How to grow feminized seeds indoors: pointers and techniques

Almost everyone knows what feminized seeds are. In fact, some growers no longer buy feminized seeds; they make feminized seeds from scratch themselves.

For many growers, feminized seeds are the seeds you want to grow to get a full canopy of cannabinoid-rich buds. Check out our poll where we asked 500 growers why they choose to grow feminized seeds.

But feminized seeds come with the typical caveat. They require loads of care to provide the best yields, and where better to provide this care than indoors?

Our feminized seed growing guide details 5 steps to successfully growing feminized seeds indoors. 

Step 1: Selecting the Right Feminized Seeds

Most feminized cannabis seeds may give sterling guarantees of female-only harvests, but not all feminized seeds will be suitable for your skill level, cultivation needs, environment, or resources. There are many types of feminized cannabis seeds you can grow indoors.

Some feminized seeds are photoperiods, while others are autoflowering. Some feminized seeds grow fast but with relatively lower yields; others take long periods but produce super yields. Some feminized seeds are much easier to grow and make growing feminized seeds indoors seem like a breeze.

Some of these easy-to-grow feminized seed strains include:

• Bruce Banner Autoflower
• Runtz feminized
• Girl Scout Cookies Autoflower
• Jack Herer feminized

You’ve decided on what type of feminized seed you want to grow, but how can you be sure the chosen feminized seed is good for germination?

The Seed Fair Team has provided a checklist to help you identify whether your feminized seed is good for germination:

• Is its seed coat dark-colored and shiny, or green and white?
• Is it regular-shaped or flat and deformed?
• Is it firm or soft/cracked?
• After a few hours, does it sink or float when soaked in a glass of room-temperature water?

Hint: A feminized seed that is good for germination will be dark-colored and shiny, regular-shaped and firm, and will sink after a few hours when placed in a glass of water.

A few extra tricks to choosing the right feminized seed:

1. Identify your cultivation needs and do your research.
2. If purchasing feminized seeds, ensure your chosen breeder or seed bank has the right certifications and/or check customer reviews.

Step 2: Set Up the Growing Environment

“Are regular seeds better than feminized weed seeds?” On the contrary! Many growers say feminized cannabis seeds are just the same in flavor, viability, and potency as regular seeds. If your feminized seeds do not come out as expected, your seed selection or growing environment are likely culprits.

When growing feminized seeds indoors, you can set up the perfect growing environment by establishing the following factors:

Lighting

It doesn’t matter if your feminized weed seeds flower automatically or not; feminized seeds need adequate light for proper vegetative development. They need the right light cycle and the right light source.

When growing feminized seeds indoors, you can choose from a range of light schedules, from 12/12 to 24/0. However, since feminized seeds need at least 18 hours of light, we recommend the 18/6 light cycle when growing feminized seeds indoors. This light cycle minimizes power consumption and maximizes plant development. During the flowering stage, it’s typically switched to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness (12/12 light cycle). This lighting schedule helps mimic the natural conditions that cannabis plants prefer, promoting healthy growth and flowering.

Regarding selecting the right light source, you need a grow light that can adequately supply the warmth and entire spectrum your plant will need throughout its cycle. As such, many growers prefer LED lights because these lights use less energy, last longer, and provide the required light spectrum and warmth.

Temperature

Too much heat and your grow substrate will dry out, your plant’s roots will wilt, and your feminized cannabis plant will die. Too much cold, and your plant’s development will significantly slow down, lowering its yields.

Feminized cannabis seeds germinate and grow best in temperatures between 65 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees apart). You want to keep a close range between their all-time high and all-time low to avoid your plant stressing or going into shock.

Humidity

The higher the humidity levels, the higher the risk of mold, mildew, and even root rot. But you also do not want humidity levels dropping too low, or your plant will dry out.

When growing feminized seeds indoors, keep humidity levels between 65 and 80%. You can control humidity levels through proper ventilation and regulated watering.

Ventilation

Proper ventilation is just as important as the next factor when growing feminized cannabis seeds indoors. It plays a role in the adequacy of other growth factors. The better the ventilation, the better the ambient humidity and CO2 levels.

When growing feminized seeds indoors, you can ensure proper ventilation in your grow room by opening your windows a few times a day or by using exhaust fans. If you feel the dank aroma of your feminized weed seeds might be an issue, include carbon filters in your ventilation systems for room odor control.

Space Planning

Your ventilation system will only work as perfectly as your plant spacing allows. Growing your feminized weed seeds too closely together will limit resources from reaching every bud. It will also limit you from properly nurturing hard-to-reach buds.

To properly grow feminized weed seeds, keep at least 15 cm between each plant. You can also implement essential plant training techniques, like cannabis topping or pruning, as needed.

Grow Medium

You can grow feminized weed seeds in vermiculite, rockwool, coco coir, or soil. But, you should only grow feminized seeds in a well-draining, well-aerated, and adequately nourished grow medium.

A suitable substrate for growing feminized seeds indoors should be between pH levels 6.0 and 7.0. and EC levels 1.2 and 2.1. The EC level of your grow substrate reaching even 2.5 when growing feminized seeds is too high and can cause nutrient lockout.

