Germination

Get your seeds poppin’ before you plant!

At the Vancouver Seed Bank we guarantee at least 80% germination as long as either of the following methods is used:

CANNABIS SEED GERMINATION / SPROUTING
techniques: Germination is a natural process and needs little from us beyond creating the environment for this to take place.

The seeds need to be warm, moist and in the dark, with air exchanged regularly. This can be achieved simply by placing the seeds in a clean glass of bottled spring water and placing the glass somewhere warm and dark (the cupboard above your fridge is ideal).

This can take as little as 24 hours and up to 2 weeks. The seed will split and a tiny root tip will emerge. Water will need to be replaced every couple of days.

Another traditional method is to lay a couple of layers of moist (not sopping wet) paper towel on a plate, being careful not to let the paper towel lay over the edge of the plate. Place the seeds on top of the moist paper towel and place more layers of moist paper towel on top of the seeds. Cover this with another inverted plate and put somewhere warm. When you lift the plate to check them, let the condensation that has collected on the lid run back onto the paper towel, be sure to check them daily to ensure they are still moist.

When the shell has cracked or the root tip has just emerged it’s time to plant them in whatever medium you intend to grow them in.

Plant the seed with the pointy end of the seed up. The root tip will grow down into the medium and push the seedling up through the surface. The seedling will need light and air as soon as it comes through the surface.
The greatest danger at the seedling stage is over watering. The tiny stems cannot handle water around them at all times or they will rot and keel over. Let the surface of the medium dry before watering to avoid this.

Be sure to check your seeds daily, make sure there is enough water – if the seeds dry out during this process they will die.