Plants start with a seed, and Marijuana is no different. Only well, there are some very specialized seeds. In this short post I'll cover the 3 basic seed types, and where to get them without running afoul of international trade laws.
The Basics
Like most any other plant cannabis starts as a seed, that once exposed to the right conditions will sprout a seedling in a couple days.
Seed Types
To understand why seed types are important I'll first call out that only the female plants flower with buds we want, and that if exposed to male pollen grows seeds. TL;DR Sex is important.
- Standard or Regular seeds
These are rare honestly, but they can be found as part of testing programs where the breeders are deciding if a strain is worth producing at scale. If you're pulling seeds from a bag, they're in this category.
Standard seeds involve a small risk that you need to carefully watch their early flowering to catch and destroy male plants before any plants cross-pollinate.
- Feminized seeds
As the name implies, these seeds are guaranteed to be female. No need to watch for males, or germinate extra seeds.
Like standard seeds they'll only start flowering once they get 12 or more hours of darkness each night. This happens naturally in late summer, or can be controlled artificially by indoor growers.
- Autoflowering seeds (autos)
Autos, as the name implies have an automatic nature. They'll start flowering on their own cycle regardless of light, usually 4-5 weeks after germination. Autos are very popular for growers with smaller spaces as they wont grow to be the "monsters" you might get outdoors or with a longer vegetative state.
Getting Cannabis Seeds
Getting seeds is easier than ever thanks to increasing legalization and the internet. One small caveat remains: no credit cards. Due to federal laws credit card companies can't accept transactions related to cannabis, and vendors could never access the funds if they could.
Payment Options
- Crypto
While most every seed vendor will accept crypto I dislike it for 2 reasons: a) it's a hassle if you dont have it and b) it's incredibly bad for our environment.
- Virtual Wallets
My preferred payment because it still allows instant payment, but it way easier than crypto, and much friendlier to our energy footprint. These apps include Google Pay, Zelle, Venmo and others. Will vary by your chosen seed bank though, so pick that first.
- Check / Cash
Many seed banks will take an order online, and hold it until they receive check. This is fine if your planning ahead, just adds a week or two to your shipping time.
Seed Banks
Online
You can order from online sites like Seedsman and ilgm.com who both ship free to any country with legal medical or recreational growing.
Locally
Head on up to Quebec or a local reservation. Crossing the U.S. border runs afoul of both federal cannabis laws and probably some commerce/agricultural laws. Just don't do it. The situation is a little different for tribal reservations in NY who can legally sell according to their own laws, and once possession is transferred, consumer can legally transport in and around NY state. ** not a lawyer, consult one first.
How to "spot" good seeds
You may see various techniques to visually identify "good" seeds. Dark, tiger-striped, etc. I personally don't buy into that much. Like any plant, density can be some indicator (should not crackle/crunch, but be a dense little thing), but that's more about dryness/viability than "good."
The only real way is to germinate, which only takes a day usually. There are several methods(soil, paper towels, floaters), and most breeders include their preferred or guaranteed method with your seeds
Next: Germinating & Sprouting Cannabis Seeds