If you are looking to get your hands dirty and do a little experimenting then regular seed is your thing.
Unlike feminized seeds that only produce female plants, regular seed will create both male and female plants. This makes them perfect for growers who want to find a specific ratio of male to female plants.
Breeding
Cultivators that have the space and patience will often choose to work with regular seeds to breed their own cultivars. The process of growing out male plants to pollinate females has been around for millennia, and it’s a great way to create your own original strains that offer exactly the characteristics you want them to have.
With a pack of 10 regular seeds you will, on average, get half of them to produce male plants and the other half will be females. This isn’t always true in every case, however, as environmental conditions can influence the proportion of male to female plants produced (better growing conditions typically yield more females).
As soon as your plants are mature enough you will be able to identify them and separate the males from the females. The males will produce their own pollen sacs and can then be used to pollinate your female plants, and your offspring should be both strong and fruitful.
Cloning
Cloning cannabis plants produces identical copies of the parent plant, which is why it is a popular choice for commercial growers who sell their products to wholesale corporate clients. Because clones are genetically identical, they all respond to growing conditions in the same way and produce similar plant sizes with uniform yields and tastes/effects. Cloning is also a good option for home-growers who have grown a strain they love and want to propagate it.
But there are some drawbacks to cloning, especially for the casual home-grower. First of all, it is difficult to find healthy mothers that are free from diseases and pests. Second, clones can be hard to keep alive and they do not develop the same taproot that seeds have, which some believe gives them more stability. Finally, many people feel that cloning wears out the DNA of the parent plant, which can affect subsequent generations of plants. For these reasons, some growers prefer to use seeds for home cultivation.
Genetic Stability
Genetic stability refers to the ability of seeds to produce similar phenotypes in the plants that grow from them. This is a desired trait in commercial cannabis cultivars, as it allows breeders to predict the growth and psychoactive effects of their plants with a high degree of certainty. However, creating genetically stable seed is a difficult process. Several techniques have been used to achieve this goal, including MSAP analysis.
Seed aging is a common phenomenon that affects viability and quality of stored crops. It can be caused by oxidative stress, accumulation of reactive oxygen species or lipid peroxidation. Oxygen availability also influences the longevity of seeds. These factors can lead to epigenetic changes in the methylation status of seeds and their derived seedlings. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of storage time (13, 29 or 36 days) and atmosphere (air or vacuum) on methylation status using an MSAP-based method. Results showed that the number of epigenetic changes induced by long-term storage was higher in seeds and seedlings than in their non-stored counterparts, even when the difference in viability between seeds was negligible.
Price
Considering the time and labor involved in creating stable feminized seeds, it’s no surprise that these varieties are more expensive than regular cannabis seeds. However, growing your own high-quality buds doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. If you shop carefully, you can find some amazing deals on quality seeds that will help you cultivate a hefty harvest.
It’s also worth noting that while feminized seeds boast a 99% female-only sex rate, germinating regular marijuana seeds comes with a 50-50 chance of producing male and female plants. In other words, you will need to cull a number of male plants from your crop once it begins flowering.
The easiest way to tell whether a plant is male or female is by looking for minuscule sprouts that resemble pollen sacks. Once spotted, simply dispose of or isolate these plants to prevent them from fertilizing your females and spoiling the harvest. As long as you separate your male and female plants, you’ll be rewarded with a high-yielding, premium-quality crop of weed.
