Germination is the first step in the journey of growing your own marijuana plants. It's bringing a seed to life as it sprouts and a little white root pops out of the seed.

There are a few things that the seed will need in order for it to germinate and grow well. It will need water to enter the imbibing process. The imbibing process is when the seed soaks up the water around it which will then cause the shell of the seed to split open. As seeds take in water and the seed increase its metabolic activities to supply energy for growing. Aaaah the wonders of nature!

Air is also needed to germinate seeds. Air allows the seedling to perform photosynthesis (The process of capturing light energy and changing it to sugar energy) and transpiration (The loss of water vapor through the stomata of leaves).

A third thing that a cannabis seed needs is some warmth to prompt growth. Seeds germinate much better in warmer temperatures and young cannabis seedlings do better with relatively high humidity in the air. Think springtime! During this time of the year temperatures rise, there's plenty of rain, and there is more hours of sunlight. With these few growth indicators your seed will get the green light to get itself going.

You Might damage

After you have supplied the seeds with all its needs to germinate you will notice a small white root emerging from the seed. This is your plant's first root . This important root will spawn all your cannabis plant's future roots. As your taproot grows it will push the seed up through your growing medium. Then the first leaves, called cotyledons, will emerge. Although you are only seeing them after some time, the cotyledons were actually already created inside the embryo of the seed. The shell of the seed may still be connected, and not completely fallen off the cotyledons. Don't interfere and take it off yourself! You might damage the fragile plant in doing so.

Let's get down to business and discuss some germinating methods. The first one I'm going to discuss is the paper towel method. It involves placing your marijuana seeds on a damp paper towel on a plate. Put another damp paper towel on top of the seeds to cover it. I'd recommend also placing a bowl over the seeds to keep them safe and to keep in the humidity- like a little green house. A good place to put them is where there is the same heat all the time for a few days.

And if you are not sure any more with germinating seeds because you tried it all, then you can always give them a little boost with germination booster and they will pop in 3 to 4 days.

Transfer the seedings

Check on the seeds every day to make sure they don't dry out. Drying out will cause them to die or become damaged and the germination will not be successful.

You also want to pay attention daily to see when its tap root starts to grow. Once you see this happening you can transfer the seedlings into your growing medium. Be careful not to touch the roots as they are fragile and you can easily damage or kill the seed. It's best to take a pair of tweezers for the transfer. When planting the germinated seeds, make sure the white root is pointed downwards. Seeds planted upside with the root pointed upwards take a longer time to reorient themselves and arise from the growing medium.

If you want to avoid having to transfer your baby seedlings altogether you can use the method of directly planting your seeds into your growing medium. If you plant them directly into your growing medium you do not have to worry about shocking your seedling during the transplant.

This method is basically a no brainer. Put each seed in a different pot fill with moist soil. Be careful though of which type of soil you use. Choose a light soil; make sure it does not have a lot of nutrients in it or else you can burn your seedling.

You should plant the seed knuckle deep (no more than ½ inch for those of you with sasquatch like hands!) under the soil and lightly cover it with soil. Avoid over watering it. To keep in humidity, I suggest putting some clear plastic wrap over the pots. The pots should be kept in a warm area with light. Just after a few days you will start to see your little seedlings popping out of the soil with their cotyledons. (the first leaves remember) Now you can take the plastic off of the pots and put your seedlings under a grow lamp.

Now sit back and relax, it's time for a pat on the back, look at yourself, you're a full blown botanist! (baby steps, babysteps...)

Disclaimer: This content is meant for educational purposes only. It has been compiled with research from external sources. it is not meant to substitute any medical or legal advice. Please see your local laws for the legality of cannabis use.