Inside the brown husk of a cannabis seed is a plant embryo. This embryo contains the radicle, hypocotyl and cotyledons, four parts of the seed that together are responsible for growing your new plant.
ILGM offers free shipping on orders over $200 and a 100% germination guarantee, if your seeds fail to sprout you get replacements. They also offer great customer support by email and on their grower’s forum.
1. Soil
Once a seed germinates and breaks out of its shell, it can be planted in soil or a potting mix. A good potting soil will provide the plant with essential nutrients so it can grow well. It will also help the plant retain water and oxygen.
Cannabis grows best in loam soil, a combination of sand, silt and clay. It has ideal water retention and drainage, and it’s rich in nutrients. However, it’s heavy and not easy to work with.
Many growers use a potting soil made of organic material, such as peat moss or coco coir. These mixes also contain humus, which is nature’s compost, and worm castings, which provide vital microorganisms. These microorganisms break down the minerals in the soil and make them available for plants to absorb. In addition, they add a bit of acidity to the soil. It’s a great way to avoid using synthetic fertilizers. However, it is important to keep in mind that these types of soils are only suitable for growing cannabis during the vegetative stage.
2. Water
Depending on the method, cannabis seeds should start sprouting within two to seven days of being soaked in water. The most important factors are moisture and temperature, so make sure to check your seedlings’ progress regularly.
Soaking a seed in water is an easy, inexpensive way to germinate cannabis seeds. Just put a couple of seeds in a glass of water at room temperature, and let them soak for up to 48 hours. The seed will absorb the water, causing hormones to promote growth and germination.
If the seed is too dry, it will stop growing in search of water. On the other hand, if it’s too wet, it will begin to rot and may damage the young seedling. The key is to find the right balance. Ideally, your seeds should be misted with water every hour, or every day. It’s also a good idea to use a hygrometer to monitor the temperature and humidity of your propagation medium, which should be between 50% and 70%.
3. Stone Wool Blocks
Rock wool, also known as mineral wool, has been a tried-and-true hydroponic substrate for decades. It’s inert, sterilized of pathogens and offers excellent water retention properties.
Growers use stone wool grow plugs, blocks, cubes and slabs for starting seeds or rooting cuttings. They are available in various sizes and support a range of cultivation methodologies. For example, Grodan’s Starter Plugs and Grow-Cubes are ideal for germinating seeds or clones and transplanting into the larger Grodan Gro-Slabs for growth to harvest.
Like other substrates, such as coco coir, peat and soil, stone wool must be soaked before planting. This helps reduce the alkaline pH and prepares the medium for roots to penetrate and uptake nutrient solution. Once the soaking process is complete, growers can plant directly into the Rockwool cubes or transplant seedlings and clones from tissue culture.
4. Clones
The first thing that most growers do is purchase clones, which are rootless stems cut from a mother plant. Then, they can be planted in soil or hydroponics and grown into a full-fledged plant. Clones have the advantage of bypassing the germination and seedling stages and being ready to flower right away.
However, growing from clones requires a specialized environment. If the clones aren’t properly handled and given the right conditions, they can die before they develop roots. Plus, clones are extremely fragile and can be infected by pests like spider mites and fungus gnats.
Another disadvantage of clones is that they lack diversity. Even if you have healthy mothers, your selection will never come close to the thousands of strains available with seeds. Plus, clones can pass on undesired traits from their mothers, such as nutrient deficiencies or disease. This is known as pheno variance. Also, clones are expensive to buy, and their lifespan is shorter than seeds’.
