get a 100% germination success rate time and time again.
then i panic and hope for the best.
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