“Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.” – Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music
When growing cannabis there is always the initial question: seeds or clones? This is up to personal preference as well as ability to nurture seedlings but for the pure joy of horticulture I highly suggest seeds. There are few things as satisfying as germinating a seed and watching it grow. There’s a reason that horticulture therapy is a thing.
Where to start? Let’s assume you already have some seeds. You’ll also need:
- Jiffy peat pellets or seedling mix in a pot
- Water
- a small cup of some sort
- a small dish
- tweezers if you have some
- Patience
That’s it. This is not the only way to start seeds. You can use the paper towel method if you prefer but I like to follow the simple techniques my grandfather used when planting his vegetable garden. He was a farmer. Who am I to argue with a lifetime of germination success?
- Put the water in the cup.
- Drop the seed in the water
- Wait 24 hours
- Soak the peat pellet in water in your small dish
- Make a small hole (no more than a cm deep) in the pellet for your seed to snuggle down in
- Carefully remove your seed from its water bath and place in hole (it’s easiest to drain the water and use tweezers for this)
- Cover your lil lady in a moist blanket of earth and wait.
Tada! Make sure the pellet doesn’t dry out and she will break earth soon (a few days). Unless she is a Jack Herer seed. They generally seem to take another two weeks and you’ll think you did something wrong. You didn’t. They take ages to germinate.
There are a few finer points here. I use rain water. Other sources will tell you to use RO (reverse osmosis) water. If this is your first time then just concentrate on getting it germinated and don’t sweat the small stuff. If you leave tap water out overnight the chlorine in it will dissapate but water straight from the tap will not kill your seed. Plants want to grow. They pop up in the most unexpected places, reclaiming the cracks in the pavement and overgrowing ruins of long lost societies. Just give them a cozy place to start and let nature do her part.
PlantieKatie 