Simply follow these basic tips for germinating your seeds and planting them in soil.
- Look for viable, plump seeds with a telltale “tiger stripe” on the side that indicates maturity. Larger seeds tend to yield more vigorous and hardy plants.
- Plant at least 12 seeds, knowing that 50% of them could turn out to be male plants, which you don’t want. You can also purchase feminized seeds, a bit more pricey than regular seeds, but then you will have female plants. Only female cannabis plants create the resinous flowers that we desire. Choose the most vigorous plants to keep and if you end up with more than 6 female plants, you can juice them or eat them in a salad for a burst of phyto-nutrition.
- Begin germinating by soaking a paper towel in water and lightly wringing it out. You want the towel to be thoroughly soaked but not dripping.
- Place your cannabis seeds on the paper towel, and fold it over the seeds. Place towel in a plastic bag. Exhale some air into the bag and seal it.
- Keep the seeds warm at 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit for a proper incubation time. Find a warm place on top of a fridge, on a sunny windowsill, or on a seed mat or heating pad. Within 48 hours a taproot will break through the seed casing. Plant your seeds in soil at the first sign of a taproot.
- Prepare a one-gallon pot with a light seedling soil mix. Fox Farm Ocean Forest or Black Gold also work great If you’d like to add worm castings, you can do so in a ratio of 4 parts soil to one part worm castings.
- Water the soil before planting the seeds, getting it wet but not soaking.
- Using a chopstick, make a hole 1/2 – 3/4 inch below the surface, using rubber gloves very carefully place the seed in the hole taproot pointing down. Cover the seed with dirt.
- Avoid pouring water over the newly planted seed, since this can disturb its placement. You can carefully pour just 1 – 2 tablespoons of water over the top if desired. Place seeds under a good light source and keep them warm. After another 48 hours, a sprout should emerge!
- Maintain the seedlings in a sunny window, cold frame or greenhouse. As long as temperatures are between 60 – 80ºF, the seedlings will be fine. Dipping below 50ºF at night can slow growth, so you may want to bring the fragile plants inside in the evenings until they are hardier.
- Your juvenile plants will be fine in their 1 gallon pot for the next 4 – 5 weeks of growth. Water moderately every day until moist but not soaking.
- Spend time every day observing your plants, and this attentiveness is the best way to catch problems before they start.