What Should Cannabis Seeds Look Like?
The visual traits of cannabis seeds is a subject that raises many questions amongst growers. We often get asked about how cannabis seeds should appear, with regards to their dimensions, shape and colour, as these parameters are believed to be strongly related to seed quality. In this article we take a detailed look at the main physical characteristics of cannabis seeds in order to clarify any concerns that you may have.
This guide has been created to answer all the important questions that we regularly get asked by customers and growers about the physical traits of our core product: premium-quality cannabis seeds.
Our decade and a half in the field have given us great knowledge as well as a broad perspective on this subject, so it is an honour for us to be able to share our knowledge with all of you in the cannabis community.
The size of cannabis seeds
As most of the cannabis cultivars that are currently on the marketplace are polyhybrids, the size of the seeds can vary depending on their hereditary line.
Some clients, https://nativesusa.com/ – https://nativesusa.com/, for instance, contact us to inform us that they have purchased Critical + seeds and they believe they look too small. But this is a typical feature of this variety: we’ve seen countless of Critical + seeds and we can attest that they are inherently smaller than others. It is therefore incorrect to believe that this is a marker of poor quality.
If, on the other hand, the seeds look too big, this may be caused by a lack of macronutrients during the plant’s growth cycle. As any grower with adequate experience will understand, calcium deficiencies are corrected by adding calcium and magnesium, a combination that assists in reestablishing the ideal nutritional balance of plants.
So in this instance, a rise in dimensions could be a direct indicator of this addition of calcium and magnesium, which is performed in order to address that macronutrient deficiency during growth. This has no influence on the plant’s potential for germination, growth, flowering, or harvest, nor on the development of the organoleptic qualities of the buds (aroma, flavour and effect).
So we can clearly say that this difference is simply aesthetic. If we take the example of a Moby Dick seed, its dimensions will most likely be bigger than those of Critical +, although you can also encounter slight variations between seeds from the same strain. Don’t forget that, as with all living beings, cannabis seeds are also biologically different amongst themselves.
The structure of cannabis seeds
Cannabis seeds can also display slight changes at morphological level. It’s perfectly normal to see minor differences in the elliptical shape of seeds from the identical batch.
In some instances their shape is more elongated; whereas in others one of the tips can be rounded whilst the other is more pointy. But this is no reason for concern: as with dimensions, these slight differences in the outline of the seeds are purely visual and have nothing to do with quality.
Related post: The most frequent mistakes when germinating cannabis seeds
The hue of cannabis seeds
Although it is correct that ripe cannabis seeds tend to have a dark shell that can go from brown to black, with stripes that look like zebra stripes, this cannot be considered as a reliable quality indicator by itself.
Yet again, this is a misleading physical attribute that does not assure the germination capacity or overall qualities of an individual seed. A top-grade strain can also be pale or dark grey in colour.
Let’s take the example of Critical + once more, one of our consistent bestsellers that has had resounding success across the world thanks to its outstanding scent, flavour, effect, and production capacity.
Critical + is a strong example that colour, opposite to what many growers believe, is not necessarily a quality marker: these undeniably high-quality seeds show a very light grey, almost whitish grey, to a mid-tone grey colour.
However, a greenish colour is a clear sign of underdevelopment, which means that the seed has not developed fully or it hasn’t received all the required resources to reach full maturity. In this particular case, if you acquire seeds with this hue you need to reach out to your supplier immediately and try to have them exchanged.
If this happens to you with one of our seeds, don’t hesitate to contact us immediately. Send us a few of pictures so we can examine them out, and our support team will exchange them as quickly as possible.
Another aspect that can be confusing is the fact that a ripe, freshly-harvested cannabis seed has a more vibrant and darker colour than after it’s been stored for 1 to 2 months.
This could be compared to a baby whose physical appearance quickly changes during their first few days of life in order to adapt to the entirely new outside surroundings.
The identical thing happens with cannabis seeds: the storage and the various stages before they’re commercialised can entail light and humidity changes, as well as a bit of oxidation, which may slightly affect the colour of the shell but certainly has no effect on the end product. Once more, this is just a visual effect.
We trust that this article has provided you with some helpful information about the physical characteristics of your cannabis seeds to assist you interpret them more accurately before starting their germination and cultivation.