
Cannabis Seeds: What Growers Need To Know
Cannabis seeds are tiny miracles of nature. As a grower, you may be more interested in the plants that grow out of your seeds, but when you think about it, it’s pretty useful to know just what a marijuana seed is, and how to handle seeds in the best possible way. That is why this blog shows you the natural beauty you purchase every time you order Amsterdam Genetics cannabis seeds online.
What Are Cannabis Seeds Anyway?
As soon as your Amsterdam Genetics cannabis seeds are delivered at your doorstep, you literally possess the foundation of cannabis growing in a nutshell. After all, without seeds there can be no growth, no flowering, and therefore, no flower buds to harvest and enjoy.
But what exactly is a cannabis seed? Don’t be alarmed, but you are actually holding a baby plant in your hand: a tiny living creature, carrying inside all it needs to grow into a strong, mature cannabis plant complete with roots, branches, leaves, and of course, the big fat flower bud colas full of trichomes that your are ultimately after!
We can hear you thinking: “Living creatures?! What do you mean? They look completely dead to me, and anyway, they’re not going to do anything until I germinate them by adding some water?” Well, we understand your confusion, but you are wrong. A cannabis seed is far from dead: your seeds are simply in a dormant status until the time is right for growing.
In fact, a seed is a fully-fledged plant embryo, quite similar to the embryos that grow in the womb of mammals, or unhatched chicks inside an egg. Cannabis seeds are the key to the continued existence of a cannabis strain, holding inside the parent plants’ DNA and all the biological structures needed to give the ‘infant plant’ the best possible start from the moment of germination.
The dormant state of cannabis seeds can be compared to a status of hibernation. All biochemical processes are either on hold or running at an extremely sluggish pace. This enables seeds to survive for a very long time before they start to grow. That’s very convenient for growers, because this allows you to order seeds online and preserve them for years if conditions are right. As long as you keep them dry, cool, and safely stashed away, they will patiently wait until you are ready to grow them. We will discuss that moment below, but first, we will explain where those seeds come from in the first place.
Where Do Cannabis Seeds Come From?
The seeds of a cannabis plants are produced by female specimens. To do so, female plants develop their own specific reproductive organs, which most growers recognise as the pistils or growth hairs that reveal when the flower buds are ready to harvest. From the plant’s perspective, however, these tiny hairs are intended to catch the pollen that male plants spread through the air as soon as it enters its own flowering phase.
Once a female flower is pollinated, her flower buds or colas start to produce seeds that contain the combined DNA of the mother and father plant. In nature, that’s an absolutely marvellous thing, because this is how the species produces new generations and ensures its survival: parent plants die after flowering, since cannabis is a perennial plant. By contrast, growers want anything but seeds in their flower buds, since they reduce the amount of cannabinoids (THC, CBD, and others) and tasty terpenes accumulating in the flowers. To get the prefect harvest, they want ‘sinsemilla’ buds, which is Spanish for ‘without seeds’.

Our famous White Choco seeds are crammed with prime genetics…
Contrary to growers, however, breeders are very keen to harvest the seeds of cannabis flowers. They form the basic material used in plant breeding techniques, which seed banks such as Amsterdam Genetics employ to create better, stronger, and tastier strains. You can try to produce your own crossbreeds in theory, but as our special blog series explains, this is a complicated process that takes a lot of patience and expertise to succeed. Fortunately, you can rely on catalogues such as our own to order premium quality cannabis seeds and receive the finest genetics for any taste and liking delivered right on your doorstep!
Zooming In On Cannabis Seeds: What’s Inside?
If you look closely at a cannabis seed, you’ll discover just what a precious miracle of natural biotechnology it really is. The cross section depicted below lists the most important organs and components contained in every single one of these baby plants.

Cross section of a cannabis seed.
The exterior of the seed is called seed shell, seed coat, or testa in Latin. In the case of cannabis seeds, the testa constitutes a hard shell that protects the insides from external influences. In natural conditions, this helps seeds travel to suitable germination spots (for instance, carried in the fur of animals or by the droppings of a deer that nibbled on some buds). This is great news for growers, as the protective testa allows us to ship cannabis seeds by mail, while you get to store them in safety until the start of the outdoor grow season or until you are ready to launch a new indoor grow.
