The most important step in avoiding mistakes when germinating cannabis seeds is to start with high-quality marijuana seeds. If you don’t buy high-quality cannabis seeds, you’re essentially wasting your time from the start. Buying premium cannabis seeds from a reputable seller, however, does not guarantee success.

The reason for this is that, while germinating cannabis seeds isn’t particularly difficult, there are some incredibly simple and common mistakes to avoid along the way. 

The more care and attention you put into these critical early stages, the greater the payoff later on. The germination process not only gets things going but also has a direct impact on the strength and generosity of the resulting cannabis plants. 

With that in mind, here is a quick rundown of three potentially fatal mistakes to avoid when germinating cannabis seeds: 

Allowing the medium to dry out

First and foremost, moisture is perhaps the single most important requirement for cannabis seeds to germinate successfully. When you place a cannabis seed in a moist medium, the moisture starts a chain reaction that leads to germination.

Whether it takes a few hours or a few days, moisture is what starts and fuels the process. As a result, it shouldn’t take a genius to figure out that unless moisture is consistently provided, the germination process will fail. 

As a result, it’s critical to monitor your germination medium and keep it adequately moist at all times. This is especially important if you’re using a heat source or placing the medium somewhere with a high ambient temperature.

If the medium dries out, frantically moistening it again will not work. There is nothing you can do once the damage has been done – it’s game over for your seed. 

Allowing seeds to germinate for an extended period of time

When it comes to germinating cannabis seeds, one of the golden rules is to never rush the process. However, there is such a thing as waiting too long for your seeds to germinate.

Ideally, you should transplant your seedlings as soon as the tap-root reaches 1cm in length to wherever you intend to continue growing them. The issue is that far too many people wait until the cotyledons appear, at which point the transplantation task becomes far more difficult. 

While it’s never a good idea to rush things, you should keep an eye on your seeds and listen to what they’re saying. As a general rule, aim to transplant your seeds when the tap-root is between 1cm and 2cm in length – any longer and you risk total failure. 

Improper temperature and humidity control 

Finally, the germination process is typically quite forgiving and does not require meticulously controlled conditions.

You’ll be fine as long as the temperature is sufficiently high and the humidity is sufficiently high. However, throwing caution to the wind and paying no attention to temperature and humidity is not the way to go. 

Whatever medium you use for your seed, aim for a temperature of 26° C to 28° C and a humidity level of 70%. Those values that are slightly lower or higher than these will not destroy your seeds, but they will have an effect on the speed and quality of your cannabis plants’ initial development.

There’s really no excuse for falling short these days, given the low cost of temperature and humidity gauges!