Regular seed is one of the oldest and most popular types of cannabis seeds available. They are a good choice for growers who want to breed their own strains.
Regular seeds contain both male and female chromosomes in an ideal ratio of 50/50. As a result, they are easy to breed with the plants that make seeds from them.
Stable Genetics
Stable genetics are an art form and are a true labour of love for breeders. This is because they require many generations to achieve a desired outcome, and it can take some time for desirable traits to become dominant.
To stabilise a strain, breeders use a variety of techniques, including selective homozygous breeding and back-crossing. Selective homozygous breeding reduces variations and eliminates undesirable traits, while back-crossing reinforces preferred dominant characteristics.
In a stable strain, Mendelian inheritance dictates that 25% of offspring resemble both parents equally, while 25% will express traits closer to the mother and 50% will be hybrids with combined features (e.g., a flowering plant that produces lots of buds).
Variability and predictability are the two key terms to watch for when selecting and crossbreeding seed. Generally, a higher ratio of predictability is the best indicator that the strain you are cultivating is likely to produce predictable results.
More Vigorous Plants
Regular seed is a more traditional method of growing cannabis that’s a bit less popular than feminized seeds. However, it’s a good way to experiment and learn about how marijuana plants work and breeding.
In contrast, feminized seeds are specially bred to produce only female plants. This means you can count on getting a bud-producing plant almost every time you buy a pack of feminized seeds.
Feminized cannabis plants are also more resistant to pests and have a longer flowering cycle, which can save you a lot of time and money in the end. They’re also a great choice for growers who want to experiment with new strains without sacrificing their yield or terpene profile.
Some growers also choose to keep their mother plants, grown from regular seeds, for decades or even generations. These plants can then be crossed with new feminized seedlings to create even more vigorous strains. It’s also possible to root cuttings from them for extra genetic diversity.
Better for Breeding
Regular seed is the best choice for those who want to breed their own marijuana strains. It allows the full lineage of plants to be passed on and gives the grower more control over which phenotypes they choose to keep in their garden.
Unlike feminized seeds, regular seed will produce a variety of different phenotypes. This can be a fantastic way to explore new genetics and find unique phenotypes that might not be available in feminized seeds.
This also means that regular seeds are more stable, as they haven’t been subjected to any modifications that could make future generations less stable. It is therefore important for commercial breeders to provide regular seeds so that the genetic heritage of cannabis can be conserved and kept alive for generations to come.
Cheaper
Regular seeds are much cheaper than feminized or autoflowering seed. Feminized seeds require a lot of effort and resources to breed correctly, as they only have a 50% chance of producing female plants.
Despite this, growers often choose to buy regular seed instead of feminized or autoflowering seed for a few reasons. First, they have a better chance of finding new phenotypes that are not already available in the market.
Second, they are more resistant to pests and diseases than feminized seeds. Third, they tend to be more vigorous and can handle stress better.
Another reason why growers choose to use regular seed is because they can keep mother plants for breeding purposes. This can be a very exciting experience. In addition, the phenotypes from these seeds can be more genetically stable, which makes it easier to retain the characteristics of the strain in clones or cuttings.
