Suppose you are interested in growing cannabis for either commercial or personal purposes. In that case, you must know the different types of cannabis so that you can avoid difficulties in choosing the right one. Cannabis can either be grown from seeds or clones. Seeds are genetically formed depending on the two parents, some with traits of the male, others with feminine traits while others take after both.
In most cases, cannabis growers for commercial purposes plant many seeds from one strain and then select the best plant. From there, they use the clones from that specific plant to get to get continuous genetics for purposes of mass production. It may be easier for home growers to get seeds from Homegrown Cannabis Company because seeds produce more strong plants with more consistent genetics.
Cannabis seeds come as either male and female (dioecious). Many growers go for the female plant, which produces the most-lovable buds by weed users. But, like any other plant, the female seeds need the male plant for reproduction. The female flower gets pollination from the male plant, after which it produces seeds. Upon maturity, the seeds fall to the ground to grow into cannabis plants in the next spring. The seeds can also be useful to manufacture food products or seed oil or planted as the next breed of plants.
For recreational or medicinal cannabis buds, the female cannabis grows in an environment free from male cannabis to produce. The grower may remove males from the environment before producing pollen grains so that the females don’t produce seeds.
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Feminized Cannabis Seeds
Feminized cannabis seeds are a type that produces only female plants that release buds. When you are growing feminized cannabis seeds, you don’t have to worry about removing the male plant from the area to prevent pollination.
Growers who produce these cannabis seeds do so by inducing the hermaphrodite or monoecious condition in the female cannabis plants. Hermaphrodite cannabis is a type of cannabis that can make male parts and female flowers all in the same plant. Growers expose the cannabis plant to stressed conditions to develop a hermaphrodite, which can self-pollinate to produce seeds. They achieve that through various ways such as:
- Rodelization: a method of pushing a female plant past maturity so that it can pollinate another female.
- Colloidal silver spraying: growers spray a solution containing small particles of silver on the female plant.
- Gibberellic acid: it is a hormone that induces germination, so it applies to spray the seeds, although this method is uncommon.
These methods result in seeds almost identical to the self-pollinated female parent because it only has one gene set. That makes them unsuitable for breeding purposes, thus unpreferable for most experienced growers.
Auto-Flower Cannabis Seeds
For a cannabis seed to flower, it has to have light exposure reduced to about 12 hours a day, equal to the sun setting as the season turns to autumn. However, in the extreme northern conditions (Northern Europe and Russia) where there is no much sunlight, they grow a plant called cannabis ruderalis, which starts flowering once it reaches a certain age.
The plant starts flowering regardless of whether there is sunlight or not hence the name autoflower. Some growers have cross-bred the cannabis ruderalis with other highly potent breeds to produce strains that automatically bloom when they reach maturity.
In the northern areas where there are short summers, autoflower cannabis plants are easy to maintain. You can plant auto flower seeds early in the spring. That way, they will flower during the early summer ad take advantage of the longest summer days when quality maximum light is available. In the period of a regular harvest, you can fit in several autoflower harvests.
High CBD Cannabis Seeds
CBD (Cannabidiol) is the component found in cannabis plants that makes it more beneficial for medicinal purposes. Research is currently ongoing regarding the multiple potential benefits of CBD in treating various diseases and conditions such as arthritis, pain relief, glaucoma, nerve disorders, sleep disorders, etc.
Cannabis with high levels of CBD is rare since, over the years, there are specified plants with the high THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) content. THC is a psychoactive compound found in cannabis, which gives the ‘high feeling’ effect—the genetic pathways in which the plant synthesizes THC are not the same as those for producing CBD.
Cannabis, with the low THC content, is the one used for hemp production. As a result, many types of hemp produce CBD in significant quantities. Since the interest in CBD as a medicinal compound has increased, many growers have been cross-breeding high CBD hemp with cannabis. The resulting breeds have low THC content, while others have high THC content but with significant CBD levels.
These varieties of cannabis seeds are today more available online and in Cannabis Dispensary. However, growing a plant from these seeds is not a guarantee that you will produce high CBD content since it takes several years to come up with a seed line that results in consistent compound levels.
If you want to produce cannabis with high CBD content, you have to use tested cannabis seeds that have a specific ratio of THC to CBD content.
What Makes High-Quality Cannabis Seeds?
The determining factor of high-quality weed seeds is genetics. If you want to grow high-quality cannabis, look for seeds with good genetics. An experienced breeder takes time to cross and back-cross cannabis plants to establish the most desirable traits. At the same time, he will be producing a wide variety of phenotypes.
Moreover, the seeds have to fully mature before harvest and dried out completely. Again, the storage must be proper not to grow molds or acquire pathogens that can spoil them.
The seeds’ storage should be in a cool dark place and used within a period of 16months. Alternatively, you can freeze them for use in the future.
The Bottom Line
Growing cannabis takes a lot of dedication, resources, and energy, so you must take time to look for quality cannabis seeds. One way is by outsourcing your weed seeds from a reputable cannabis company. You can read customer reviews to find out about the quality of seeds the company sells. Investing in the search will highly pay off during harvests.