Inside the seed shell lies the germ; the actual embryo from which the plant will grow. In the case of cannabis seeds, the germ consists of a plumule equipped with a set of two cotyledon leaves. After germination, the plumule, spearheaded by the shoot apex, starts to grow towards the (day-) light to form the stem of the plant. The cotyledons are the first two leaves you’ll see emerging as soon as the seeds grows into a seedling plant. These first leaves do not yet feature the typical serrated edges of mature cannabis leaves. They serve as the plant’s first set of solar panels, designed to capture the light required for photosynthesis to fuel further growth.
Roots And Nutes
At the opposite end of the cannabis seed, the first root peeps out as soon as germination gets underway. This root is called the radicle, which will evolve into the taproot that anchors the plant firmly into the soil. As the taproot grows it branches out to the sides, evolving into a full root system that will provide nutrients and water drawn from the soil. This is why germinating seeds need to ‘breathe’ just like mature root systems. Cannabis roots require loose, permeable soil to absorb water and nutrients or risk suffocation or ‘damping off’, which can be fatal for young plants.
The final key component of cannabis seeds is called the endosperm. This is an inbuilt energy supply that seeds need to make the initial sprint to the surface. Once the seedling reaches the daylight, the cotyledons and new cannabis leaves will provide further fuel for continued growth. The endosperm also account for the edible nature of many seeds: they contain large quantities of starch, and if you’ve ever eaten sunflower seeds, you’ll know they can be quite tasty as well.
How Cannabis Seeds Germinate
Our special blogs on germinating cannabis seeds will tell you all you need to know to germinate seeds at home. Here, we will focus on what a seed needs to germinate instead. Firstly, dormant seeds need water to ‘awaken’ from their slumber. Temperatures have to remain within a specific range, too: fortunately, this range is just above room temperature for cannabis seeds.
Some growers use special heat mats under their germination platforms to make all seeds germinate simultaneously, but this is not necessary to make them ‘pop’ successfully. Thirdly, some seeds need light to initiate the germination process, but most seeds, including cannabis seeds, require darkness instead. That makes perfect sense, because the natural conditions for germination (underground, that is) are total darkness as well.
Whenever you order cannabis seeds online, you can simulate these conditions with relative ease by letting your seeds germinate between tow sheets of damp kitchen towel, with one plate underneath and a second one on top to maintain a dark, warm, and moist environment. However, as we mentioned earlier, the seeds guide you’ll find with your order and our special blog on the subject will tell you all you need to know about germinating cannabis seeds at home.
Various Types Of Cannabis Seeds
Amsterdam Genetics offers many different cannabis seeds, because we have a varied range of strains in our genetics collection. One way to distinguish between our seeds is by dividing them into three separate categories: Autoflower, Feminized, and Regular seeds.
A pack of regular seeds contains about as many male seeds as female ones. That means you cannot tell which is which in advance. This can be highly advantageous if you intend to breed your own cannabis strains for instance. Be careful not to pollinate female plants accidentally, though, or they will produce seeds that will negatively affect the quality of your harvest.
Feminized cannabis seeds are bred specifically to produce female plants in 98% of all cases. That makes them a convenient and safe option for most growers. You still have to be careful, however, because they are still natural products, but you have a very good chance of growing only female specimens with big buds full of active ingredients when harvest time arrives.
The third category consists of autoflower cannabis seeds. At Amsterdam genetics, all autoflower seeds are also feminized, but these seeds possess another special trait. Contrary to other seeds, autoflowers decide for themselves when the perfect time to start flowering arrives. This can come in handy, because it makes you less dependent on seasonal influences, and moreover, autoflowers tend to grow and flower faster than most non-autoflower strains. That means additional harvest opportunities, even if you’re working with limited space available.
Ordering And Growing The Perfect Cannabis Seeds
So here we are: now you know what is hidden inside the magical miracles of nature we call cannabis seeds. You have seen the different types of seeds available, as well as how to treat them if you want to let them grow into strong mature cannabis plants. Basically, you are now ready to order your own perfect cannabis seeds online! If you check out our collection, you’ll find the best strains you could wish for, from haze to kush genetics and from indica to sativa-dominant varieties.
We have cannabis seeds in the most delicious of flavours, from fruit to chocolate and from hints of cheese to whiffs of diesel fumes. We also have seeds with high CBD content, but most strains primary contain lots of THC and fragrant terpenes for the perfect high to match your personal taste.
Kies De Beste Zaden
If you need a little more help in finding your ideal cannabis seeds, check out our seeds guide to help you on your way. And once you order your chosen seeds and you’re all set to grow, make sure to consult our expanding collection of Grow Blogs to find useful tips and techniques to get everything out of those magic cannabis seeds that Amsterdam genetics manages to cram inside!
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