The BudTrainer Method™ Lesson #1

How to Plant & Germinate Hemp Seeds

(works with AUTOFLOWERS)

Written by cannabis production expert Henrique Dias - Updated on Oct 1, 2024

A small cannabis plant sprouting in a yellow pot labeled 'BudCup' filled with soil, placed on a grey wood-textured surface against a soft white background.

DISCLAIMER: Everything taught and sold by BudTrainer® is to be used strictly for legal purposes. We condemn the production of illegal substances and it is your duty to ensure that you are complying with the law. The words "hemp", "cannabis", "weed", and "marijuana" are used interchangeably to refer to the same plant (legal hemp with less than 0.3% THC) for the purposes of this lesson.

Diagram of the BudTrainer Method showing all 7 steps from seed to harvest


Planting Cannabis Seeds for a Strong Uptake

Mastering the planting and germination phase of your plants is essential for a healthy and bountiful harvest. If done improperly, your seeds may never germinate, or worse - they will germinate but die later on, or give you a stunted plant. We know this all too well because we've lost our share of seeds over the years, and then took to plant science and commercial cannabis production standards to create a method to ensure your planting is as smooth as possible.

Tools & Materials

  1. Soil or other media
  2. BudCups or other cup
  3. Feminized seeds
  4. See-thru cup or dome
  5. Tap water or RO water
  6. Mycorrhizal fungi
  7. Veg stage nutrients
  8. CFL light & mat heater
Tools and materials for planting cannabis seeds, including ProMix high porosity growing medium, BudTrainer BudClips, a watering can, a propagation dome, Athena Grow nutrients, and a small ProMix sample

Step 2

Fill With Soil Or Other Media

Fill your BudCups with soil, coco coir, or media of preference, up to the top rim. Make sure to break down any dense chunks of soil and never pack your soil down, as your roots need oxygen in order to thrive. Loose soil creates oxygen pockets for your roots to grow into, and if those pockets are closed, they have nowhere to grow.

A hand using a dark grey scoop to pour soil into a yellow pot labeled 'BudCup', placed on a grey wood-textured surface.
BudCups yellow full of soil to the rim, on top of a grey wooden table and with a white backdrop background

BudTip: Use Mycorrhizal Fungi To Grow Bigger Roots

Mycorrhizal fungi is a commonly used supplement for cannabis plants as it helps your roots intake more nutrients, thus allowing you to grow bigger plants. This fungus called Mycorrhizae creates a mutualistic relationship with your roots, where it absorbs more nutrients from the soil in exchange for some sugars from your plant. Working together, they create massive root structures that take your plants to the next level.

A person in a red and black plaid shirt using a red spoon to sprinkle white powder from a container labeled 'PRO-MIX' onto the soil in a yellow BudCup, placed on a grey wood-textured surface.

To add mycorrhizal fungi to your media, just blend it into the top of your soil, mainly around the center area where the seed will be planted. This will create the perfect "bed" for your seed. We recommend PRO-MIX® CONNECT, which is what we use on all of our plants at BudTrainer® - it’s super easy to use and works like a charm.

Step 3

Water Your BudCups Before Planting

The best time to water your media is before planting, so that you don't disturb your seed with the water once it's planted. Using 150ml (5oz) of dechlorinated tap water or distilled/RO water mixed with your vegetative stage nutrients, moisten the soil slowly (ideally, over 60 seconds), until a small amount of runoff starts coming out of the raised bottom. This means your BudCups are fully saturated and your seed will grow its roots over the next 2 weeks in search of all that water, thus growing in all directions. If you are not sure which fertilizer to use, we highly recommend Athena's Blended Line - it’s what we use at BudTrainer®, and they have a very easy-to-follow recipe.

A grey watering can pouring water into a yellow BudCup filled with soil, placed on a grey wood-textured surface against a soft white background.
Close-up of a yellow BudCup with a clear, water-filled saucer beneath it, capturing water drainage. The pot is placed on a grey wood-textured surface.

Step 5

Cover Your Seedlings

Young seedlings need high-humidities to thrive, until they are old enough to withstand dryer air. To accomplish this, you can build your own dome by using a simple transparent plastic cup with 2 holes cut at the bottom and 1 hole cut at the top, flipped upside down, on top of the media. The perforated dome will ensure the humidity stays at around 80% inside, while still allowing the light to come through. 

You can remove the transparent cup once the seedling reaches the top, or once the leaves start touching the sides. At this point they will be strong enough to continue growing in the dryer outside environment.

A clear plastic bottle cut in half and used as a makeshift greenhouse cover over a yellow BudCup filled with soil, set on a grey wood-textured surface against a soft white background.

You Are Off To A Great Start

Now that you have planted your seeds and created the perfect environment for them to thrive in, it's time to wait for them to sprout, which typically happens between 2 and 5 days from planting. However, if your seed hasn't germinated after 5 days, add a little more water over top of it, and wait another 2 to 5 days. If it hasn't germinated by then, it's time to plant another one, as your seed is likely a dud.

Young weed seedling after germination inside a Budcup full of soil

BudTip: How To Deal With Lanky Seedlings

If your seed doesn’t get enough light, it will grow tall and lanky, and eventually fall over, which is far from ideal. When this happens, simply use a piece of BudHuggers to hold it upright - stick one end inside your media, halfway down the BudCups, and then twist the top to form a ring that can hold the main stem upright. Lastly, increase the amount of light your seedlings are exposed to and they will start widening instead of growing tall.

BudHuggers stop motion animation holding a seedling up inside the BudCups

Behind the Leaves: Why Not Plant in the Final Pot?

The reason why we don’t plant our cannabis seeds directly into their final containers is because they end up developing weaker root structures than if we transplant them. Here is why.

An infographic titled 'How Transplanting Works' showing two illustrations of plant pots. On the left, a plant with roots growing mainly at the bottom labeled 'Direct Sowing Bottom Root Growth.' On the right, a plant with roots spread throughout the pot labeled 'Transplanted with BudCups Roots Everywhere.' Both pots are dark brown with light green plants.

When your seeds start in the BudCups, the tap root (the main root that comes out of the seedling) reaches their edge within a couple of days, which forces more roots to be produced from the center of the rootball. This allows for multiple root tips to form, so that when the young plant is transplanted into the next pot, those root tips are ready to shoot out and grow in every direction.

A cannabis plant with a dense network of white roots exposed next to an empty yellow BudCups container and its yellow lid, placed on a grey wood-textured surface against a soft white background.

Conversely, if you were to plant your seed in the final container right away, the tap root would grow all the way to the bottom, and root tips would only form around the bottom because that is where the water stays after each watering session.

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About the Author

Henrique Dias with sunglasses on the head and a background of an indoor grow tent filled with cannabis plants inside the BudPots

Henrique, the CEO of BudTrainer®, is a mechanical engineer with a commercial cannabis production post-grad, and is also a former commercial cannabis consultant. 

H takes plant science principles and breaks them down into simple steps for home growers to achieve the same results as the pros and grow the highest-quality cannabis.

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