seed banks sell their seeds in batches of 10 to 20, but anything can happen in transit. A misplaced foot in the postal office can kill the seeds, making them not viable. Quality seed banks should provide good protective packaging.
Communication with your seed bank is important. If your seeds do not arrive in a reasonable amount of time, you need to be able to ask the seed bank what happened. This will improve your communication with the seed bank the next time you purchase seeds. If you do not have access to the web, then you will have to write to the seed banks to request more information.
Always consult the seed bank about your strain—you never know, they may even be able to recommend something better to suit your needs.
You should receive your seeds in a stealth package. You will probably find them inside a clear, heat-sealed and labeled plastic bag. Check your seeds to make sure that none are crushed. If some or all of the seeds are crushed, send them back to be replaced explaining to the seed bank that this particular package was damaged. Do not open the bag if you are sending them back.
HARVESTING SEEDS
Teasing seeds from the bud. Here a calyx containing a seed is being lightly squeezed between the thumbs at its base so as not to damage the seed.
The calyx opens and the seed comes up. Be careful doing this because is quite easy for the seed to fly out, drop or become lost.
This is the seed. It is not pale and so is likely viable. However, some pale seeds can be viable, depending on the strain.
A collection of some strains and the variation in their morphology. This strain is called strawberry.
This is a skunk strain. Skunk is very popular and is considered one of the old timer strains.
This is a skunk hybrid that has been crossed with Northern Lights. Hybrids are very popular although sometimes not as stable as old timer strains.
This is a haze strain. Notice the longer internode lengths? Haze type strains are considered some of the hardest to grow.
A collection of healthy viable seeds shows their various natural patterns. These are all from the same strain and this usually means that the patterns will be largely uniform.
Clearly labeled vacuum sealed bags are the best solution for long term storage.
Storing Seeds
If the seeds appear to be in good condition, then the first thing you should do is to remove them from the bag. Make double sure that these seeds do not come in contact with anything damp or wet or they may start to germinate. Once you have removed them from the bag you should place the seeds in a small, clean, and very dry film canister. (You may find that film canisters are less popular because of digital cameras; you can always switch to plastic vitamin containers or plastic medicine containers). Seal the canister and make sure that you label it. I can not stress how many times I have heard of people storing seeds only to forget what they were and when they were stored when the time came to use them.
The film canister is a short-term solution to seed storage. It will prevent your seeds from coming in contact with light, bacteria, moisture, and air—all of which can cause either germination or damage to occur. If you are going to store your seeds for more than a year, you should store them in an airtight container in a freezer.
3
Propagation and Germination
What is Propagation?
1) The action of breeding or multiplying by natural processes: procreation, generation, reproduction.
2) The action of spreading an idea, practice, etc., from place to place.
3) Increase in amount or extent; enlargement; extension in space or time.
Propagation is The Grow; however, some growers treat propagation only as the time span between the planting of the seed and the transplanting of the seedling to the main grow environment. We will correctly treat propagation as the entire process of growing, from seed to harvest, including the logistics of the grow: in short, propagation represents the events that occur over the entire life cycle of the plant. This chapter focuses on the first stage, germination, but first we’ll discuss propagation logistics. You will hear the term propagation used to describe elements of the grow that may be seen as one-time actions, like seed towel propagation, but we ask you to bear in mind that propagation is the continuous growing process.
Propagation Logistics
So, what are you going to do? Are you going to buy a batch of 10 seeds and grow them all in one go? Are you going to then remove the males and just use the females? Are you going to keep the males and produce more seeds from the females? How many seeds can a female plant produce? What can you do to guarantee that all your seeds will grow? This is where propagation logistics come into play. The answers to these questions depend largely on the size of your grow area and your budget.
GERMINATION
Seeds can be germinated in cloth. Cheesecloth is the most popular type of cloth used in the process but even paper towels will do.
The size of cloth to use depends on how many seeds you want to germinate. It is important to keep the cloth damp and not to let it dry out.
This is a seed in cloth that has not yet germinated. Seeds can be checked daily for new growth.
This seed is starting to germinate. It must remain moist, as a dry environment causes damage.
This seed has been germinating for a few days. Care must be taken to keep the environment slightly wet and to avoid breaking the root (radicle).
These two radicles are around three times the length of the seed and