How Will You Identify Bad Cannabis Seeds? Here’s A Guide

You may be astonished to know that the quality of your cannabis harvest can be determined before the beginning of any process. 

The quality of your cannabis seeds is a crucial factor in determining whether you’ll have a successful harvest with good quality buds or not. Thus, it has become essential for growers to choose cannabis seeds from reputable online companies such as i49.net. 

At times, you may end up buying the ‘bad’ cannabis seeds that will cause several issues later related to cannabis growth. In most cases, bad seeds don’t even germinate at all. However, a few bad seeds will not affect your entire crop, but they will waste your time, energy, and money, causing frustrations. 

In this guide, we will acknowledge you to know whether your cannabis seeds are good or bad. With the help of in-depth detail and proper insight, this guide will help you to easily identify bad cannabis seeds and the good ones for harvest. 

So, let’s dig in. 

Cannabis Seed: What Makes Them ‘Bad’?

Any seed that causes issues can be termed as ‘bad seeds.’ This means that the result will be a seed that never starts sprouting and wastes your time and energy. However, these dud seeds will not disrupt your entire crop; instead, they will make you frustrated. 

Male cannabis plants are another type of bad seed. If you take regular cannabis seeds, there will be 50/50 chances of whether any given cannabis seed is male or female. When these male cannabis plants reach maturity, they start pollinating the female ones. They damage the THC content in the female plants. So, try not to keep male cannabis plants in your garden. 

The best solution is to buy feminized cannabis seeds. If you buy your seeds from a reputable company, all of your seeds in the feminized bunch will be female seeds. These seeds will give you the best results. 

Cannabis Seeds: Methods To Test Their Quality

Testing your cannabis seeds can be done in several ways. You can test the seeds before the stage of germination to save your time, resources, and energy. So, look for the various methods to check your seeds. 

Method 1: Cannabis Seeds Sight Test

Cannabis seeds have a mottled brown appearance on their surface with patches. Some of the seeds also have attractive tiger stripes. You can even find a shiny luster on the seeds by looking closely. At times, a good look at the seed can help you to know if it’s good or bad. 

Here’s how you can identify a bad seed:

• The Coloration of The Seed: If there is a white or green coloration on your seeds, then they are unlikely to start germination. This seed color indicates that they are not mature enough for growth. Moreover, pale seeds suggest that the seeds are old and ineffective for any development. However, dark color with gray or black patches on the seed indicates that they are healthy and good ones. 

• Waxy Coating of The Seed: If you find no waxy, shiny coating on your cannabis seeds, you can consider them as bad or dud. However, seeds with waxy, glossy coating are the healthier ones. 

• Cracks On The Seed: Cracks on the surface of cannabis seeds are a sign of it being dud. If you find cracks on your seeds, it will be best for you to discard them. 

• The shape of The Seed: If your seeds are not round and fat at all, you may consider them to be a dud. This is because the more round and fat the seed, the more chances it will sprout. 

• Mildew of The Seed: You can take a magnifying glass and get a close view of your seeds. If you find any white and dusty powder, you can be sure that it’s a fungus. In such cases of powdery mildew, your seed must be considered as bad and discarded. 

Method 2: Cannabis Seeds Touch Test

The sensation of your cannabis seeds is another indicator to know if the seed is bad or good. You have to simply hold the seed between your forefinger and thumb and slightly squeeze it. You must ensure to apply firm pressure enough to test the integrity of the seeds. 

If your seeds are weak and get squeezed easily, you may consider it as a dud. However, potent seeds indicate better chances of growing healthy cannabis plants. 

Method 3: Cannabis Seeds Water Test

If you’re still unsure whether your cannabis seeds are bad or healthy, you can try the floating water test. Not only cannabis seeds but this method can be applied for testing any seeds. 

Note that you must not perform this method unless you’re entirely ready for germination. If you choose to dry out the seeds after this method for later use, you will end up with damaged seeds and ruin the chances of growing healthy plants. 

You can take a glass, cup, and moderately warm water for this test method. The results will be more efficient with the use of distilled or spring water. You have to place the seeds on a glass full of water and wait for one or two hours. 

The seeds that continue to float on the glass are bad seeds, whereas the seeds that sink to the bottom are considered to be healthy. This is an easy, simple, and effective method to identify whether the seeds are bad or healthy. 

Method 4: Cannabis Seeds Germination Test

If any of these methods, as mentioned above, don’t work, you will have to perform germination. If you have no idea whether your seeds are bad or good, you will have to attempt the final test of germination. Your attempt to grow the seeds will help you to separate the bad seeds from the healthy ones. 

You can try the traditional method of germinating the cannabis seeds by directly placing them in the soil. However, like other growers, you can try the paper towel method for testing too. You have to dampen the towel but not make it completely wet. Keep the towels on a plate, place your seeds on top, and cover it with another plate. The healthy seeds will start to sprout and then need a transplant to a pot for further growth. 

So, after germination, you are all set to proceed with the other stages. However, you must ensure that your mature plants don’t involve any male plants. 

Cannabis Seeds: How To Buy The Good Ones

The best solution to get healthy seeds is buying feminized cannabis seeds. This way, you can eliminate the chances of male plants ruining your female plant’s THC content. However, some retailers will claim to sell feminized seeds but end up selling regular seeds. You must ensure to buy from reputable buyers only. 

If you’re a new grower, you can read the reviews about the several seed banks to know the customer’s feedback. If you notice disappointment and dissatisfaction from the reviews of a company, you must avoid them. 

However, plants are living beings, and they are still unpredictable. So, even your seller can be unaware of the fact that a couple or more of their seeds are dud or bad. But you can be certain about the fact that most of the seeds are always healthy and good for harvest. 

You can identify a bad seller for cannabis seeds if their seeds are old, covered with mildew, and white or pale in color. 

Final Thoughts About Bad And Good Cannabis Seeds 

So, by now, you must have understood that identifying excellent or bad seeds is not rocket science. If you follow these tips and methods precisely with determination, there’s no stopping your successful cannabis harvest. So, start identifying and start growing. 

Happy Seeding! Happy Harvest!