You’ve got your seeds in the mail, watched hours and hours of videos, and have been reading Robert’s Grow Bible nonstop, but your seeds won’t sprout… what’s the problem? Germinating your seeds may seem easy, and it can be; you just have to know what to do when dealing with a batch of stubborn seeds.
Cannabis seeds have a germination rate of 80-90% (depending on how you do it and with what seeds.) This means that typically if you have fresh seeds and use a standard seed germination method, you’ll have an effective seedling. Furthermore, following the steps in this article, you’ll have a good chance of germinating those bull-headed seeds.
How long does it take for cannabis seeds to sprout?
Usually, you’ll seed a seed sprout within two days of germination. As with anything else, this is the average, and sometimes, you’ll see seeds take as long as a week to a week and a half to sprout. This depends on various factors, including storage conditions, the quality of seeds, and the plant’s genetic makeup.
Reasons why weed seeds won’t germinate
Genetics
Genetics plays a far more significant role in developing cannabis plants than you may know. Many genetics you know and love today, like Girl Scout Cookies and OG Kush, were born from either random or mystery genetics.
However, the chances of you finding incredible cultivar qualities from a random mix of genetics is a moonshot bet. Random genetics can result in many issues: inability to germinate, hermaphroditic traits, and infertility. Using trusted seed providers like ILGM helps ensure your most excellent chance of having a high germination rate and stable genetics.
Old Seeds
A cannabis seed’s outer shell is a layer of protection against the forces of the outside world, and within that shell lies a small amount of nutrients. When water passes that shell and into the seed, it signals the plant that it’s time to start growing. The nutrients within the seed receive hydration and signal to the plant that it’s time to kickstart its metabolism. As a seed ages, this nutrient deposit will decrease until it reaches a point where it can’t be spurred to grow and becomes infertile.
Explanation of a seed’s anatomy
Faulty Watering
When it comes to cannabis seeds and water, there’s a whole host of potential problems that can come with this, whether it’s too much moisture, not enough moisture, drowning your seeds, or using water with a poor nutrient makeup. We recommend using filtered water and a spray bottle to ensure the impacted area is moist but not soggy. Too much moisture will prevent your seeds from having access to oxygen, while too little water will cause your seeds to remain dormant.
Nutrients
Usually, when you think of growing cannabis, you think of using the holy trinity of nutrients: Nitrogen, phosphorus, and Potassium. However, you will want to lay off using nutrients when germinating a seed since it can burn the seedling. Seedlings are not robust enough to handle nutrients and loads of chemicals, so using anything other than filtered water can overwhelm your seedling and kill your weed plants.
If you aren’t sure what fertilizer and nutrients you should use, take a look at Bergman’s Fertilizer below!
Cannabis Fertilizer
All the nutrients you need from seedling to harvest
Enough nutrients for at least 5 plants
Discounted combination deal
Suitable for soil, hydroponic and other growing mediums
Incorrect Temperatures
Heat and cold are essential factors when dealing with plant growth and germination. The ideal temperature for germinating seeds is 71-76 degrees Fahrenheit (22-25 degrees Celsius). A cold environment slows your germination process and can keep the seed from growing (unless you use stratification methods). An environment that’s too hot can overwhelm your seedling with stress.
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Faulty Planting
When we think of planting seeds in the soil, we believe it’s as easy as throwing the seed into some dirt, watering it, and letting it grow into the beautiful seedling it is. Although there may be some truth to that, a seedling is young when it first emerges from its shell, meaning that if there’s too much soil above the seedling, it may be doomed before it can even reach the light.
We recommend planting your seed 1-4 centimeters deep in your soil. This allows your seed to have enough room for your seedling to sprout from the soil and receive light while allowing the taproot room to grow downward.
Ways to get a stubborn seed to germinate
Below, we outline different methods you can use on seeds that don’t seem to benefit from standard germination methods.
Stratification and Scarification
Stratification is the process of using temperature to break a seed’s dormancy. Usually, you do this by keeping seeds in cold temperatures 1.66-4.44 degrees Celsius (35-40 degrees Fahrenheit) for 4-12 weeks.
Scarification is using mechanical or chemical means to break seed dormancy. Typical scarification methods include nicking the seed coating with a knife or sandpaper and shaking the seeds inside a container. Although stratification and scarification are often used interchangeably and work to accomplish the same goal, the two methods have different distinctions.
Illustration of two cannabis seeds scarified by ‘nicking’
Microbes
Scientists observed improvement in maize germination through inoculation of several different microbes in soil Some improvements observed were increased rates of germination (22%), root length (51%), as well as fresh and dry weight (21% and 31%, respectively.).
Fulvic Acid
Fulvic acid is a compound formed from the breakdown of organic matter, creating compounds that allow your plant to take in more nutrients through its roots. In a study on the effectiveness of fulvic acid in germinating tomato seeds, scientists found that soaking seeds in fulvic acid increased germination by 13% and root length by 32%.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is another tool many farmers use to help germinate stubborn seeds. Soaking your seeds in a hydrogen peroxide solution helps break down the seed’s coating so it can receive oxygen better. The safest seed soak we recommend is 1 ounce of 3% food-grade hydrogen peroxide to 1 pint of water and allowing that to sit for 2-24 hours.
Mycorrhizae
Though there isn’t evidence to suggest that beneficial fungi help with the germination process, there is some evidence to show that it can help reduce the time it takes to germinate. Aside from shortening germination periods, mycorrhizae also support plant root network development, helping cannabis seedlings grow quicker during their vegetative period.
When to give up on your cannabis seed ever sprouting
Though there isn’t a tried and true method to knowing which seeds are viable and which aren’t, there are tests that growers use that typically separate great seeds from questionable ones. If you have used all the methods described in this article and aren’t achieving results within two weeks, it’s best to call it quits and move on from this batch of seeds.
We at ILGM always try to make sure that our seeds should sprout without issues. Please take a look at our seed selection below!
My final thoughts on stubborn weed seeds
Barriers to proper germination can be aggravating, and we know that as well as anyone. With the appropriate preparation and research, you can achieve a high germination rate and grow those plants you’ve been waiting to care for. Furthermore, if you take the time to buy genetically stable seeds, use proper germination methods, and use the methods above for stubborn seeds, you’ll give yourself the best chance to grow healthy seedlings.
Happy Germination!
Used sources for this article
Sorokin A, Yadav NS, Gaudet D, Kovalchuk I. Development and Standardization of Rapid and Efficient Seed Germination Protocol for Cannabis sativa. Bio Protoc. 2021 Jan 5;11(1):e3875. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3875. PMID: 33732764; PMCID: PMC7952943.
Cardarelli M, Woo SL, Rouphael Y, Colla G. Seed Treatments with Microorganisms Can Have a Biostimulant Effect by Influencing Germination and Seedling Growth of Crops. Plants (Basel). 2022 Jan 19;11(3):259. doi: 10.3390/plants11030259. PMID: 35161239; PMCID: PMC8838022.
Zhang Peijia, Zhang Hongjia, Wu Guoqing, Chen Xiaoyuan, Gruda Nazim, Li Xun, Dong Jinlong, Duan Zengqiang (2021) “Dose-Dependent Application of Straw-Derived Fulvic Acid on Yield and Quality of Tomato Plants Grown in a Greenhouse” Vol. 12 Frontiers in Plant Science
Gutowski, Valeria (2015) “The effect of mycorrhizae on seed germination, development, and reproductive yield of Rapid Gro Radish,” ESSAI: Vol. 13, Article 18
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