Having quality seeds is one of the most important things you can do to ensure success in your grow. You can tell if seeds are high-quality by their color, texture and shape.
Some of the best cannabis seed banks are ILGM, Beaver Seeds and Crop King Seeds. These companies offer high germination rates and excellent customer service.
Soil
The type of soil you grow your cannabis in will have a big impact on its quality. Cannabis is a flowering plant, so it needs plenty of oxygen and nutrients to thrive. The best nutrient for cannabis is nitrogen, which helps plants develop strong stems and leaves.
There are four main types of soil: sandy, silty, clay, and loamy. Sandy soil drains well but lacks nutrients; silty soil has good water retention, but it can become compacted; and clay soil has abundant minerals but drains poorly. Loamy soil is a mix of sand, silt, and clay with organic materials and is a great choice for cannabis cultivation.
If you don’t want to make your own soil, almost any organic soil potting mix is suitable for cannabis growing. Some brands like Fox Farm Ocean Forest are specifically formulated to be a “hot” mix that has all the nutrients packed inside, so you can start seeds directly in it without needing to add anything else.
Water
Cannabis seeds are tiny dried fruits, with a subtle membrane that protects them and contains a small amount of nutrients for the embryo once it has germinated. They are stored in a slightly waterlogged environment where oxygen levels are around 21%, and this helps keep them alive until the time of germination.
Germinating seeds is one of the most basic parts of growing cannabis and requires little to no interference from the grower other than nutrient levels and light intensity. All that’s needed is for the seed to be soaked in water until it grows its first leaves (cotyledons) and shows signs of life.
You can use tap water for soaking, but we recommend using distilled water as it will remove any chemicals and heavy minerals that could damage your seeds. Once the seed sprouts, it’s important not to disturb it. Attempting to reposition the seed at this stage will cause it to slow or even stop its growth. Instead, let the roots grow downwards so they will be easier to root in soil when you are ready to transplant them.
Stone Wool Blocks
Stone wool is a unique growing medium made from basaltic rock and heated at high temperatures to form a material similar to cotton fibers. It is used for many cultivation applications such as seed starting and cloning (2). Cultivators can use Grodan stone wool products such as their Gro-Blocks or Hugo Block to streamline production schedule efficiency, optimize grow room climate and watering consistency and enhance plant root uptake.
After soaking each block or plug, gently insert one cannabis seed into the centre of each. The seeds will then germinate and sprout, and after a few days small leaves (cotyledons) will begin to appear. Once the cotyledons have appeared you can irrigate your seedlings with a nutrient solution. Be careful not to overwater your rockwool cubes as they will drain quickly, but make sure the roots are well fed. It is important to keep a balance between the amount of water and nutrients to avoid nutrient lock out.
Blender
All flora produce seeds to create their next generation, and cannabis is no different. When given the right conditions, cannabis seed will germinate (sprout) and begin to grow. Growing from seed is a fascinating journey. Watching a little miracle bean turn into a mature plant producing flowers that will affect you is nothing short of an evolutionary marvel.
The first few weeks of a cannabis seedling’s life require very little interference. Nutrients will need some tweaking, but the germination period is a time to sit back and watch your baby plant take shape.
The quality of the soil a cannabis plant is grown in has a significant impact on its growth, vigor, and overall health. Adding cover crop seeds to the soil, like fava beans (a nitrogen-fixing plant), can help draw in additional nutrients to enrich the living soil food web. These seeds can then be chopped and dropped as a green mulch, providing a natural layer of protection to the soil under a cannabis canopy.
