Cannabis seed are already naturally designed to be resistant to many threats. With their hardened shell they can withstand many pests. But they’re not invincible. Threats that can ruin your seeds are usually ones you can’t really see. Quick temperature changes and high humidity can destroy you batch of seeds quickly. So, how to store cannabis seeds so that you could use them later?
Cannabis seeds are living organisms
It’s true, cannabis seeds in fast are alive. Cannabis seeds are at the state of rest before they germinate. When storing cannabis seeds, you want to give them optimal conditions before you’re ready to germinate and plant them. If you fail to provide those conditions , your seeds can die. So lets talk about these conditions.
Best conditions to store cannabis seeds
It would be ideal if you could store your seeds in a dark, cool and dry place. If your seeds came in some sort of packaging, it might be a good idea to keep them in their original packaging. Most seed banks would have designed packaging for seeds, so they could preserve them for longer.
If your seeds are exposed to light or temperature changes it will start using up nutrients it was sawing for germination process. And there’s a good chance that once you need to germinate and plant those seeds, they won’t have enough nutrients left in them to begin that process. High humidity is another enemy of seeds. If seeds are being exposed to high humidity, fungus might start growing on them. Other side-effects might occur. Your seeds can drown, germinate, sweat and attract insects.
Storing cannabis seeds. Where and how?
Best place to store seeds in is your fridge. It’s dry cool and dark. Perfectly, if possible, you would want to store them in a secondary fridge that isn’t used that often. Opening doors of fridge can make temperature change rapidly, and that’s not a good thing. Also it triggers light to come on once you open the doors. exposing your seeds to light is also a bad thing.
Good way to store seeds is either in original packaging or zip-lock bags. Once you placed seeds in a bag, be sure to vacuum seal it or at lest as close to a vacuum as possible. Placing it in a secondary dark bag that would protect your seeds from being exposed to light is also a good practice.
Keeping your cannabis seeds in fridge can help them stay fresh for long periods of time. Perfectly sealed seeds in an optimized conditions can last up to a decade. However, if you’re only planning to keep those seeds for a shorter period of time, you can keep them somewhere in a drawer or cupboard. Just make sure that temperature in the place you’re storing them remains more or less the same.
It’s not a very good idea to store your seeds outside, in a shed or garage somewhere. Because temperature outside changes a lot during the day and night cycle. It can get warm during the day and then cool at night. Best to keep it in a place with stable temperature.
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Storing your seeds in a freezer
A frequently asked question, ‘can I store my seeds in a freezer?’. The answer is – yes. If you want to use those seeds in a far future, you can freeze your seeds. It’s not necessary to do so, if you keep your seeds in a way we mentioned above, you can use them in five or more years with a good germination rates.
Ready to use your old seeds?
So we explained how to store cannabis seeds, now once you are ready to use them again, here are some tips that just might help you do that.
If your seeds are not that old, you can always try germinating them in a proper way. You can find out how by reading one of our germinating guides: Germinating cannabis seeds – Paper method which is pretty basic and doesn’t require any fancy equipment. How to germinate cannabis seeds | peat pellet method is a bit more sophisticated method with almost 100% success rate.
For older seeds you might want to implement some tricks from your sleeve. A good practice is to pre-soak your seeds. Pre-soak them for about 12 hours, using enriched carbonated water. Keep them in the dark while pre-soaking.
Older seeds tend to have tougher shells. Scaring them is another method that can help them sprout easily. Take some sandpaper and gently scratch outer layer of your seeds, this will make it easier for them to absorb moisture and germinate. Be careful not to damage the inside of your seeds.
You can also cut them using sharp knife. Make a small cut in seeds shell, be very careful not to damage inside of seed. This might help, but you have to remember that some of the seeds might not germinate no matter what you do. Using these methods can help you germinate some seeds, but it is not some magical cure.