Regular seeds are a vital part of the cannabis breeding process. They make it possible for a grower to separate male plants from female ones and collect the pollen.
They also allow for the generation of uniform cannabis crops with no males, which was a popular usage before feminized seed technology came about.
Breeding
Regular seed is a common type of Cannabis strain that expresses an equal balance of male and female chromosomes. This allows growers to work from seed and build a breeding program with a diverse range of plants.
While feminized seeds are a popular choice, many growers choose to work with regular seeds for their versatility and variety. These types of seeds offer more genetic variation than feminized strains, allowing breeders to discover new phenotypes not found in feminized seed varieties alone.
Feminized seed strains are a good choice for beginners because they eliminate the complexities of breeding, making it easier to get started with cannabis. But some breeders may want to have more control over their growing processes, especially when it comes to maximizing yields and improving flower quality.
Breeding regular seed strains requires a bit of planning and trial and error, but the rewards are rewarding. After all, you’re a part of creating a unique strain that you can be proud of.
Cloning
Using clones to grow cannabis plants is one of the most common ways that marijuana growers replicate their favourite strains. Although clones produce smaller yields than seeds, they don’t lose the potency or flavour that comes with the original plant.
The best clones come from robust, healthy plants that have not been treated with chemicals. They also need to be free from pests, bacteria and other diseases.
Clones can be made from seeds, tissue culture or a combination of the two. In a tissue culture cloning process, a cutting from a mother plant is placed into a jar with a plant preservative mixture composition (agar gel).
A rooting hormone is then introduced to encourage root and sprout development. The clone is then transplanted into a nutrient-rich growing medium. This is often a mixture of rockwool or clay pellets, along with perlite or vermiculite to help with drainage. The clone then starts to grow into a new plant and is ready for harvesting.
Pollination
Regular seed is a vital part of the process when breeding cannabis strains. It can be used to separate male plants from females, allowing pollen to be collected for later use.
The pollen that is produced will find the receptive stigmas of the female flower and fertilise it, producing seeds. After a few weeks, the buds that have been pollinated will be ready to harvest.
There are several different ways to carry out pollination, but it’s best to be precise with the procedure. To make sure the process is carried out correctly, some growers will shake the female plant before hand and then irrigate it for a few days afterward.
If you don’t want to carry out this process manually, the pollen can be frozen in a jar and then thawed for future use. This method can be very useful for preserving the seed stock of some cultivars, particularly those that are more delicate.
Seed Saving
Seed saving is a time-honored practice that allows gardeners to preserve heirloom varieties or locally adapted vegetable and flower seeds for planting again the following year. It also allows gardeners to have the satisfaction of developing their own adapted plants that are specifically suited to their local conditions, which in turn increases germination rates and yields.
Choosing to save seeds is not only fun and rewarding, it also helps to connect you with the natural cycle of the plant, says Bradley. It also gives you a chance to select for certain traits, such as resistance to late blight in tomato plants or disease resistance in garlic bulbs.
To successfully save seeds, choose only open pollinated (OP) or heirloom varieties, which are the most likely to grow into true-to-type plants. Avoid hybrids, which are plants created by humans cross-breeding two different species to create a new type of plant that has certain desirable characteristics from both parent species.
