When it comes to cannabis, there are four primary types of seed available: regular, feminized, autoflowering, and CBD-rich. Each type has its own advantages and disadvantages and appeals to different cultivators depending on their goals.
If you want to breed your own strains or make genetically sturdy clones, regular seeds are the way to go. Because they produce both male and female plants, you can use them to create a variety of strains with unique phenotypes and characteristics.
Breeding
Breeding regular seed is a fun and rewarding process, especially for those who enjoy experimenting with new phenotypes. However, it requires a lot of dedication and patience from growers.
As a result, it is often best to start with feminized seeds for your first crops. This way, you can hone your growing skills and become familiar with the cannabis plant before trying your hand at breeding.
Feminized seeds are made by crossing a female plant with a male, then pollinating the female to get a seed. This is done through the use of chemical agents, including benzothiadiazole, gibberellic acid, silver thiosulphate, or colloidal silver.
Using these chemicals can produce genetically altered plants, which can have a number of health risks and varying vigour. In addition, some breeders believe feminized seeds may be less resilient than their regular counterparts.
Fortunately, many strains are available as regular seeds. The reason is that these varieties can be more stable than their feminized counterparts, and they are often harder to turn into hermaphrodites (plants with both male and female flowers). Therefore, these types of seeds are valuable to cannabis breeders.
Hybridization
Hybridization is a means by which plant breeders create new crop varieties. They typically do this by carefully pollinating two different varieties of the same plant to bring together traits that are desirable in a variety.
This breeding can be very expensive because the pollen must be removed from anthers and hand-pollinated to get the desired results. However, hybrids are usually very useful in the garden because they exhibit many desirable traits that non-hybrids don’t.
One important benefit of hybridization is that it has increased the amount of food available to people around the world. For example, the development of hybrid corn (maize) was a major breakthrough in increasing the number of plants that are grown in the United States.
Another important aspect of hybridization is that it may lead to the development of new and stable species. Originally, this was thought to occur through allopolyploidy, or the duplication of chromosome numbers within a hybrid individual. However, later studies by Muntzing ([1930]) suggested that hybridization can also be a mechanism that leads to the formation of new combinations of alleles by chromosome rearrangements.
Seeds for sale
Regular seed is an essential part of the cannabis breeding process for many gardeners and traditional growers. These seeds carry male and female DNA so that a plant can be crossed to produce offspring.
Unlike feminized seeds, which come from plants that have been genetically altered to only produce female offspring, regular seed is an unaltered natural variety. It produces an approximately 50-50 ratio of male and female plants.
A good seed bank will have a wide selection of regular seeds and offer them at a reasonable price. In addition, they may give you free seeds with your order or by joining their mailing list.
Some seed banks will discreetly deliver the seeds to you, helping to keep you out of legal trouble in your home country. Those sites will also offer to replace your seeds if your package is intercepted by customs.
Growing
Growing regular seed is a rewarding and versatile way to breed and create your own marijuana strains. Unlike feminized seeds, which are modified to produce 100% female plants, regular seed has an even chance of producing male and female plants.
Most cannabis growers prefer working with regular sexed seeds because they allow you to breed your own unique strains and obtain superior clones. Additionally, these seeds are easier to work with than feminized ones.
When germinating a marijuana seed, it is important to make sure it grows into a healthy taproot. This can be done by placing it on a paper towel, between two plates, or in a plastic container.
Once the seed has sprouted, it is time to place it in a dark and warm area of your home. Check it periodically to see if it has grown a healthy taproot.
