Regular seeds used to be the product of natural sexual reproduction between an ovule (seized ovum) bearing plant and a male (hand-made pollen) producing plant. In recent times, this has been replaced by hydroponic gardening. In Hydroponic cannabis cultivation, these seeds, also known as ” overflows”, are generally the product of manual hand pollination.
However, there is an inherent disadvantage with hydroponics cannabis seeds- the lack of control over the type of plant you grow. The hydroponic crops are often more susceptible to disease and pest infestations. This is because the growing conditions in which the seeds were germinated, i.e., light, water and temperature, do not adequately define the type of plant that will ultimately mature. Some common types of regular seeds used in hydroponic growing conditions are:
* Autoflowering: Autoflowering cannabis seed germination is most commonly achieved through the use of autoflowering strains. Autoflowering strains produce an abundance of small blooms that mature and fall off quickly after one bloomer has bloomed. The benefit of autoflowering varieties is that their flowering periods overlap with those of other flowers. For instance, during the weeks when flowers on an autoflowering strain dominate, other flowering bushes and shrubs such as the ruderalis and calendula may bloom.
* Germination Methods: In addition to their advantages over regular seeds, autoflowering seeds produce small plants. Typically, they require less frequent weeding. This means that the time spent weeding is considerably less than when using regular seeds. Furthermore, they produce plants that mature and fall off more quickly, which provides an excellent environment for crop production.
* Extra Genetics: Regular cannabis seeds typically come from a single-celled plant; autoflowering varieties come from more than one cell. This results in plants that contain two or more sets of chromosomes, producing a greater diversity in genetic composition. The extra genetic material produced by autoflowering seeds gives them greater possibilities of survival and adaptation to their environment. The converse is also true. They tend to be slower to germinate than regular cannabis seeds.
* Feminized Seeds: Hybrid marijuana cultivars are created by combining two different types of regular cannabis seeds. Most feminized seeds have one set of chromosomes from a parent plant while others come from a completely separate set of chromosomes. When breeding these plants, the disadvantage is that all the usual disadvantages associated with hybrid plants apply. The two sets of chromosomes are thus placed together and randomly reproduced, resulting in a new plant that is likely to be unpredictable in its behavior when released into the environment. Some feminized seeds may also have unexpected mutations in their structure, or may display a combination of both characteristics.
* Environmental Factors: There are some well-documented cases of feminized seeds resulting from cross-breeding with other strains of cannabis. In these cases, the mother plant is expected to have undergone a substantial transformation due to environmental exposure. Cultivators should therefore carefully consider the precise conditions under which the plants were obtained. As well as the precise environmental circumstances that resulted in the formation of the new types of cannabis cultivars, colloidal silver is an efficient means of combating any unintended effects.
* Cross-breeding: Cultivators are not allowed to cross-breed male and female plants in order to create new “feminized seeds.” This is because the process results in the generation of new feminized plants, which may develop in any direction other than the one that the mother plant has already taken. If feminized seeds grow in the same way as regular seeds, they will also reproduce similarly. As such, cross-breeding is strictly discouraged in this case.
