Starting off with a mixed pack will help you understand your environment and grow goals:

1. Growing conditions: Make sure to choose seeds that are suited to your specific growing conditions, such as indoor or outdoor, humidity levels, and temperature.
2. Growth rate: Consider whether you want fast-growing or slow-growing strains. Fast-growing strains can be ready for harvest in as little as 8 weeks, while slow-growing strains can take up to 16 weeks or more.
3. THC and CBD levels: Different strains have different levels of THC and CBD, the main psychoactive and therapeutic compounds in cannabis, respectively. Decide whether you want high THC or high CBD strains, or a balance of both.
4. Yield: Consider how much cannabis you want to harvest and choose seeds that are known to produce the yield you aim to achieve.
5. Appearance and aroma: Different strains have different appearances and aromas, so consider what you prefer in terms of bud colour, shape, and smell.

By trying out our 6-pack of mixed cannabis seeds, new growers can learn about the different strains and find out which ones work best for their grow operation. It’s a great way to get started in the exciting world of cannabis cultivation.

How to germinate cannabis seeds: Tried and tested method

At Cannabist we have tested just about every method to germinate cannabis seeds and always get the best results with the cotton pad method. There are a few critical things you need to pay attention to when using this method, other than that the method it is pretty straight forward.

Use make-up pads, nothing else

Don’t use roller/paper towel, tissues or toilet paper, only use make-up cotton pad as they retain the right level of moisture and allow air in to reach the roots.

Don’t use too much water, or your seeds will drown!

Each pad only needs 3-5 quick sprays from a misting bottle to moisten them. Cannabis seeds need both moisture and air. If the pads are too wet, the roots will be submerged in water when they sprout and won’t be able to breath. As a result they will rot and die! A brown colour on the tip of the root is a telltale sign that there is too much water.

Keep the moisture locked in, or your seeds will dry up and die!

If you wet the cotton pads and leave them out and exposed, the cannabis seeds will dry out and die! Place the cotton pads with the seeds in sealable container or on a plate wrapped in cling film / cling wrap to lock the moisture in.

Seeds germinate better when warm

Cannabis seeds have the highest germination success rate right around the sweet spot of 26°C. They can still germinate at other temperatures, although successful germination drastically declines below 21°C and above 30°C. What we at Cannabist find works best, is to pop the sealed container or covered plate containing the seeds on top of a fridge, near the back, which gives off a bit of heat which keeps the seeds nice and warm.

Be patient

The less you fiddle, the better. Most seeds should germinate in 2-3 days but can take up to 10 days (or more). Sometimes the seed’s shell can be quite hard and water struggles to penetrate the shell. If your seeds haven’t germinated after 10 days, you can place them in a shot glass of water for 24 hours and then attempt the cotton pad method again.

Here are some detailed guides by Dutch Passion – another world renowned seedbank that we stock premium seeds from:

• The cotton pad method to germinate seeds
• Moist vs Soaked cannabis seed germination with cotton pads
• Top 10 cannabis seed germination and seedling mistakes