How To Germinate Your Marijuana Seeds

Follow this detailed guide to give your Phoenix marijuana seeds the best chance of germination and a long, healthy life!

Pro Tip (Scuffing): “Scuffing” the outside of your marijuana seeds will help each seed absorb water more effectively and give them a better chance of popping. To scuff your seeds, form a thin tube with the sandpaper grit on the inside.

Then place your thumb or finger over the hole on one end and drop your seeds into the tube. Place another finger over the other opening and shake the tube 15-20 times to fully scuff your seeds. We recommend using a piece of sandpaper with 60-200 grit.

Step #1

Get a dixie cup, shot glass or regular cup and fill it with room temperature water (68 – 77 degrees Fahrenheit). Once the water has reached room temperature, drop in your seeds. Try not to add more than 5 seeds per glass to ensure there is no crowding of the marijuana seeds.

Once the seeds have properly soaked for afew hours, they should drop to the bottom of the glass. If they’re still floating try tapping the seeds a few times which should make them sink. If they still don’t sink to the bottom, let them sit in the water for a few more hours.

Once the seeds have all sunk to the bottom of the glass, leave them in a warm, dark area for 14 to 18 hours.

Make sure your seeds don’t soak in the glass for more than 18 hours, you don’t want them too waterlogged.

Step #2

After the necessary 14-18 hours of soaking, get a paper towel and fold it over a few times and place it on a medium sized plate.

Then, pour the entire glass of water and marijuana seeds onto the paper towel, allowing the paper towel to soak up all the water and the seeds should be sitting on top of the wet paper towel.

At this point you can pour the excess water out of the plate, being careful that the seeds don’t fall out. Use tweezers to carefully spread your seeds out so they have plenty of room on the paper towel. (at least 1″ of space between each seed).

Once they’re separated carefully, fold the paper towel over the seeds gently, without pressing the paper towel down on them. (the paper towel is wet so it should fall softly over the seeds).

Step #3

Now that your seeds are comfortably between the sheets of the paper towel, place the plate in a dark place at room temperature.

Make sure you keep the paper towel damp throughout the germination process by spritzing the paper towel gently with room temperature water, continuing to pour out any standing excess water if appears.

It’s a good idea to check the dampness of the paper towel every few hours or so, depending on how humid the room is.

It will typically take your seeds up to seven days to pop and form a strong enough taproot to transplant. A rule of thumb is that when the taproot is between 1/4″ and 3/4″ inch long, they’re ready to transplant.

Be sure to monitor their growth a few times each day, but don’t touch the seeds themselves. The seeds are natural, and mother nature doesn’t allow for 100% seed germination, but if you follow these steps you have the highest chance of success.

If they have not popped, you can try adding them back to a glass of water for a few hours to see if they crack open. Once they do start back at the beginning of the paper towel part of the marijuana seed germination process.

What To Do After The Marijuana Seed Germination Takes Place

Before we continue it’s important to note that you should not touch the seeds or taproot with your fingers, these newly sprouted seeds are extremely fragile. It’s also important to expose the roots to light as little as possible.

Step #1

If you’re a new grower we do not recommend using hydroponics as a growing medium because small mistakes in nutrient density can kill your plants. We recommend planting your newly germinated seeds in soil until you have a few grows under your belt.

We recommend using a small dixie cup or small planting pot for this step.

Make a hole roughly twice as deep as the length of the seed is long in the soil of your choice, and make sure hole is damp with room temperature water before planting.

Once the hole is dampened, place the seed in the hole and cover lightly with excess soil.

Step #2

Once your seedlings are planted safely into your soil, make sure to wait until the topsoil covering the seedling is dry before watering each time, and don’t over water.

Overwatering can drown your seedlings and inhibit them from breaking through the topsoil.

After they’re planted, you can begin with a vegetative growth stage light cycle. The schedule you should use is 18 hours of light and 6 hours of total darkness. You should purchase an automatic timer so you don’t have to constantly set alarms to turn on and turn off your lighting equipment.

If growing indoors, keep the lights about 2 feet from the top of the soil, raising the lights as the plants start growing toward the light.

Once they have broken through the soil and look healthy, if you’re planning on growing outdoors you’ll need to acclimate the seedlings to the outdoor environment carefully by placing them on a windowsill for a few days.

Congratulations, you’re now on track to producing your very own healthy marijuana plants and some of your own medicine!