First Steps to Growing

If needed, get a great selection of the best seeds here.

We have always wanted to grow our own plants. One of the original Grow Guides has been working with different plants for most of his life, from his parents garden to his own personal stuff, but never with this. So as a team we tackled it head on, taking what we learned from our biology and plant development courses at University and the wealth of knowledge on YouTube. This our first attempt at growing from seed to harvest.

You will need:

• Shot glass
• Paper towel
• Water
• Dixie cup (to plant in later)
• Seeds
• Spray bottle ( it helps but not necessary)

To start, we need to wake the seeds up from their dormant state. This is easily achieved by soaking them in water for 12-24 hours. This causes the seeds to swell which is the first step in germination.

Once the seeds have soaked overnight, soak a paper towel in water and squeeze out any excess making sure the towel isn’t drenched but still fairly damp. Gently put your seeds in the paper towel and fold it so the seeds are fully covered and can’t fall out. The folded paper towel then goes in a ziplock bag which should be placed somewhere warm for the fastest germination. Colder temperatures slow down the germination process and can even prevent it altogether. .

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After a few days, your seeds should have sprouted a root and look like the picture below. If they haven’t sprouted anything, it could be that your seed is just taking it’s time so wait a few more days and check it again. Also make sure that your paper towel hasn’t dried out. The seed needs moisture throughout the germination process.

Once you see the root coming out of the seed, its time to plant it.

1. Fill your dixie cup (or any other small planter) with potting mix to about an inch from the rim.
2. Dampen the soil with a bit of water.
3. Make a small hole in the middle deep enough for the root to fit and so that the seed shell is about a 1/2″ below the surface.
4. Place the seed in the hole with the root pointing down (or as close as possible, we just don’t want the root facing upwards)
5. Gently cover the seed with soil.
6. Spray and moisten the area but try not to drench the entire cup of soil. The seedling won’t use very much water at the beginning and drenched soil gets depleted of oxygen fairly quickly and creates an anaerobic environment which will kill the roots.
7. Place the cup in a warm and well-lit area with high humidity. If you can’t find an area with high humidity, put the cup in a clone dome or put a ziplock bag over the top of the cup and secure it with an elastic band.

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From there, its a waiting game. May take a few days to see the top start pushing out of the soil. One of our seeds, thought lost, popped after 7 days; so patience can be a benefit.

Once the seed pushes the Top, Make sure its gets lots of light, warmth and water. Keep it growing until time to tell if its a female or a male.

….And no you can not tell by looking at the seed or seedling without doing a genetic analysis.

So take a few months and then you can try to tell the gender with a microscope or wait for them to flower, but see our next post about determining the sex using the pre-flowers.

Growing indoor? You can Start with

A Grow Tent–> link to see more. Buy Here

Lights – Beginner like the ones you see below Buy Here.

For additional Lights, can check out Spider Farmer Lights.

More seed options here

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