GUARANTEE

We understand seeds and pride ourselves on the quality and exceptional germination rates of our seeds.  (READ THE REVIEWS HERE).  Unlike all other seed banks which stock hundreds, sometimes even THOUSANDS of different strains from an array of seedbanks, we have chosen to focus on a small amount of the most mainstream, interesting, and exploratory strains and produce them in-house. By maintaining a smaller catalog and lower volumes of seeds we can fully ensure freshness. Actually, we guarantee freshness so much so that we’ll replace any seed that doesn’t germinate.

All our seeds arrive immediately after harvest from our facility in Spain, and are sorted for size, color, and age (PURCHASE B-GRADES HERE), and then processed through a final drying stage to reduce the humidity down to just 2-5%. We then cold store all our bulk seeds at 1-2 Celsius. (This ensures the viability of each seed will be maximized, as humidity and high temps greatly reduce germination rates). As demand requires we pull small quantities from cold storage and package them into their final air tight, sealed, micro containers. We add a small piece of ultra dry (also 2% humidity) silica desiccant to each container to remove any humidity that might have gotten in during final packaging. These packaged seeds are then returned to cold storage until a sale is completed. This ENSURES you are always getting the freshest and most viable seeds that money can buy!

In our experience seeds did not germinate because of the wrong germination techniques, and simple grower error.  Usually first time growers drown their seeds buy over-watering them, (It happens, we’ve all been there!) or they are not germinating at proper temps (24-27C).  The other common reason they didn’t germinate is because not enough time was allowed. It can take anywhere from 2 to 10 days for a seed to germinate! Why the longer times? The coat on the seed can sometimes be overly HARD, and not easily letting water in. So, it can take a lot longer for water to permeate and start the germination process.

Some seeds are also natural “duds”. A seed can look perfect, but actually just doesn’t have what it takes genetically to germinate. Its almost impossible to tell. This is mainly why we offer a germination guarantee. If you’ve done everything perfectly and the seed still does not germinate, then there is a chance you just got a natural “dud”. While this is rare and we have no control over Nature, it usually only occurs in about 1 of 80-100 seeds. We know this ratio as our commercial growers report back to us (that grow thousands of our seeds per run) the amount of seeds that don’t germinate.  So if you have more than 1 seed not germinating, there is a high probability that your germination technique is not 100% correct.  

You are welcome to germinate your seeds any way you like. We realize that everyone has their own way! However, to take advantage of our replacement guarantee you must follow (and prove you followed) our germination technique as listed HERE. Eligibility for the guarantee is only available for 30 days after purchase, or 60-90 days if you are repeat customer. (We have time restrictions because we have no control over how you store the seeds.) If you germinated by a different method, then our guarantee does not apply because there are simply to many variables that may have caused them to not germinate.

Why do we require our specific method of germination VS others? Mainly because it provides the best results and it makes it easy to identify natural duds. If you put your seeds in peat pods, dirt, or use other methods, not only can you not see the seeds germinating, but there are many other environmental factors that can stop of seed from germinating VS using our simple water and paper towel method. So please keep this in mind. Again, you are welcome to germinate any way you want, but we won’t honor non germinating seeds if you do it another way. (Not only that but we simply don’t have time to write endless emails trying to diagnose your germination method problems).

Please keep in mind that simply sending us a message saying your seeds didn’t germinate is not sufficient. We deal with to many fraudsters that try to abuse our guarantee and get free seeds – so these questions (below) MUST be answered and you must request your replacements before the seeds are thrown out. We will also require you to prove the seeds did not germinate by photos and by chatting with our customer service reps. We are not going to just start sending out valuable free seeds without some questioning and to make sure you are germinating seeds properly and not wasting them.

FYI – If your seeds have MOLDED / BLACKEND – it is because of a non-sterile germinating environment. Our germination guarantee does not cover molded seeds as it is the customer’s responsibility to ensure they adequate sterilize their equipment and utilize hydrogen peroxide. If your seeds have turned black… please don’t even bother applying for replacements. 😉

We also will not provide free replacements if a heat mat was used. They almost always overheat seeds and cause their death. (Heat spots and lazy thermostats are the main problems.)

FYI – if you have more than 1 seed in an order not germinating, there is a high probability that you did something wrong! Please do not blame us for you growing mistakes and the learning curve that goes with germinating seeds successfully. 😉

By purchasing from us – you agree to this germination policy. We no longer make any exceptions due to the excessive amount of fraudulent claims that have taken place over the years. (Yes this was a thing for a while)

If you wish to apply for a free replacement seed(s), please copy and paste the questions below into an email – and answer all the questions. Then send the email to ww @ whitewidow . rocks .

  1. How many seeds and what strain(s) did not germinate?
  2. What germination method did you use? (Soil, peat pods, glass of water, paper towel, plastic bag, our method)
  3. What temperature did you germinate the seeds at?
  4. How do you know the temp? (Digital thermometer, room temp, guess, etc)
  5. How many days have the seeds been germinating?
  6. Where did you germinate the seeds? (Closet, cupboard, grow tent etc)
  7. What kind of water did you use? (Tap, bottled, distilled)
  8. Did you use a heat mat?
  9. Wash your hands. Gently squish the seed(s). Do they still feel firm or are they soft/squishy?
  10. Have they changed color?
  11. *** Send us a photo of these seeds – up close and as high resolution as possible.

If it is determined that you did everything correctly as per our policy, we are happy to issue you store credit for the value of the seed that failed to germinate. If you wish to have another sent out immediately, please place a new order and use the store credit.

And PLEASE remember to remain calm and polite. While we can appreciate the frustration of an expensive seed not germinating, non of our customer service reps are “God”, nor are responsible for your seed not germinating. They also are not paid enough to put up with anyone’s BS. 😉

** Any free seeds provided are not eligible for this guarantee. This includes with any promotion where free seeds are provided. For example, if you purchased 5 Lemon Drop seeds, and we sent you 6 Lemon Drop seeds. If one of those does not germinate, then you are ineligible for a free replacement.