Grow Your Own by Nichole Graf

Author:Nichole Graf
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tin House Books
Published: 2017-03-15T04:00:00+00:00

Seeds

Growing from seed means you have a wide variety of strains to choose from and a little more flexibility in terms of your start date (as seeds can be safely stored for longer periods of time than clones). Seeds save you the risk of importing diseases, pests, fungi, or bacteria into your garden. And unlike clones, they sprout a strong taproot—the central, downward-growing root from which all the ancillary rootlets spring forth.

Remember that unless you’re planning on breeding, you’ll be raising only female plants. Unfortunately, you won’t know whether a seed has sprouted a male or a female until 5 to 10 days into flowering, when it begins to develop preflowers. You can generally assume that half of your seeds will sprout males, which will need to be destroyed. (If you miss a male plant, you run the risk of pollinating—and likely ruining—the rest of your crop.) Germinating seeds can be a bit more involved than growing from clones, and will certainly add a couple of weeks to the process.

If you like the idea of growing from scratch, but don’t want to run the risk of male infiltrators, you might consider purchasing feminized seeds, which have been specially bred to yield only female plants. This saves you the worry and headache, and gives you a more precise idea of how many plants you’ll be growing. (Keep in mind that each state has different regulations on how many plants you can legally grow at one time.)

Autoflowering seeds might provide the simplest process of all. As soon as the seedlings are developed, you plant them in their final pots and turn on the lights for 18 hours per day all the way through flowering. These seeds are likewise a great option for simple outdoor grows. The downsides are that strain options are much more limited, the plants are typically lower yielding, and, if you’re growing inside, your energy bills might come as a shock.

To germinate a seed is to end its hibernation, to let its stem emerge and its roots begin their development. All you really need is moisture and moderately warm temperatures, somewhere in the neighborhood of 75°F.

Our favorite germination method might be the simplest of all, as it requires no special equipment and no special nutrients: place your seeds in a glass of water, store the glass in a warm dark place, wait 24 to 36 hours, then check for sprouts. If you see small tails emerging, you’re ready to go—this is the beginning of the taproot. Some growers favor the paper-towel method: Fold a paper towel several times over, wet it with warm water, and place the seeds within its folds. Put the towel on a plate and cover it with another dish. (It’s helpful to keep the seeds’ environment dark and moist.) In 3 to 5 days, you should see white tails beginning to surface.

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