Methods To Effectively Preserve Cannabis Seeds
Cannabis seeds, with their hard outer shell, seem pretty hardy. And while nature has definitely designed them to last through many variety of conditions, cannabis seeds aren’t indestructible. Sudden changes in temperature and high humidity, for example, can rapidly ruin a batch of seeds. Luckily, maintaining your seeds is easy. Keep reading to discover how.
Your Seeds Are Still Alive
Many people forget this, but it’s worth remembering: your cannabis seeds are alive organisms. Before they grow, however, they are in a state of rest, much like some animals when they rest. And like all life forms, seeds can expire. When keeping your seeds, you’ll want to give them the optimal conditions to guarantee they survive until you’re ready to sprout and plant them.
Ideal Conditions for Cannabis Seeds
Cannabis seeds have four primary enemies:
- Humidity
- Temperature
- Light
- Oxygen
Preferably, you want to store your seeds in cold, dark, and dry place. When possible, keep your seeds in their initial packaging. At Royal Queen Seeds, we’ve specifically designed our packaging to shield our seeds until you’re ready to grow them.
If your seeds get hit by light or quick changes in temperature, these conditions will trigger them to consume their nutrient stores before they ever touch soil, meaning they won’t have the food they need to germinate. High humidity, on the contrary, https://nativesusa.com/ (https://nativesusa.com) can cause fungi to develop on your seeds.
Effects of Humidity on Cannabis Seeds
Humidity is certainly one of the biggest threats to your seeds. Here is how various levels of humidity (% relative humidity) affect your cannabis seeds:
| Levels of Relative Humidity | Effects of Humidity on Cannabis Seeds |
|---|---|
| 80 – 100% | Seeds germinate. |
| 40 – 60% | Seeds raise respiration and seed storage fungi become major problem. |
| 20 – 30% | Short-term storage. |
| 18 – 20% | Intermediate storage. |
| 12 – 14% | Long-term storage. |
| 8 – 9% | Shorter longevity than seeds kept at somewhat higher humidity. |
Looking for advice on managing humidity for your plants? The Grow Guide provides key tips for maintaining healthy cultivation environments.
How and Where to Store Your Cannabis Seeds
For brief storage, dim cupboard or drawer with steady temperatures is generally fine. Try to keep your seeds away from areas of your house that are susceptible to the natural temperature changes of your local environment.
If, for example, you are in a region with very warm daytime temperatures and low nights, try to safeguard your seeds from these changes and don’t keep them outside in a shed or garage.
For long-term storage, it’s recommended to keep your seeds with moisture absorbers, such as silica gel, in an airtight container inside the refrigerator. Remember that opening the door of your icebox can actually produce some pretty major temperature shifts. If you own have another fridge that gets opened less often than the one in your kitchen, choose that one to store your seeds.
Again, whenever possible, keep your seeds in their factory packaging. If you do break a pack of seeds and have extras, transfer the extra seeds directly into a sealed container.
Ziplock bags, for example, are perfect because you can eliminate all the air from them to make practically vacuum-sealed container for your seeds. Once packaged, put your bag inside opaque plastic bag or opaque container to guard your seeds from your icebox light.
Dry fridges are the ideal to store seeds. The problem is when there is dampness in the fridge, since humidity is the most dangerous enemy for seeds (more harmful than temperature, light, oxygen…). For this reason, it is better to store the seeds in No Frost fridges.
Can You Store Seeds in the Freezer?
Yes, cannabis seeds can be preserved in the freezer. The lower the temperature, the more gradually they decline. However, it’s typically not required to freeze your seeds. Follow the conditions we outlined above, and you should be able to keep your seeds for up to half a decade and still get high germination rate.
Understanding Which Seeds to Grow 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 shell of your seeds is made to protect the volatile genetics inside. Seeds with breaks in the outer shell are far 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 finest genetics in their garden. That means we inspect all of our seeds before shipping. If you notice any damage to your RQS seeds, contact with our help team immediately.
Tips for Germinating Old Cannabis Seeds
We’ve all discovered an odd seed somewhere at the back of an old drawer or cupboard. Here are a few tips on how to sprout weed seeds:
Pre-treatment with enriched carbonated water
Before growing your old seeds, try soaking them in carbonated water enriched with fulvic acid, boosters, hydrogen peroxide, or gibberellic acid. For best results, use lukewarm water and soak your seeds for 12 hours in dark place.
Score your seeds
Mature seeds often have very tough outer shell. Lightly scratching this shell with light sandpaper can help humidity and warmth reach your seed at the time of germination. Try carefully scarring your old cannabis seeds just before immersing to help them grow.
Eliminate 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. Eliminating it gently with a sharp Stanley blade can help your seed grow.
Score open your seed
In final attempt to germinate your seeds, creating small cut in the shell may help. However, this is no guaranteed fix, and you’ll need to be gentle to avoid hurting the inside of your seed. If you hurt the embryo, the seed will never grow.
Remember, some old seeds just won’t germinate no matter how hard you try. If possible, avoid buying more seeds than you will plant so as to avoid having any issues at the time of germination.