I found a seed! This is the first time this has happened to me (first grow season ever for me). What strange times we live in that this is rare now :D
I found this while trimming dried autos from Dutch Headshop's Rainbow Mix (https://www.dutch-headshop.eu/auto-rainbow-mix-private-label-5-cannabis-seeds) that had been hanging for a week. It's from a Zkittlez plant I'd only partially harvested (took the main cola and left the lower side branches because I found powdery mildew). I found this little seed in one of the side branches, which might mean it was stressed-induced by the partial harvest (was like a week between taking the main cola and then these branches). So it was my bad and not the seedbank. I've really been enjoying their mixes, especially as a new grower who needs the experience.
I'm kicking myself I didn't take a photo of it when I found it, but I honestly had a very visceral reaction. I was two hours into trimming at this point, and you kind of expect to only find leaves, stems, or buds, maybe a gnat. Then all of a sudden I had this pale tick-like thing in the middle of a bud. Made me feel kind of sick. I've only seen people online who've checked for seeds by pressing down on a fresh calyx or something. This was like a little popcorn kernal and was completely unwrapped and exposed through the drying process probably.
Like I mentioned, it was the only one I've ever found, but now I'm paranoid more of my plants may have been affected somehow. That was also part of the panic. You can see how tiny the bud was it was in, and it was tucked away at the bottom of a stressed plant.
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So let's try to germinate it! I soaked it in water for 12 hours, but the seed hadn't sunk. I let it go for another 8, still hadn't sunk, but the color of the shell was a lot darker. The seed that made this seed (Zkittlez Sr.) was only soaked for 8 hours before I transferred it to a wet paper towel, so I didn't want to let this one go too long. I hung it from my fridge vertically in a ziploc bag with the root-side down.
It's very late in the grow season currently, but I feel like I have nothing to lose. If it sprouts, I'm going to try to recycle soil from my previous waves because I've also never done that before.
I'm so curious what this will be. Think it's like 100% going to be female. I think there's a small chance it won't be an auto.
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Update: I found a second seed! I still don't see any nanners or anything in the dried flower. It does appear to only be the second little harvest of this plant that was affected. The first part has nothing. I need better names than Zkittlez Jr. and Zkittlez Jr. Jr., but I'll wait to see who sprouts.