Regular seeds are pure, stable cannabis seeds that produce male and female plants. This makes them ideal for breeders as they can separate the males from the females to collect pollen for their breeding projects.
While most growers prefer feminized seeds, growing regular seeds has several advantages for both novice and experienced cultivators.
Increased Genetic Diversity
The food demands of a growing world population must be met with improved crop yields and tolerance to environmental stress. This requires increasing the genetic diversity of crop species. The best way to do this is through the use of regular seeds.
Unlike feminized seeds, regular seeds produce both male and female plants. This allows growers to create new phenotypes and strains that can be tested and studied. They are also more durable and resistant to harsh conditions. Moreover, they are easier to plant and grow, making them a great choice for beginner marijuana growers.
Despite the importance of genetic diversity, comprehensive genome-scale exploration has been limited by available genotyping methods. Recently developed genetic diversity-mining tools synergized with NGS technologies now offer a more powerful approach to explore plant genomics and related functional traits. Using these tools, it is possible to discover genes and alleles with upgraded biological functions. This will ultimately increase crop productivity and improve our global agricultural system.
High-Quality Seeds
Whether you’re a home gardener or grower, the quality of your seeds plays a major role in how well your plants will thrive. Seed quality is determined by three key elements: the embryo, the endosperm, and the seed coating. High-quality seeds contain a healthy embryo, plenty of nutritious endosperm, and a protective coating that allows the seed to remain viable for an extended period of time.
High-quality seeds have a lustrous coating that catches the light and feels sturdy when touched. The seeds also have a uniform size, shape and appearance. Seeds that are shriveled or discolored are indicative of low-quality seed.
For the grower who enjoys producing his own seeds, regular seeds are an important part of the process. They allow the grower to separate the male plants from the females and pollinate them to create new strains. This is a very popular hobby for experienced growers. Seeds grown from regular seeds tend to produce heavy yields that are more resilient to stressors than feminized seeds.
Easy to Grow
Unlike feminized seeds that produce only female plants, regular seeds give rise to either male or female cannabis plants. Usually, the ratio of male to female plants grown from regular seeds is 50/50. However, this can vary depending on luck and the environmental conditions. This makes growing regular seeds much easier and less stressful for beginners and novice growers.
Moreover, growing regular seeds eliminates the need for sexing each plant. This reduces the amount of time, energy and nutrient resources spent on each cannabis plant in the grow room. This allows for a better yield in the end.
The only drawback of using regular seeds is that there’s a 50% chance that each plant will be either male or female. Nevertheless, growers appreciate having the option of harvesting any male cannabis plants as they are valuable pollen producers for breeding purposes. Additionally, growers can also use them as mother plants to create future crops. This is a great way to save on grow costs and to ensure a high-quality cannabis crop.
High Potency
While the recent developments of feminized and autoflowering seeds get all the attention, regular cannabis seeds remain an important part of the cannabis seed market. They offer growers an endless amount of possibilities that they can use to create their own unique cannabis strains.
Regular seeds produce both male and female plants, which means that the plants can be used to pollinate other plants to create new hybrids. This is essential for professional cannabis breeders as they need to be able to produce a large number of seeds each harvest.
Feminized seeds, on the other hand, are bred to produce only female plants. As a result, you can expect to get double the yields from a pack of feminized seeds than you would from a regular one. This is because there is no risk of your garden being spoiled by male plants. The fact that you don’t have to worry about getting rid of a percentage of your crop is what makes feminized seeds so popular with commercial growers.
