Regular seeds are the natural offspring of a female cannabis plant that has been pollinated by a male. They carry a 50/50 proportion of male and female DNA.
They can also be used to breed new strains. This is especially useful for growers who want to reproduce their favourite strains or phenotypes.
Breeding
Regular seed is a strain of cannabis that has been bred from male and female parents. These plants produce about a 50/50 ratio of male and female seeds, so they are a great option for many breeders and experienced growers.
The breeding process is a long and complicated one, but it can be rewarding to create a strain that combines traits you want in your marijuana. These can include growth structure, leaf pattern, flowering time, wind resistance, aroma, effect, resistance to pests and bugs, and more.
Often, breeders will stabilise their hybrids over several generations. This is a way to ensure that the plants they create have homozygosity, so that they produce consistent, reliable offspring. This is important for cultivators who want to use their strains regularly and are looking to build up their collection.
Cloning
Cloning regular seed is an easy and convenient way to preserve a particular cannabis phenotype for future growing. However, there are a few things to keep in mind before you start cloning your favourite strains.
One of the most frustrating problems that we hear from home-growers is that their seeds produce plants that are similar to the mother plant, but not exactly identical in appearance, colour, smell or potency. While many seed suppliers do their best to ensure consistency in their genetics, this isn’t always possible.
Cloned plants are also less resistant to pests and diseases than normal plants. This is largely due to their inability to develop a robust root system. Therefore, it’s crucial to choose only healthy clones when making cuttings.
Pollination
Pollination is a natural process that plants use to make seeds. It’s essential for some flowering plants like grasses and daffodils, but isn’t required by others.
Female cannabis plants are ready to be pollinated after 4-6 weeks of flowering, when buds form inside the calyxes and white stigmas start forming on the pistils. They can also be spotted earlier, when the bracts on flowers swell and become red with a slight hue of orange.
When pollinating a male plant, the best method is to shake it over the females in order to drop its pollen on the buds. It is important to turn on the fans before doing this so that it goes everywhere and the temperature of the room should be 24 deg C with a humidity of no more than 65%, as this will keep the pollen spots suspended in the air longer.
Storage
Seed storage is the preservation of seed with initial quality until it is required for planting. Various methods are used to store seeds such as piles, single layers, sacks and open containers.
Drying is a very important factor in preserving seed, especially when seeds are attached to the plant, as they need to dry naturally before they can be stored. Most seeds will dry on their own, but if yours have a gel covering them, you may need to remove that to ensure they don’t stay wet and rot in storage.
Humidity is another factor that can influence your seeds’ success rate, so you need to make sure to keep them in a relatively dry place. You can do this by storing them in your fridge or a dark, dry place such as an attic.
Most seeds will stay viable in storage for one to several years if they are stored under optimal conditions, which are a combination of low temperature (42degF or 5.6degC) and low percent humidity. However, the longevity of your seeds will depend on their specific variety, the timing of your storage and a few other factors.
