Ways To Properly Keep Cannabis Seeds

Cannabis seeds, with their tough outer shell, seem pretty hardy. And while nature has certainly designed them to last through a wide variety of conditions, cannabis seeds aren't indestructible. Quick changes in temperature and elevated humidity, for example, can easily ruin batches of seeds. Luckily, looking after your seeds is simple. Keep reading to find out how.

Your Seeds Are Still Alive

Lots of people forget this, but it's true: your cannabis seeds are living organisms. Before they germinate, however, they are in a state of rest, just like some animals when they hibernate. And like all life forms, seeds can expire. When keeping your seeds, you'll want to offer them the ideal conditions to make sure they last until you're ready to plant and plant them.

Ideal Conditions for Cannabis Seeds

Cannabis seeds have four key enemies:

1. Humidity
2. Temperature
3. Light
4. Oxygen

Optimally, you want to keep your seeds in a cool, dark, and dry place. Whenever possible, keep your seeds in their initial packaging. At Royal Queen Seeds, we've carefully designed our packaging to safeguard our seeds until you're ready to germinate them.

If your seeds get hit by light or quick changes in temperature, these conditions will make them to use up their nutrient stores before they ever touch soil, meaning they won't have the nutrients they need to grow. High humidity, on the contrary, can cause fungi to form on your seeds.

Effects of Humidity on Cannabis Seeds

Humidity is definitely one of the largest threats to your seeds. Here is how various levels of humidity (% relative humidity) impact your cannabis seeds:

Need advice on controlling humidity for your plants? The Grow Guide provides key tips for maintaining healthy cultivation environments.

How and Where to Store Your Cannabis Seeds

For short-term storage, a dark cupboard or drawer with steady temperatures is typically fine. Try to keep your seeds out of areas of your house that are susceptible to the natural temperature changes of your local environment.

If, https://nativesusa.com/] for example, you live in a location with very hot daytime temperatures and low nights, try to shield your seeds from these changes and don't keep them outside in sheds or garage.

For prolonged storage, it's best to keep your seeds with moisture absorbers, such as silica gel, in an airtight container inside the fridge. Remember that accessing the door of your refrigerator can actually produce some pretty major temperature shifts. If you own have an additional fridge that gets opened less often than the one in your kitchen, use that one to store your seeds.

Again, whenever possible, keep your seeds in their factory packaging. If you do unseal a pack of seeds and have extras, transfer the additional seeds directly into an airtight container.

Ziplock bags, for example, are perfect because you can extract all the air from them to make an almost vacuum-sealed container for your seeds. Once sealed, put your bag inside a dark plastic bag or black container to shield your seeds from your fridge light.

Moisture-free 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 recommended to store the seeds in No Frost fridges.

Can You Store Seeds in the Freezer?

Yes, cannabis seeds can be kept in the freezer. The colder the temperature, the more gradually they decline. However, it's generally not essential to freeze your seeds. Maintain the conditions we detailed above, and you should be able to preserve your seeds for up to five years and still get excellent germination rate.

Knowing Which Seeds to Plant and Which to Store

When you're ready to sprout your seeds, check them and germinate any seeds with damage to the outer shell first. The exterior of your seeds is built to protect the volatile genetics inside. Seeds with damage in the outer shell are far more vulnerable and can't be stored.

At Royal Queen Seeds, we pride ourselves in our work and want to guarantee every grower only has the finest genetics in their garden. That means we inspect all of our seeds before shipping. If you find any damage to your RQS seeds, reach out with our support team immediately.

Techniques for Germinating Aged Cannabis Seeds

We've all found an odd seed somewhere at the depths of an old drawer or cupboard. Here are several tips on how to sprout weed seeds:

Soaking with enriched carbonated water

Before growing your old seeds, try immersing them in carbonated water enhanced with fulvic acid, enhancers, hydrogen peroxide, or gibberellic acid. For optimal results, use ambient water and soak your seeds for 12 hours in dark place.

Scratch your seeds

Mature seeds often have an extra tough outer shell. Gently scratching this shell with light sandpaper can help water and warmth enter your seed at the time of germination. Try carefully scarring your old cannabis seeds just before submerging to help them germinate.

Remove a seed's ridge

The ridge is the slightly elevated side of your seed. Like parts of the shell, this ridge can become extremely tough over time. Removing it gently with fine Stanley blade can help your seed sprout.

Slice open your seed

In a last attempt to sprout your seeds, creating a small cut in the outer casing may help. However, this is no guaranteed fix, and you'll need to be cautious to avoid harming the inside of your seed. If you harm the embryo, the seed will never germinate.

Remember, some old seeds just won't germinate no matter how hard you try. When possible, avoid getting more seeds than you will plant so as to avoid having any problems at the time of germination.