Perhaps you have planted enough seeds for your grow pots, and now you’re left with extra seeds that you don’t know how to keep. Most novice growers quickly toss their seeds in some corner of the bookshelf, or worse, leave them in a bag hung somewhere in the garage. While doing so make keeping the seeds easier, they will be surprised when they try to germinate the seeds— poorly stored seeds don’t germinate.
The simplest answer for how to store marijuana seeds would be; keep them dry, cold, and in darkness. But to achieve this condition, there’s a lot of considerations. Let’s explore.
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Factors to Consider When Storing Your Cannabis Seeds
The longer you keep your seeds, the higher the possibility they will be dead when you need them. You must, therefore, keep them in the best condition. Here are the things you must be wary about if you want to preserve your seeds for long;
How long are you going to store the seeds?
If you’re going to store the seeds for a short time, you shouldn’t hassle too much.
The seeds can be safe in a plastic container in the darkest corner in your closet. The room conditions are favorable for your seeds if you intend to keep them for a short time.
However, if you intend to store them for a longer time, you need to use better containers. Plastic containers are porous, thus will let moisture and air into your seeds. Storing weed seeds for long calls for sophisticated environmental controls. Read on.
Keep humidity in check
Remember, the seeds need just a little warmth to germinate. If you expose them to humidity, they get the signal to germinate, but other conditions in the container can’t allow them to grow, so they spoil.
Depending on your storage container, they will even begin to rot. Use air-tight containers, and ensure they’re always in a dry condition. By all means, keep the moisture out of your storage containers. Nothing more than 10% humidity.
If you’re in a highly humid area, you can use a hygrometer to track the moisture content in that room, if it’s extreme, you can use a dehumidifier to keep your ‘seed bank’ free from moisture.
If the idea of a dehumidifier doesn’t work for you, you can use moisture-absorbing silica packets. Toss one packet in each container, keeping a barrier between the seeds and the silica packets. It is crucial to use food-grade moisture-absorbing packs. You don’t want to contaminate the seeds; it gets to the weed.
Block the Light
Just like moisture, light is your enemy when it comes to seed preservation. Keep your seeds in opaque containers.
Apart from light being a source of growth energy, the heat it comes with might ‘cook’ your seeds. So if they don’t attempt to grow, they will die. Whatever the case, you lose!
Keep the temperatures low
When it comes to storing your seeds, the lower the temperatures, the better. However, do not freeze your seeds; keep the temperatures between 8-10°C.
That range of temperatures keep the seeds alive but deters them from germination. You can keep the seeds in a not-so-used refrigerator and set the temperatures between 8-10°C. Your seeds will stay healthy for the longest time.
Keep the climatic conditions constant
While it is essential to keep the climatic conditions in range, it is more important to keep them constant. Any slight fluctuation, the seeds will spoil.
Keep the container closed at all times. Opening the lid exposes your seeds to the harsh external environment.
Even if you open the lid for a few minutes, the air shall have got into your storage container. That’s enough air to cause respiration, leading to premature germination and death of your seeds.
Use the right storage containers
The reason why you use containers is to keep the seeds in safe conditions. If you use the wrong containers, you will spoil your seeds.
The general rule is, do not use containers made from different materials. Most containers you’ll find easily are mostly glass containers with plastic lids. Glass containers with metallic lids are also a common sight. Do not use such containers. These materials react differently to fluctuations in the environment. Thus, it might leak moisture and air into your seeds, spoiling them.
Use containers that are made wholly of the same material. That way, even with changes in temperature, the container remains air-tight, protecting your seeds.
Also, label your containers. When you keep more than one strain, it helps you know the strains stored in each container.
Sometimes you keep these seeds for so long that you forget that it was even marijuana seeds. The label will help identify it in such circumstances.
Why is it important to store cannabis seeds properly?
Seeds are precious. They aren’t cheap. So when you buy a pack of 10 seeds, and only use 4, you need to keep the rest safe until you sow again.
When you keep the remaining seeds in poor condition, you lose them, and you have to repurchase the seeds.
Also, after harvesting, you’re left with a lot of seeds. Storing them well guarantees you seeds for years of growing— of course, if you love the strain and wish to produce it.
How long are marijuana seeds viable
The critical question is not how long do marijuana seeds last, but rather, how well can you take care of them in storage. Marijuana seeds can live for as long as you keep them in the right conditions.
Though different strains have varying levels of resistance to the environment, marijuana seeds can beat the test of time. Some farmers have testified having kept seeds for more than a decade—and they germinated.
In conclusion
Marijuana seeds are highly resistant to the ravages of time. That’s why they can live for over a decade if you keep the conditions within range. These instructions will help you store your seeds for the longest time—and they’ll still germinate with ease!
