Getting the best cannabis seeds for your grow doesn’t necessarily mean they must be expensive. Pricing doesn’t always have a direct correlation with a product’s overall quality. Yet, different factors influence cannabis seed prices. Thus, you can still get the best seeds for your cultivation, even with a limited budget, as your crop’s projected harvest depends on factors broader than the price.
But how do you know if the cheap seeds you want to buy will produce the best results? By testing or evaluating them before planting. Testing shouldn’t scare you off; it’s not a complicated task only a few chosen geeks can perform.
When you’re evaluating seed quality, one law applies across the board for cheap and expensive seeds—evaluation to ascertain seed viability. How do you know if the seeds you want to purchase will germinate? This post shares practical insights to ensure your chosen seeds will give you optimal returns on your investment. Keep reading to get the best value for your money.
The Sinking Versus Floating Test
You can test seeds’ germination viability by conducting the floating test. Take a glass of water and fill it with distilled or spring water. Next, place a few seeds inside and wait at least one to two hours. Then check out the seeds that float in the water. The floating ones are of poor quality and won’t germinate. Inversely, high-quality seeds sink, meaning they will germinate.
Texture
Ascertain your cannabis seeds’ quality by feeling their texture. Good quality seeds need a strong seed coating to protect the pre-emerging life. Don’t plant any tender, pliable seeds because they have low germination chances. Even if they wake up, you will definitely get poor yields.
Color and Appearance
Seed color and appearance are other factors to consider when evaluating cannabis seeds. Healthy weed seeds are almost uniform in color, while others have several shades, tiger stripes, or turtle shell patterns. All seeds within this color range are healthy and represent good germination candidates.
However, slight color variations don’t necessarily mean the seeds are poor quality. The variation occurs because genetic and environmental variables also influence seed coloration. For instance, some seeds become darker after staying in packages for a few months. Such seeds will have a color change because of being exposed to lighting, oxidation, and humidity.
You should also discard all green cannabis seeds because the green color shows the seeds were harvested prematurely. This look means the seeds didn’t get the necessary time to develop. Such seeds have a very low germination rate. Get more information and deals on the best cheap marijuana seeds here.
Size and Shape
Healthy cannabis seeds may have various sizes and shapes. Some cultivars produce compact, small seeds with little space between their outer shells. However, their smaller size doesn’t mean they aren’t viable if they are healthy, have the correct coloration, and aren’t too old.
Other healthy cannabis seeds are large and appear bloated. This shape doesn’t mean they can’t germinate because such shape and size could have formed due to the seeds’ genetics and growing circumstances, like high magnesium and calcium levels.
Yet, putting all these differences aside, all healthy seeds share one common shape. They have a tear-drop body that’s round at one side and tapered at the other. So, any seed that grossly strays from this shape might have genetic flaws. Likewise, all exceptionally flat seeds might have serious germination challenges and produce unhealthy cannabis.
A Waxy Sheen
A healthy cannabis seed has a waxy sheen that makes it look like its grower polished it with wax. Poor-quality seeds appear dull and matte.
Storage Conditions
You can also evaluate cannabis seed quality by storage conditions. This step is vital, although getting all the necessary information about seed storage might sometimes be hard. We recommend buying seeds from dealers who store them in cool and dry conditions, as seeds stored this way stand very slim chances of getting mold or other fungal issues that erode their quality.
Likewise, avoid purchasing seeds sold in bags. We recommend going for seeds from reputable and legal online vendors. Additionally, all seeds in containers are most likely to be of low quality because invading males might have pollinated the female plants that produced them. The problem with pollinated seeds is that they hinder resin production, which lowers a plant’s THC levels and potential. Going for such seeds means risking your yields and your harvest’s overall quality.
Seed Weight
Weight is another parameter to use when determining a seed’s overall quality. This element is interwoven with size because bigger seeds are most likely to weigh more than smaller ones. Thus, heavier seeds are usually of a higher quality.
You can use this standard to estimate seeds’ age because older ones lose moisture and nutrients, making them lighter than younger, healthy ones. This parameter helps you buy healthy seeds that guarantee excellent germination results and potent yields.
Harvest Age
Age is another dimension a buyer may not know. All quality seeds are harvested when fully mature. If seeds are collected prematurely, the plant may not have loaded them with sufficient energy. This deficiency means the seeds will start their lives on a deficit note. You can know a seed’s harvest age by looking at its color.
Germination Time
You can also test seed quality using its germination time. This is the most practical way to be sure your seeds will grow into healthy, robust plants. However, we recommend buying a few seeds to experiment with to avoid losing money with a bulk pack of poor-quality seeds.
Good seeds take between a few days and a week to germinate. If your samples don’t sprout within this timeframe, you can be sure that the others might not give you desired results. If you see the sprouts within that period, go ahead and buy more of the same seeds for planting.
Proper Sourcing
Lastly, you can use the source and resource principle to assess seed quality. The law of life requires everything to reproduce after its own kind. A seed bank or vendor known for supplying high-quality seeds will produce their kind. So, do your homework well and double-check if your potential supplier has a legacy of cheap and high-quality seeds.
Parting Short
Cheap seeds are a perfect option for those seeking to grow cannabis with a limited budget. They save you unnecessary costs, especially if you are a home grower. However, evaluating these seeds is vital to give you only the best quality that guarantees satisfactory yields worth your investment.
We shared all the insights to enable you to assess the seeds’ quality and potential before buying. The ball is in your court to use this information to make a profitable decision that guarantees you value for your money, effort, and time.
The author of this article is Lana Braslavska, an avid cannabis grower and expert in weed cultivation from newbie to expert level. Lana is a blogger at AskGrowers, where she shares her knowledge and helps people learn the ropes of weed cultivation at home in indoor and outdoor setups.
