Regular seed is an original type of cannabis seed, consisting of pure seedlings not genetically modified or chemically altered. These seeds are a favourite for both old-school growers and newbies.
They are the result of a cross between a male and female Cannabis plant. These types are a great option for those looking to breed their own strains and try out breeding experiments.
Breeding
Regular seed is the most common type of cannabis seeds used for breeding purposes. These seeds are bred from both male and female plants, producing about 50% male and 50% female offspring.
They are a firm favourite of old-school growers, and a great option for beginners. They are also a perfect starting point for creating your own hybrids and landrace strains.
To breed regular seed, pick your favourite male and female plants, then cross them to create offspring with traits you want to see in new varieties. It’s important to keep good records of the parents and offspring, and how they turned out in order to keep track of which plants have which traits.
Regular seed gives growers the ability to easily clone their chosen specimens for future generations, making it possible to recreate the exact morphology and colour of an individual plant. However, it’s important to note that regular seed doesn’t have the same stability as feminized seed.
Cloning
Cloning is a method of taking cuttings from vegetative mother plants. This allows growers to reproduce high yielding strains over and over again.
A clone is an exact genetic copy of the mother plant’s traits, including size, taste, morphology, and productivity. These duplicates can be useful for a variety of reasons.
Among them, some growers will use clones to produce a specific strain or phenotype for a particular purpose. For example, a breeder might want to replicate the best strain in a line.
Others might have a hunch that clones would give them more options when it comes to strains that are hard to find locally. They can also help keep a strain’s genetics from crossing with other strains.
Clones are also cheaper and less complicated to work with than seeds. In addition, they can simplify a grow by keeping the strains with similar phenotypes in the same grow space.
Germination
Germination is the process by which a seed wakes up from its dormant state and starts to grow into a new plant. It involves three key triggers – air, water and warmth – which all work together to bring the seeds out of their sleep.
Soaking your seeds in water helps them to swell and split open, softening their protective seed coat and speeding up the time it takes for them to germinate. The water also provides a source of dissolved oxygen and improves their permeability.
However, soaking your seeds overnight isn’t always recommended as it can dry out the cells and deplete them of water. If you are unsure about the best way to soak your seeds, read your seed packets for a rough estimate on how long it will take them to germinate.
For old seeds that are drying up and losing germination power, we recommend soaking them in lightly carbonated water or a mix of fulvic acid at around 10ml per litre. This is especially important for hard, scarified seeds as it can help them to absorb the water they need.
Planting
Regular seeds can be an interesting option for some growers. They can be used to backcross strains, resulting in new genetics or stable IBLs (Interspecific Breeding Line).
They are also popular with growers who want to preserve old-school heritage cultivars from the pre-90s. Many of these heritage plants were never modified into feminized varieties, and are now available only in regular seed form.
These plants are ideal for breeding and hybridizing as they will produce both male and female flowers in a balanced percentage of the batch. This enables the breeder to create new and unique cannabis strains from the genetics in their garden.
Another benefit of regular seed is that they are more resilient to stress than feminized varieties. They are less likely to turn into hermaphrodites when stressed, and they can be cultivated all year round without the hassle of adjusting their light exposure. They are therefore a great choice for beginners and experienced growers alike!
