How to Dormant Marijuana Seeds to Prevent Germination

When planning to start planting marijuana either for personal, medical, or commercial use, you also need to understand the different storage, preservation, and growth strategies you can use for a good harvest. Cannabis seeds germinate when exposed to relatively warm temperatures ranging from 75°F-90°F. But, what can you do when you want to encourage longer seed dormancy as you prepare the planting area? Here is how to dormant marijuana seeds.

How to Dormant Marijuana Seeds

As you know, planting cannabis from the seed instead of clones produces a stronger cannabis plant in weed genetics. And with cannabis seeds, you can create a garden indoors or outdoors in the best growing conditions. The only factor to consider most is where you buy your seeds. We recommend buying cannabis seeds from a reputable seed bank that offers different types like feminized, auto-flowering, and hybrid seeds.

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When you buy the best seeds, you can decide to plant them immediately or to keep them dormant a while longer as you prepare your garden. This process is called dormant seeding, a time when you keep your seeds alive, but with a very slow metabolic or responsive state, so they do not germinate.

While you can induce this process when not ready to plant, weed seed dormancy is a natural process that starts right after harvesting fresh seeds. This is because fresh seeds do not germinate as well as older, mature ones.

If you want to dormant marijuana seeds, you will need to keep them in unfavorable conditions to discourage germination. For this, it is best to understand how weed seeds develop, including which conditions encourage the seed germination process. Cannabis seeds can easily germinate and grow when you provide water, light, and warmth.

You can keep your weed seed or seeds in the dormancy stage a while longer by depriving them of these favorable growth conditions. So, keep your weed seeds in a cool, dark space and guarantee dry storage. The best place to try is a refrigerator, but you will also need to ensure the seeds do not get moisture. Thus, wrap the seeds in a cotton ball and store them in a glass jar with a lid.

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When you guarantee the best weed seed dormancy conditions, you can plan to germinate and grow your cannabis after a long time. This dormant seeding process can preserve the seeds for up to 10 years. Unfortunately, the long dormancy season can affect the seeds when you want to germinate them. So, it is common that these seeds will be the hardest to germinate and can take a long time for the plant to sprout from the seed coat. (samdrewtakeson.com) In addition, many seeds will not survive the harsh condition, so fewer seeds will survive the germination stage.

What are the Advantages of Keeping Cannabis Seeds in Dormancy?

Do you want to prevent the germination of marijuana or hemp seeds? Dormant seeding is used by many farmers who want to time the best germinating and growing seasons. But, besides timing the most seasons, here are other benefits of storing dormant seeds.

1. Preserving a dormant seed helps it develop a hard seed coat that can enable it to survive unfavorable germinating or growing conditions after planting. The hard seed coat helps the weed seed preserve water in case of water stress.
2. If you are a large-scale weed farmer, dormant seeding will help you control your garden. Curbing automatic or natural plant germination will prevent overgrowing your weed garden, so you can also take care of your soil and grow stronger cannabis plants.
3. You can also keep weed seeds dormant when you want to plant other crops, including different types of cannabis crops.
4. It is best to keep weed seeds dormant if you will not be around to take care of the plants for a while.
5. You can keep new cannabis seeds dormant so you can first plant old cannabis seeds you might have bought or harvested before.

How to Break Dormancy in Cannabis Seeds

If you are finally ready to plant your cannabis seeds, you need to start breaking dormancy so you can proceed to other stages like planting. However, as you proceed, understand that different factors, such as length of dormancy, can result in fewer viable seeds. Viable seeds are easy to germinate and grow to produce strong and healthy cannabis plants. However, if you have stored dormant seeds for more than a year and a half, it is likely some of the seeds cannot germinate.

Breaking weed seed dormancy involves transferring the seeds from unfavorable to favorable conditions. So, start by exposing your seeds to water, warmth, and light. Here are three methods you can break cannabis seed dormancy for germination.

Method 1: Soak the seeds in water for 24 hours

Soak the seeds in a bowl of water. Soaking will soften the seed coat to allow more nutrients into the seed embryo. But, if the seeds have been dormant for more than 18 months, it will take very long for the water to penetrate the hard coat, so you need one more trick to break the embryo dormancy as fast as possible.

Add a few drops of hydrogen peroxide to your soaking water, and leave the seeds in the solution for at least 24 hours. Hydrogen peroxide will soften the coats faster, thus allowing the embryos to get enough water for timely germination.

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However, as you soak the seeds, you will need to ensure the water is not very cold because, as mentioned above, cannabis seeds need warmth to germinate and thrive. So, keep the solution at room temperature, and avoid placing the bowl near a light source before the seeds open. It is also best to keep checking on your seeds as they soak to remove them as fast as possible after the shell opens. Once the shell opens, you can transfer the seeds to the soil seed bank for growing.

Method 2: Germinate the seeds in wet, light soil

If you want to try another germination method, you can plant the seeds in light and well-nourished soil. After planting the seed, wet the soil with water that contains a seed coat-softening treatment like fulvic acid. It is best to get the treatment right by using 10ml of fulvic acid in one liter of water. Adding more of the acid can permanently kill your cannabis seeds.

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Method 3: Create micro-abrasions on the seed coats for faster germination

If the above methods do not work to provide a germinated seed, you can try another aggressive method to save seed viability. Understanding that the reason your seeds do not germinate is mainly because of very hard shells, you can inflict marks on the shells, a move that would allow the seeds to imbibe water easily. You can use sandpaper to create micro-abrasions on the seed shell, or you can also use a sharp knife to create a few marks on the seeds. The second process is a bit risky, so it might be better to wear protective gear to prevent injuries.

Frequently Asked Questions About Dormant Seeding Marijuana Seeds

a) What does it mean?

Dormant seeding is the process of preventing germination in viable seeds. In cannabis farming, it requires storing cannabis seeds in a cold, relatively dry, and dark environment, preferably in a fridge, to harden the seed coat, preventing sprouting. You can keep your cannabis seeds dormant for many years, but a long dormant season might lower the seed’s germination ability.

b) Can I keep all cannabis seeds dormant?

Yes, you can keep many species of cannabis seeds dormant. These include auto-flowering, feminized, hybrid, sativa, indica, and other weed species.

c) How can I save seeds after the dormancy period?

When ready to plant, you need to break cannabis seed dormancy using methods that enhance germination. So, you will need to provide moisture, light, and warmth to allow the seeds to sprout.