Methods To Correctly Store Cannabis Seeds
Cannabis seeds, with their hard outer shell, appear pretty hardy. And while nature has certainly designed them to last through various variety of conditions, cannabis seeds aren’t invincible. Rapid changes in temperature and excessive humidity, for example, https://nativesusa.com) can rapidly ruin collections of seeds. Luckily, maintaining your seeds is straightforward. Keep reading to learn how.
Your Seeds Are Living
Many people forget this, but it’s real: your cannabis seeds are alive organisms. Before they germinate, however, they are in a state of rest, just like some animals when they sleep. And like all living things, seeds can perish. When keeping your seeds, you’ll want to give them the best conditions to make sure they last until you’re ready to germinate and plant them.
Ideal Conditions for Cannabis Seeds
Cannabis seeds have four main enemies:
- Humidity
- Temperature
- Light
- Oxygen
Optimally, you want to keep your seeds in cool, dark, and arid place. When possible, keep your seeds in their original packaging. At Royal Queen Seeds, we’ve specifically designed our packaging to protect our seeds until you’re ready to plant them.
If your seeds get hit by light or sudden changes in temperature, these conditions will trigger them to consume their food reserves before they ever see soil, meaning they won’t have the nutrition they need to germinate. High humidity, on the other hand, can encourage fungi to grow on your seeds.
Influence of Humidity on Cannabis Seeds
Humidity is certainly one of the greatest threats to your seeds. Here is how various levels of humidity (% relative humidity) impact your cannabis seeds:
| Percentages of Relative Humidity | Effects of Humidity on Cannabis Seeds |
|---|---|
| 80 – 100% | Seeds begin growing. |
| 40 – 60% | Seeds increase respiration and storage fungi become major problem. |
| 20 – 30% | Brief storage. |
| 18 – 20% | Medium-term storage. |
| 12 – 14% | Long-term storage. |
| 8 – 9% | Reduced longevity than seeds stored at somewhat higher humidity. |
Need advice on managing humidity for your plants? The Grow Guide provides key tips for maintaining healthy development environments.
Where and How to Store Your Cannabis Seeds
For brief storage, dim cupboard or drawer with steady temperatures is usually fine. Try to keep your seeds out of areas of your house that are susceptible to the typical temperature changes of your area environment.
If, for example, you live in a location with very high daytime temperatures and cold nights, try to protect your seeds from these changes and don’t place them outside in sheds or garage.
For prolonged storage, it’s best to keep your seeds with desiccants, such as silica gel, in a sealed container inside the refrigerator. Remember that opening the door of your refrigerator can actually produce some pretty significant temperature shifts. If you have have another fridge that gets accessed less often than the one in your kitchen, use that one to store your seeds.
Again, whenever possible, keep your seeds in their original packaging. If you do unseal packs of seeds and have remaining seeds, transfer the extra seeds directly into sealed container.
Ziplock bags, for example, are great because you can eliminate all the air from them to make practically vacuum-sealed container for your seeds. Once vacuum-sealed, put your bag inside opaque plastic bag or dark container to protect your seeds from your icebox light.
Dry fridges are the best to store seeds. The problem is when there is humidity in the fridge, since humidity is the most dangerous enemy for seeds (more dangerous than temperature, light, oxygen…). For this reason, it is better to store the seeds in No Frost fridges.
Can You Keep Seeds in the Freezer?
Yes, cannabis seeds can be kept in the freezer. The colder the temperature, the less quickly they decline. However, it’s usually not essential to freeze your seeds. Meet the conditions we outlined above, and you should be able to preserve your seeds for up to five years and still get excellent germination rate.
Understanding Which Seeds to Plant and Which to Store
When you’re ready to sprout your seeds, examine them and germinate any seeds with issues to the outer shell first. The exterior of your seeds is built to protect the sensitive genetics inside. Seeds with damage in the outer shell are a lot more vulnerable and won’t be stored.
At Royal Queen Seeds, we pride ourselves in our work and want to guarantee every grower only has the top genetics in their garden. That means we examine all of our seeds before shipping. If you find any damage to your RQS seeds, get in touch with our help team immediately.
Techniques for Germinating Aged Cannabis Seeds
We’ve all discovered random seed somewhere at the bottom of old drawer or cupboard. Here are a few tips on how to grow weed seeds:
Soaking with enriched carbonated water
Before germinating your old seeds, try submerging them in carbonated water fortified with fulvic acid, boosters, hydrogen peroxide, or gibberellic acid. For optimal results, use lukewarm water and soak your seeds for twelve hours in dim place.
Scratch your seeds
Aged seeds often have extremely tough outer shell. Carefully scratching this shell with some sandpaper can help humidity and warmth penetrate your seed at the time of germination. Try gently scarring your old cannabis seeds just before immersing to help them sprout.
Eliminate your seed’s ridge
The ridge is the slightly elevated side of your seed. Like sections of the shell, this ridge can become extra tough over time. Eliminating it gently with fine Stanley blade can help your seed germinate.
Cut open your seed
In final attempt to sprout your seeds, creating small cut in the seed’s shell may help. However, this is no guaranteed fix, and you’ll need to be gentle to avoid damaging the inside of your seed. If you damage the embryo, the seed will never sprout.
Remember, some old seeds just won’t grow no matter how long you try. When possible, avoid purchasing more seeds than you plan to plant so as to avoid having any difficulties at the time of germination.