Marijuana Seeds

Marijuana seeds: All you need to know about cannabis seeds!

May 1, 2018

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Marijuana seeds are not a simple topic. There is a lot to learn about cannabis seeds.

Marijuana seeds are crucial to the quality of your harvest. It is well worth the effort to learn as much as you can about cannabis seeds.

Growing marijuana from seed to flower is a very gratifying experience. It is wonderful to see the results of your nurturing coming to full fruition.

Choosing the best cannabis seeds makes the journey a lot smoother, and the results can exceed your expectations.

In order to choose the best marijuana seeds, you first need to know what cannabis seeds are available, and why some outclass others.

In this article we take you through the a to z of cannabis seeds to help you to become an expert in marijuana seeds.

Contents

Unraveling the complexities of cannabis seeds

When you start growing marijuana, you need as much knowledge as possible. The more you know about growing weed and cannabis seeds, the less likely you are to make a rookie mistake.

Information overload is a real possibility when it comes to marijuana seeds: one marijuana seed question leads to more and more questions.

It’s hard to know where to begin, There are so many different types of cannabis seeds, so many strains, so many attributes. How do you know which online marijuana seed banks are safe, which cannabis seeds are best, how you germinate marijuana seeds, and much more.

This guide is designed to answer all these questions about marijuana seeds. It is for the beginner marijuana grower and aims to cover all conceivable topics about cannabis seeds. Read it carefully and you will be in a position to make the best choices when buying marijuana seeds.

Marijuana seed basics

Here are the basics you need to know about marijuana seeds.

Marijuana plant sex

Marijuana plants are dioecious. This means that each marijuana plant has a sex. Typically, plants are either male or female, but you do get hermaphrodite plants.

The reproductive organs are found on the marijuana plants. Typically plants have either female or male reproductive organs. Hermaphrodite marijuana plants contain both and can self-pollinate their own flowers.

A marijuana seed is created by a male cannabis plant pollinating a female cannabis plant, or a hermaphrodite cannabis plant self-pollinating.

When the marijuana seeds are mature they drop naturally from the marijuana plant. The cannabis seeds are used to cultivate new marijuana plants or for hemp oil extraction.

Marijuana for consumption comes from the female flower which is seedless. The biological name for the female flower is sensimilla, meaning “without seed” in Spanish.

Cannabis seeds sex

Like marijuana plants, marijuana seeds also have a sex.

Many people claim to be able to tell the sex of a marijuana seed just by looking at it, but in our experience the only real test is to observe the plant growing.

Only female marijuana plants produce marijuana flowers, so the more female weed plants you grow, the better.

The pre-flowering stage produces the first indication of the sex of the marijuana plant. This marijuana growth stage typically occurs at around 6 weeks:

On female marijuana plants:

White pistil hairs grow where the buds will eventually form.
The tiny buds develop between the branch and main stock.
These buds gradually develop into female marijuana flowers.
The long white hairs that grow from the small buds turn a reddish orange as the plant matures.

You can identify male marijuana plants by their pollen sac and lack of pistil hairs. The pollen sac is tulip shaped.

It is vital that you remove male plants as soon as you identify them – this cannot be stressed enough. If you fail to separate your male and female marijuana plants, the male plants will pollinate the female plants. As a result, the female plants will produce seeds, instead of a flower. The harvest is in the flower – this is where the wonderful marijuana is harvested from.

Male marijuana plants can literally only be used for breeding.

Marijuana seeds versus marijuana clones

What is a marijuana plant clone? It is a cutting from a marijuana plant that grows roots. It is a genetic reproduction of the plant it is cloned from.

Growing your plants from a cannabis seeds offers more benefits than growing from clones:

Pros of marijuana seeds vs marijuana clones

Tap root: Marijuana seeds develop a tap root that anchors the weed plant firmly in the soil. A tap root ensures plant health by providing access to adequate water and nutrients. Marijuana clones do not produce a tap root. This makes them less stable, and hinders the plants ability to absorb water and nutrients.
Variety: With cannabis seeds you have a lot more choice. With such a variety of different types and strains available, you can, for example, choose seeds that are more likely to produce female plants. More choice gives you greater control over the health and type of the mature plants.
Yields: Plants grown from cannabis seeds tend to give higher yields. This is because the marijuana plants experience less stress than those grown from clones.
Disease: Weed plants grown from seeds are less susceptible to disease and pest infestation.
Discretion: Marijuana seeds can be purchased discreetly and safely online. The same is not true of clones.
Quick growth: Marijuana seedlings grow quicker than marijuana clones.
Genetics: Marijuana seeds inherit their genetic characteristics from both parent plants. This provides for genetic variation and engineering to produce superior strains.
Storage and portability: cannabis seeds are easy to store, and can be stored for long periods of time. Weed seeds are also easy to transport.
Feminized seeds: You can purchase feminized marijuana seed that are specifically bred bred to produce female plants. With the correct seeds their is no need to identify and discard male plants.

Cons of marijuana seeds vs marijuana clones

Identifying sex: The main disadvantage of growing from regular cannabis seeds is the need to identify and separate plants of different sexes to avoid pollination. This applies only to regular (as opposed to feminized) seeds. This can be a difficult task, especially for the beginner grower. Discarding plants results in a reduced harvest size.
Germination: Germinating marijuana seeds is a delicate and error-prone process. Transplanting clones, on the other hand, is not without risk, but is comparatively easier.

Marijuana seed types

Your choice of marijuana seed is probably the most important choice in the whole marijuana growing process. Some strains and types of marijuana seeds require more care than others. Your choice of cannabis seeds in many ways determines the amount of work you will need to put in.

