Growers choosing marijuana seeds need a reliable place to acquire them, and this can be from saved seeds, a reliable friend or from a seed bank. Where ever the grower obtains the seeds they should have several qualities, the first is that they are able to grow to maturity in the limited time they will have with outdoor planting. The second quality the seeds should have is to be disease and pest resistance, this is important with outdoor planting because the cannabis plants will face whether, bugs and other pests and possible disease.

The grower wants good results, which means a quality harvest with a high yield; this should also be considered when seeds are being chosen. There are some cannabis plants that grow in northern locations better than others due to the climate and the length of the growing season. Jamaican and Columbian seeds will not grow as hearty in the northern United States like strains known as green bud that adapt better to the climate and short growing season. 

Planting the wrong type of seeds in the outdoor crop means the possibility of them not flowering prior to the first frost, and it also means the plants will not have time to fully mature prior to harvest. There are sativa and indica strains that have the proper growing time for all climates and growing seasons in the United States. There are also sativa and indica hybrids that are able to grow in the northern climates, with the shorter growing season.