Germination: Troubles & Solutions
Germination is the very first phase of every growing project. It is a common behavior for a beginning grower to check the planted seed every few hours. And there is a good reason for that! The fear that the seed will not germinate is something even experienced growers have to deal with. However, if it happened, do not panic right away. Sometimes it is easy to spot the trouble and fix it quickly. Below we will discuss the most common reasons why the seed doesn’t germinate and provide solutions.
POOR QUALITY SEEDS
In case you had found some seeds in a bag and decided to use them, or bought them somewhere super cheap, it is highly likely that they won’t germinate. As such seeds are generally considered to be low quality and have very low chances of making it. Therefore, feel free to do it for an experiment, but don’t count on them much.
Solution - buy some good seeds! There is plenty of seed banks that constantly work on the germination rate and overall quality of the seeds. That way few dollars will increase your chances for a big and awesome tasting yield by I mile.
BAD WATER
Tap water isn’t drinkable in all the cities on earth. Depending on where you live it can be pretty dangerous. Be aware that water may contain harmful compounds that will prevent your seed from germinating. Later in the growing cycle, the risk gets reduced, as the plant becomes more resilient.
Solution - use high-quality bottled water for germination and during the first life days of a seedling. At that point, it doesn’t require much water, hence a single 1.5L bottle will be enough.
LOW TEMPERATURE
Just like any other plant, Cannabis sprouts in Spring, when it feels that the temperature is warming up. If it thinks that it’s too cold, it won't germinate. The optimal temperature is between 15-25C.
Solution - when growing indoors it is optimal by default unless you live in the arctic fortress. In the case of outdoor germination, you can just wait, or germinate the seed in-house using a glass with soil. Be mindful that then later you will have to transplant the seedling to the soil outdoors, which carries a lot of stress for a plant and therefore may slow down the growth.
LOW HUMIDITY
Just like warm temperature, humidity is another factor that is essential to initiate germination. In dried-out soil, the process will simply never start.
Solution - make sure that the soil around the place where you planted the seed is wet at all times. In order to prevent it from rapid drying you may put a plastic cup right on the spot where the seed is. It will slow down the evaporation.
TOO DENSE SOIL
Tightly packing soil over your seed, or simply burying it too deep can be an issue. First of all, the seed that has just popped isn’t a strong one. Its fresh shoots may not make it through the soil if it is too dense or the distance is too long. Moreover, they could suffer from oxygen deprivation, and this will stunt development entirely.
Solution - create a 1-2 cm deep hole with your little finger, put the seed in there, and gently brush soil back over it.
As you can see, all the methods mentioned above don’t take longer than a few seconds, but trust me, on some occasions they can truly be life decisive for your seed. Keep that in mind, I wish you the best of luck with the germination rate:)