Step 3: Germinate Your Feminized Seeds

Germinating feminized cannabis seeds is another crucial step to successfully growing feminized seeds indoors. The germination stage establishes your plant’s root, which is your plant’s support system. Thus, you want the best possible means of germinating feminized seeds, usually only available indoors.

One of the more popularly used ways to germinate feminized cannabis seeds indoors is the paper towel method. The paper towel method allows you to replicate conditions your feminized cannabis seeds would typically face if in the soil. Below is a step-by-step guide to using the paper towel method for germinating feminized cannabis seeds.

What you Need: 

• Feminized cannabis seeds
• 2 dinner plates
• A pair of tweezers
• Paper towels
• Water Sprayer
• Small cup/glass of warm distilled water

The Paper Towel Method germinates feminized seeds in 12 hours to 7 days.

Directions

1. Place the paper towel on one plate and moisten it with warm distilled water. Then, place the feminized cannabis seeds on the moist towel using the tweezers.
2. Moisten two extra paper towels on the second plate and use them to cover the feminized weed seeds like a sandwich. Then, place the second plate over the “seed and towel sandwich”.
3. Open the plate every few hours and spray water on the towels to keep them moist until the feminized weed seed opens.
4. When the feminized cannabis seed opens and its tap root shows, it is almost ready to move to its next growing medium. The chosen medium can be soil, coco coir, vermiculite, etc.

Step 4: Plant your germinated seeds

The presence of the new tap root doesn’t make your feminized seeds ready for planting. You want to wait till the tap root of your feminized seed is at least half an inch long before planting. The longer your tap root is, the better its chances of properly fending for your plants in its new environment.

When planting your germinated feminized weed seeds, be gentle and ensure the new grow substrate and environment are ready for the fragile seedlings. If you still need to install fixtures, like lighting or ventilation systems, you want to do so before moving your plants.

The process of planting your germinated feminized cannabis seeds will depend on your chosen grow medium. For growers planting in coco coir or soil, we’ve provided a run-down on how to plant your germinated feminized seeds in an already-optimized medium:

1. Make the grow medium moist by watering it lightly.
2. Use a pencil to make a hole in the medium for the feminized seed and its tap root.
3. Place the germinated feminized cannabis seeds with their tap roots facing downwards in the hole using a pair of sterile tweezers.
4. Cover the feminized seeds with more grow medium and moisten the surface.

Step 5: Take care of your plant

Feminized cannabis seeds can take anywhere from 9 weeks to 20 weeks to mature, depending on their nature. This means you might have as little or as much time to care for your plants adequately before they hit maturity.

Thankfully, feminized cannabis seeds are really not any much harder to grow than regular seeds. You mostly only need to set, observe, monitor, and adjust when you grow feminized seeds.

For instance, when you see the leaves yellowing, the likely areas to check are lighting or moisture levels. If your plant isn’t growing fast enough, check CO2 levels.

Really, observation is most of what you need when growing feminized seeds. You are not just looking to ensure you have the proper environment set, you are also looking to ensure you do not have any males or cannabis hermies growing amongst your feminized weed. Feminized seeds might be really reliable, but several reports and our community survey reveal there is a significant risk of your female plants turning hermaphrodites when you do not grow feminized seeds properly.

 

Tips and Tricks on Growing Feminized Seeds Indoors

Yay! You now have a guide to growing feminized seeds properly, and we have included a few extra tips and tricks to back you up when growing feminized seeds indoors:

1. Ensure your feminized cannabis seed of choice is suitable for indoor growing. Strains like White Widow, Purple Kush, and Northern Lights are pretty nice for indoor growing. Check out our newest selection of best feminized seeds that are both super potent and high yielding.
2. Easier-growing, disease-resistant feminized cannabis strains increase your chances of success, especially as a first-time grower. Only go for feminized seed strains like Colombian Gold, Chocolate Thai, and other landrace strains if you think you can take on more work.
3. Invest in high-quality grow lights. LED lights are a typical go-to when growing feminized seeds indoors.
4. Explore low-stress training (LST) techniques such as cannabis topping, pruning, and bending as your cannabis seed genetics allow. Avoid training your plants in the flowering stage to avoid contrariwise effects.
5. Consider implementing the ScrOG method to get multiple big buds per feminized weed.
6. Check your feminized cannabis every day to monitor its development and spot risks early.
7. Do not overwater your feminized cannabis. Flooding your plants’ roots can lead to several issues, from root rot to nutrient deficiency.

Conclusion

Feminized seeds will only set you up for successful cannabinoid harvests when you follow proper growing tips. But note, no one growing tip is a standalone. For a truly successful cannabinoid harvest, you want to tick all the needed boxes to provide your feminized seeds all they need to work with for a big bloom this harvest season.

FAQ section

How long to grow feminized seeds indoors?

Feminized cannabis seeds can take as little as 9 weeks or as long as 20 weeks to grow indoors.

Are feminized seeds hard to grow?

Feminized cannabis seeds are really not much harder to grow than other cannabis seeds.