• Pay with a money order, cash, or a business credit card with a business address to minimize on-line ordering risks. Ask seed vendor to destroy your payment information as soon as your order is processed.
• Ship seeds to a real address and name. Use some initials in the name and address, and misspell the name but still make it deliverable.
• Ship seeds to a third party-friend, family member, business, etc. They do not need to know what is in the package. Ask them not to open the package.
• Do not have seeds shipped to the same address where your garden is located
• Do not have packages sent that require a signature • Use a public e-mail address when ordering. Count on your e-mails being saved somewhere. Do not use this e-mail for other purposes.
• Increase security by using a proxy server to hide your computer's IPaddress. Learn more about proxy servers by searching for "proxy server security" on www.google.com.
• Patience is a virtue. International shipments take longer than domestic
shipments. Wait several days longer before you start searching for the shipment. Do not telephone or e-mail vendor until a reasonable time has passed.
Many national governments monitor all international telephone calls. Use a telephone card and call from a public telephone or one that cannot be traced back to you.
If you live in a country where seeds are illegal, call from a public telephone and use a calling card. Do not call the seed company from a telephone located at a grow house. Even if you are a medical marijuana grower in the United States of America, the seeds must pass the US border and federal law applies.
Seized Seeds: Note for USA Citizens
If Customs seizes your order ofseeds, they will send you a note informing you of that fact. We have never heard a report of a law enforcement official showing up at the door of a seed buyer.
You can see an actual letter at the site www.onlinepot.org and http://www. onlinepot.org/ mailing_ scams/ badboyletter.htm. You will receive the letter with the dreaded green tape that says "Opened by US Customs."
Seed Quantities and Pricing
Seeds are generally sold in packages of 5,10, and IS. Prices range from about $3 to $30 USD per seed. Often less expensive seeds are perfectly adequate for many growers' needs and desires. More expensive seeds are usually more stable and extra care has been taken to produce them. Furthermore, expensive seeds are often winners of recent cannabis cups or are more difficult to produce. My preference is to purchase seeds that are in the middle price range. Unless feminized, always purchase packages of 10-15 seeds, because the odds are that SO percent of the seeds will be female and the other halfmale. Ofthe desired female seeds, some will show more desirable characteristics than others.
Feminized Seeds
Feminized seeds are becoming very popular world- wide. When grown in a stress-free environment virtually all feminized seeds grow into female plants. They are more expensive than "normal" seeds. Normal seeds generally yield a SO/SO mix of male and female plants. Male plants are weeded out and female seeds are harvested.
Receiving Seeds
Checkseeds to ensure none are crushed. Ifseeds came in a see-through bag, do not open it. Call or e-mail the sellerimmediatelyto explaintheproblem.Ifone ora few are crushed, return all seeds for replacement.
Ifyou are not going to plant the seeds immediately, remove them and keep them from the original package. Keep seeds dry or they might start to germinate. Place them in a small dark vial or film canister with a dry packet of silicone, the kind you find in electronics packages. Label the crush-proof container before you place the seeds inside.
Storing Seeds Store seeds in a cool, dark, dry place. Make sure to label containers! Some seeds will remain viable for five years or longer when stored properly. When 50 percent of the stored seeds do not germinate, the average storage life is over. But seeds a year old or older often take longer to sprout and have a lower rate of germination. Seeds store for a long time when humidity is less than 5 percent and temperature is 35°-41°.
Seedlings
During seedling growth, the root system grows rapidly while green aboveground growth is slow.Water and heat are critical at this point of development. The new, fragile root system is very small and requires a small but constant supply ofwater and warmth. Too much water will drown roots, often leading to root rot and damping-off (rotting at the soil line). Lack of water will cause the developing root system to dry up. As the seedlings mature, some will grow faster, stronger, and appear healthier in general. A little heat now will help nurture small seed- lings to a strong start. Other seeds will sprout slowly and be weak and leggy. Most growers cull sickly, weak plants during the third to fifth week of growth, and focus attention on the remaining strong survivors.
Speed root growth by keeping the soil 2°-5° warmer than the ambient air tempera- ture. Ideally the ambient air temperature should be 7SoC (24°C) and the growing medium temperature 77°-80°C (25°-2rC). Use heating cables or mat to raise the temperature of the growing medium.