by Nebula Haze
How can you make sure your precious marijuana seeds last as long as possible? Today’s seed storage tutorial will show you exactly what to do. When stored properly, cannabis seeds remain viable for years or even decades. We’ve germinated 10-year-old seeds that were stored via this method!
So what’s the best way to keep your cannabis seeds fresh and viable? Here’s the long and the short of it:
How to Store Cannabis Seeds – 4 Important Factors
- Dry (Most Important) – Moisture is the #1 enemy of seed storage, so keep seeds dry! In other words, don’t let seeds touch water or get exposed to high humidity.
- Cool – Try to keep a cool, steady temperature. An ideal temperature is about 40°F (just above freezing temperature), but as long as it’s under 70°F you should be okay.
- Dark – Protect your seeds from light! UV rays especially are not great for seed viability.
- Airtight – Avoid letting your seeds be exposed to fresh air or oxygen. If possible, keep cannabis seeds in an airtight container.
Given what cannabis seeds need to stay healthy and viable, generally, these are the best places to store cannabis seeds.
Where to Store Cannabis Seeds
- Fridge – Keep seeds in a dry, airtight container in the back of the fridge or in the crisper drawer. These places tend to maintain a more steady temperature than the front of the fridge.
- Drawer or cupboard – Inside a cool drawer or cupboard can give a nice cool, dark, dry space.
- Any Cool, Dry Place – Any place that tends to stay cool, dark, and dry, without a lot of temperature fluctuations.
Ideal home cannabis seed storage storage: Seeds are still in the original breeder packs, in a freezer ziploc bag, in the crisper drawer in the fridge.
Tips to Store Cannabis Seeds Forever
- Steady temperature – Don’t let seeds get hot and cold. For example, although the ideal cannabis seed storage temperature is 40°F, it’s better for seeds to constantly be at 70°F vs fluctuating back and forth between 40 and 70°F.
- Keep in original packaging – Most trustworthy breeders have excellent packaging to keep seeds good as long as possible. So often your best best is to keep seeds in the breeder’s pack or vial it came in.
- Alternative: Zip-lock bag (“Freezer” bags are best) – If your seeds didn’t come in a breeder pack, a great option is to store them in a ziplock bag. Make sure to squeeze out all the air before zipping the seal. If possible use a zip-lock bag that says it’s made for the freezer, as the freezer bags are much more airtight than a regular ziploc. If you don’t have freezer bags, then you can double or triple bag the seeds for the same effect. The goal is to help prevent any oxygen or humidity from getting to the cannabis seeds.
- Actively fight moisture – If you’ve got open seeds that aren’t in a protective breeder pack, for example you’re keeping seeds in a zip-lock bag, it can help to add some pieces of dry rice or a very small silica-gel desiccant pack with the seeds to absorb any extra moisture or humidity.
How to Tell If a Cannabis Seed is No Longer Viable
The best way to see if your cannabis seeds are still good is simply to germinate them and find out. Here’s our tutorial on how to germinate cannabis seeds to get the best germination rates.
If a cannabis seed sprouts, your seedling is good to go!
Keep reading…
- Bag Seed vs Hype Seed: Is it Worth it to Buy Cannabis Seeds?
- Why should growers start with feminized seeds?
- Where to Buy Cannabis Seeds Online (Our Personal Seed Sources)
- How to Germinate Cannabis Seeds Easily
