Responding to the questions and petitions of our customer, and as a shop specialized in cannabis seeds, the Green Parrot Team has decided to write this article as a guide to the best conservation conditions for our product. As you already know, every seed is a living organism waiting for its moment to pop out and start a new photosynthetic life on earth. Cannabis seeds are no exception! Preservation conditions therefore consist in avoiding the circumstances in which the seeds would start their germination process, or lose the ability to germinate.
When we think about the process of germination (putting the seeds in a dark, humid and warm place), we can easily understand the kind of thing we should avoid to make them germinate involuntarily. To elude this possibilities, there is 3 main aspects we have to be in control of: humidity, temperature and light.
Humidity is decisive for the conservation of your recently acquired cannabis seeds.you should always keel them in a dry place, if possible under 10%. The easiest way to achieve this is to preserve them in their original package. Most seedbanks prepare their packaging to ensure the best conservation during the time it spends traveling from their production plant to the shops, and then to your hands. They usually use hermetic containers to conserve the properties of the air around the seeds, and sometimes add supplementary conservation items, like silica gel balls. If you want to use a part of the seeds of your package and keep the rest for later, you can preserve them in eppedorf tubes, zipbags or any other hermetic container. You can substitute the silica gel balls for the best DIY humidity absorber: uncooked rice grains! Really useful for those fridges where keeping the humidity low is a problem.
Tube storing seeds with a sponge to prevent the seeds from smashing and silica gel balls to keep the humidity.
Temperature is determinant for the preservation of the seeds, hot temperatures could not only trigger the germination, but also just spoil your seeds. Temperature must be fresh, somewhere between 4º and 8ºC, so the best place to store your new beans is the fridge! The shorter the time your seeds spend from the time we take them out of our fridge to the moment they reach yours, the closest to the germination ratio guaranteed by the brand they will keep. Whenever you want to start your grow, take the seeds out the fridge in their original package or your own packaging to make the change as gradual as possible.
Every brand stores their seeds in their own package to keep the humidity levels and protect the seeds from abrupt changes in temperature.
The light is the source of life for plants, the trigger for germination. It is very important to keep them in the dark as long as you don’t want to start your grow. As easy as putting the tube or bag where you store them inside an opaque container. Obviously, the seeds should be treated gently and you should avoid putting them under too much pressure or weight to avoid smashing them. If you think they could suffer from abrupt movements during transport, try to store them with a bit of cotton.
Dinafem stores their seeds in perfect conditions: silica gel balls to keep the humidity, little sponge to protect the seeds, and opaque hermetic container.
A well preserved bean can sprout up to 5 years after being packed (and even more!)! On the other hand, a seed can lose completely or partially its germination ability in a very short period of time. The lesson is: take well care of this life projects and someday they will turn in to beautiful plants!