There are three types of marijuana seeds – regular, feminized and auto-flowering. Below is a summary of each marijuana seed type.

Regular marijuana seeds

Regular marijuana seeds are seeds that have not been altered in any way.

These cannabis seeds produce marijuana plants of both sexes: female and male marijuana plants. This means that you will have to go through a plant sex identification process during the flowering stage and discard the male marijuana plants. If you don’t you could lose your entire harvest due to pollination.

Regular marijuana seeds are completely natural. They have not been subjected to chemical or genetic alteration in any way. As a result, they are more stable.

The biggest downside is that you can expect to harvest about half the number of marijuana plants that you start out with. Regular marijuana seeds produce plants on about a 1:1 male to female scale.

With regular cannabis seeds you also run the risk of female plants producing both sex organs, i.e. becoming hermaphrodites, because the seeds have not been feminized.

Feminized marijuana seeds

Feminized marijuana seeds have been altered or feminized to ensure that all seeds develop into female marijuana plants.

These cannabis seeds are not natural. They have been subjected to a chemical process, that involves spraying the marijuana plants with colloidal silver, silver thiosulfate or gibberellic acid solutions.

Marijuana plants have the ability to be hermaphrodites and therefore carry the physical traits of both sexes. Feminized marijuana plants, on the other hand, have developed a resistance to becoming hermaphrodites. It is this resistance that results in the cultivation of female-only marijuana plants being grown from feminized seeds.

With plants grown from feminized marijuana seeds there is no need to go through the sexual identification process. Because you do not discard any of the plants, you can expect a far better yield.

Feminized marijuana seeds carry only one gene set. This feature ensures that the resultant marijuana plants are nearly identical to the parent marijuana plant. This can be good and bad, depending on what you hope to achieve with your marijuana grow. On the one hand, you know exactly what to expect with feminized cannabis seeds. On the other, if you require diversity, these are not the seeds for you.

For most beginner marijuana growers whose main objective is to produce buds, feminized marijuana seeds are a great solution. Compared to regular cannabis seeds, feminized marijuana seeds are a superior choice.

Auto-flowering marijuana seeds

Marijuana plants of an appropriate age and size typically begin their flowing cycle when you reduce their exposure to light. In contrast, plants grown from auto-flowering cannabis seeds begin their flowering stage automatically when they reach a specified age.

Auto-flowering marijuana seeds come in both the feminized and regular variety. You can choose which is best for your marijuana grow.

This marijuana seed is a superb choice for novice marijuana growers because they require less attention. A regimented light schedule becomes unnecessary to stimulate the flowering stage. In this respect, auto-flowering marijuana seeds reduce the risk of rookie mistakes. These cannabis seeds are a wonderful choice for your first marijuana grow, when it is more important to get it right than to get it perfect.

These seeds also maximize your marijuana yields. Because they flower sooner than with regular marijuana seed, you can produce more harvests in the same period of time.

Major marijuana seed strains

Marijuana seeds fall into two major marijuana strains: indica and sativa marijuana strains. Marijuana seed breeders combine strains to create hybrid marijuana strains in the hope of developing seeds that provide the best of both parents.

Read marijuana strains for a complete guide on marijuana seed strains.

Identifying healthy cannabis seeds

There is little point spending time and effort selecting the best seed type, if the quality of the marijuana seeds doesn’t match up.

If you buy from a reputable marijuana seed bank, you have a better chance of getting good quality cannabis seeds.

Here are a few criteria to look for when assessing marijuana seed quality:

What healthy marijuana seeds look like

Here is what you should look out for when identifying a healthy marijuana seed.

General appearance:
- Healthy marijuana seeds are plump or fat, nicely rounded with a smooth, glossy finish.
Color:
- Quality cannabis seeds are typically dark brown or gray in color.
Pattern:
- Cannabis seeds generally have a mottled or tiger-striped pattern.
Shell:
- Healthy marijuana seeds have a firm shell. The shell should not crack under light pressure.
Disease free:
- Last, cannabis seeds should have no sign of mold or other infection.

Unhealthy marijuana seeds

If your marijuana seeds are not healthy, they are unlikely to germinate.

Immature cannabis seeds are:

small and undersized,
brittle to the touch,
typically pale green or white in color.

Note! There are strains that intentionally have white colored seeds. If this is the case, it should be noted in the marijuana seed description.

Marijuana seeds that are too old to germinate:

feel light or underweight,
are dry or cracked.

Testing cannabis seeds

Many marijuana growing experts rely on the float or sink test to determine the health of marijuana seeds.

To perform the test, leave your cannabis seeds in water for about an hour. If a seed sinks to the bottom of the container, it is more likely to be healthy.

You can consider discarding marijuana seeds that do not sink, because they may not be worth the effort. However, germination is the ultimate and only real test of the health of a marijuana seed.

Storing marijuana seeds

You can store cannabis seeds in different ways to preserve them for planting in the future. No matter how you store your weed seeds, be sure to store them in cool, dark conditions. If you don’t maintain these conditions, there is no guaranteeing the viability of the weed seeds.

Here are a few options for storing your marijuana seeds:

Refrigerator: You can store your cannabis seeds in the refrigerator.Place the seeds in an airtight, opaque container to keep out light. Be sure to include a desiccant pouch to absorb moisture. It is important that conditions remain as constant as possible. Rotting could still occur due if there are temperature changes and excess moisture.
Freezer: Another option, but not the preferred option, is to store marijuana seeds in a freezer.Place your cannabis seeds in a vacuum sealed container and be sure to include a desiccant pouch to absorb moisture.Note that some marijuana growers claim that freezing cannabis seeds dries them out and damages the cell structure.

If conditions are correct, it should be possible to keep marijuana seeds for years.