Methods To Correctly Store Cannabis Seeds

Cannabis seeds, with their hard outer shell, appear pretty hardy. And while nature has clearly designed them to hold up a wide variety of conditions, cannabis seeds aren't indestructible. Quick changes in temperature and high humidity, for example, can quickly ruin batches of seeds. Luckily, caring for your seeds is easy. Keep reading to find out how.

Your Seeds Are Living

Many people forget this, but it's true: your cannabis seeds are living organisms. Before they grow, however, they are in dormant rest, just like some animals when they hibernate. And like all living things, https://nativesusa.com/ (https://nativesusa.com/) seeds can perish. When storing your seeds, you'll want to provide them the optimal conditions to make sure they survive until you're ready to germinate and plant them.

Perfect Conditions for Cannabis Seeds

Cannabis seeds have four main enemies:

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

Optimally, you want to store your seeds in cool, dark, and moisture-free place. Whenever possible, keep your seeds in their original 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 subjected to light or quick changes in temperature, these conditions will make them to use up their nutrient stores before they ever reach soil, meaning they won't have the nutrients they need to sprout. Elevated humidity, on the flip side, can encourage fungi to form on your seeds.

Effects of Humidity on Cannabis Seeds

Humidity is definitely one of the greatest threats to your seeds. Here is how varying levels of humidity (% relative humidity) influence your cannabis seeds:

Seeking advice on handling humidity for your plants? The Grow Guide gives key tips for keeping healthy growing environments.

Storage Methods to Store Your Cannabis Seeds

For temporary storage, a dark cupboard or drawer with consistent temperatures is usually fine. Try to keep your seeds clear of areas of your house that are affected by the normal temperature changes of your local environment.

If, for example, you reside in a region with very hot daytime temperatures and low nights, try to protect your seeds from these changes and don't store them outside in sheds or garage.

For extended storage, it's recommended to keep your seeds with a desiccant, such as silica gel, in an airtight container inside the refrigerator. Remember that using the door of your fridge can actually cause some pretty major temperature shifts. If you have have an additional fridge that gets accessed less often than the one in your kitchen, use that one to store your seeds.

Again, if possible, keep your seeds in their original packaging. If you do open packs of seeds and have leftovers, transfer the additional seeds directly into an airtight container.

Ziplock bags, for example, are perfect because you can eliminate all the air from them to make nearly vacuum-sealed container for your seeds. Once sealed, put your bag inside opaque plastic bag or opaque container to shield your seeds from your refrigerator light.

Dry fridges are the ideal 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 Preserve Seeds in the Freezer?

Yes, cannabis seeds can be stored in the freezer. The colder the temperature, the less quickly they decline. However, it's generally not essential to freeze your seeds. Maintain the conditions we outlined above, and you should be able to keep your seeds for up to 5 years and still get a high germination rate.

Knowing Which Seeds to Plant and Which to Store

When you're ready to germinate your seeds, check 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 much more vulnerable and can't be stored.

At Royal Queen Seeds, we take pride in our work and want to ensure every grower only has the finest genetics in their garden. That means we check all of our seeds before packaging. If you find any damage to your RQS seeds, get in touch with our customer service team immediately.

Methods for Germinating Aged Cannabis Seeds

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

Soaking with enhanced carbonated water

Before sprouting your old seeds, try soaking them in carbonated water enriched with fulvic acid, germination booster, hydrogen peroxide, or gibberellic acid. For top results, use room temperature water and soak your seeds for twelve hours in a dark place.

Scratch your seeds

Older seeds often have an extra tough outer shell. Gently scratching this shell with some sandpaper can help humidity and warmth reach your seed at the time of germination. Try lightly scarring your old cannabis seeds just before immersing to help them germinate.

Remove your seed's ridge

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

Slice open your seed

In final attempt to germinate your seeds, creating a small cut in the seed's shell may help. However, this is no magic solution, and you'll need to be cautious to avoid hurting the inside of your seed. If you damage the embryo, the seed will never sprout.

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