Cannabis seeds

Cannabis seeds are ready to be planted and grown once they have successfully germinated or the root has broken through the seed’s protective shell. Cannabis seeds are available in regular, feminized, and autoflowering varieties. Home cannabis growers often choose feminized seeds to ensure that the mature plant will be a female that will flower.

Learn more about cannabis seeds

Like all angiosperms, or flowering plants, cannabis produces seeds that contain all the genetic information necessary for growth and reproduction. When a seed is planted, the expression of this genetic material determines every unique physical characteristic that the mature plant will have. If these are desirable characteristics—such as potency, aroma, vigor, etc.—a breeder can select for them through a long process of genetic stabilization over generations, which ultimately leads to the creation of a cultivar or strain.

Anatomy of a Cannabis Seed

Cannabis seeds are about the size of a peppercorn, oval in shape and pointed at both ends, with a single longitudinal ridge running from one end to the other. It is this ridge that splits open during germination. The opposite side is rounded. The body of the seed is brown, but underdeveloped and unfertilized seeds may be off-white in color and are generally smaller in size.

The surface of a cannabis seed is mottled or striped, most often with light brown spots, but some cannabis varieties may have red or yellow markings. The plant embryos are contained within the seeds and contain all the cells that will eventually develop into leaves, roots, and stems. The embryos, which are found within the reproductive organs, are protected by an outer layer called the pericarp. The key components of the plant embryo are the cotyledons—the first leaves to emerge from the seed—and the radicle, which develops into the primary root. Once the seed has germinated and begun growing into a mature plant, special structures called root caps protect the plant’s growing tips.

Seedless cannabis

Cannabis grown commercially today does not contain seeds. The cultivation practices that have made this widespread are rooted in fundamental biological concepts. Cannabis is a dioecious plant, meaning it has distinct male and female organisms, just like humans. If a female plant matures in the presence of a male plant, the male’s pollen fertilizes the female, and its bracts contain seeds at the end of the flowering cycle. Seedless cannabis is common, even when it comes from large-scale outdoor cultivation, but not so long ago, this was not the case.

Around the middle of the 20th century, growers discovered that by removing male plants as soon as they displayed their sexual characteristics, they could obtain a crop consisting exclusively of unfertilized females, resulting in cannabis flowers with higher THC content that did not require the removal of seeds before being smoked. This seedless cannabis was subsequently dubbed «sinsemilla,» which translates to “seedless” in Spanish. It is also commonly spelled sinsemilla.

How Are Cannabis Seeds Produced?

Commercial growers who produce cannabis flowers want seedless plants, but there are also growers interested in selling seeds to the growing home-growing market. Cannabis seed production begins with pollen from a male plant.

From this grain, a pollen tube develops, producing male generative cells that are dispersed as pollen. The migration of pollen to the ovule of a female plant triggers the shedding of the pistils and the start of seed production.

The bracts, which contain the ovule, will then fill with seeds. Since seed-bearing plants are the natural result of the fertilization of ovules by pollen, producing cannabis seeds simply involves letting nature take its course.

What is the difference between feminized, regular, and autoflowering seeds?

There are a few differences worth noting between these types of cannabis seeds.

Feminized seeds: The main difference between the feminized cannabis seeds The main difference between feminized cannabis seeds and regular cannabis seeds is that feminized seeds are designed to produce only female plants. This is important for cultivation, since only female plants produce flowers that can be smoked. A male plant can potentially ruin a harvest if it pollinates nearby female plants, causing them to produce flower buds full of seeds.

Autoflowering seeds: The autoflowering seeds have been carefully selected to begin and end the flowering process based on the plant’s maturity rather than the amount of light it receives each day. Autoflowering seeds tend to be easier to grow and do not require as much light, making them perfect for areas with a short growing season or for indoor cultivation.

Is it legal to buy cannabis seeds?

In France, it is legal to buy cannabis seeds. However, it is illegal to plant them unless you have the proper authorization (a narcotics license for medical cannabis, or farmer status for hemp).

How to Store Cannabis Seeds

Seed suppliers sometimes vacuum-seal seeds and freeze them for long-term storage, but seeds available commercially in leading Dutch stores are sold in small plastic vials at room temperature and low humidity (6–12 %).

Moisture and light are the main enemies of seed storage. That said, seeds can remain viable for up to two years even when stored under the most unpredictable conditions. Marijuana seeds picked up off the ground or found at the bottom of a drawer are known to grow into vigorous young plants.

Germination of Cannabis Seeds

Germination is the process by which the new cannabis plant begins its vegetative growth. Sometimes colloquially referred to as «sprouting,» this process begins when the seed is exposed to water and light. The seed emerges from its state of dormancy, or quiescence, and resumes the essential metabolic processes that draw on its energy reserves to gently crack open the shell and grow its first root. This root will continue to grow until it has established itself in the growing medium, after which it will produce two small embryonic leaves (cotyledons) of the seed coat. Cotyledons are present inside the seed before germination and are not considered «true» leaves. The cotyledons will grow until they are about one centimeter long, and once the stem below reaches about five centimeters in height, another set of true leaves will grow from the top, and the stem between the true leaves and the cotyledons will continue to lengthen.