Year: 2023

Regular seeds preserve genetic stability, vital for breeding purposes. They also offer the possibility of phenotype variation, allowing for unique and varied cannabis strains.

Marijuana regular seeds produce both male and female plants. This makes them ideal for growers who want to start breeding. Male plants can be separated and pollinated with a specific female plant to create new strains.

Breeding

While feminized seeds are popular with commercial growers who want to ensure their crops contain only female plants, regular seeds are often preferred by home growers for their genetic diversity. Breeding regular cannabis seeds is straightforward and can be done without the use of chemicals or large facilities.

The process of growing and breeding regular seeds begins with the identification of two inbred parents, which should then be crossed to produce a seedling. Once the seedlings have reached the flowering stage, it is easy to identify male and female plants based on appearance.

The next step in breeding is to place a bag over the female plant and allow it to collect pollen from the male plants. This is best done in a separate growing room to avoid accidental fertilization of other female plants. It’s recommended to wait for around two days before removing the bag. If all goes well, the pollinated plant should produce a high-quality crop of new seeds.

Cloning

Clones are cuttings taken from vegetative mother plants in the cannabis cultivator’s grow room and then rooted before being planted into soil or hydroponic medium. They are genetically identical to the mother plant, making them an ideal option for growers seeking to replicate a specific strain.

However, clones can carry diseases and pests from their source. Additionally, they are fragile and require a highly controlled environment to root and thrive.

If you choose to clone, be sure to select healthy “mother” plants that are at least two months into their vegetative cycle. Doing so will ensure that they have enough time to grow full and mature before being flipped into flower, where they are less likely to perform well. Also, consider selecting “mother” plants that are easy to work with. This can be determined by checking for white roots and watching for any signs of disease or pests. Lastly, clones need to be fed regularly with a balanced nutrient solution.

Genetic Stability

As regular seeds are sourced from reputable breeders and seed banks, they typically offer high levels of genetic stability. This is important to growers as it means that you can expect your plants to be identical from one crop to the next, and this is key for breeders working with new phenotypes.

Feminized seeds on the other hand are far less stable. This is due to the process that they undergo, which involves crossing the hermaphrodite plant with itself and then backcrossing it several times. The goal is to create a plant that is similar to the original clone but with seeds that are guaranteed to be female.

The challenge is that this technique can cause inbreeding depression and the seeds may not produce the desired characteristics. This is why many growers prefer to use regular seeds, especially when working with hermaphrodite plants. This requires careful monitoring to identify and remove hermaphroditic plants and prevent unwanted pollination.

Environmental Conditions

The environmental conditions that seeds are exposed to can also have a significant effect on their germination success. This includes temperature, light sensitivity, moisture and burial depth.

For seeds to “wake up” and germinate, they need to be able to absorb moisture from the soil. However, some seeds have a hard or thick seed coat that prevents moisture from entering (physical dormancy), while others may have internal chemical dormancy that requires breaking. This can be achieved by leaching the seed, cold/moist stratification or scarifying the seed coat.

Drought is a common environmental factor that can impose osmotic stress on seeds. Osmotic stress inhibits the natural flow of water into seeds from their surrounding environment and is a major impediment to triggering germination. In this study, the osmotic stress treatment of 0.2MPa completely inhibited germination in both the Ingliston and Gnarwarre populations. The deeper the seed is buried, the less likely it is to emerge and grow. This may be because smaller seeds have a lower energy reserve that can be expended to reach the surface of the soil.

Choosing the right seed type for your crop is essential. It depends on your growing experience and aims.

In general, regular seeds produce male and female cannabis plants in an equal ratio. This may lead to a lower yield, as growers will need to remove the male plants manually. However, it also provides interesting opportunities for breeding and preserving old-school cultivars.

Breeding

As the name suggests, regular seeds produce both male and female cannabis plants. This makes them more versatile for growers, as they can work with a mix of sexes when pheno hunting and choosing the best male plants to cross with their females.

However, this also means that they run a higher chance of going hermaphrodite during the growing process, especially when stressed through techniques like topping, fimming, lollypopping, or defoliation. This means you need to keep an eye on the sex of your plants and remove any males before they pollinate your females, which can be impractical for new growers.

On the other hand, feminized seed is much more predictable, and ensures that only female plants are produced. This makes it an ideal option for commercial growers who want to get a specific ratio of female to male plants in each crop. Feminized seeds are also better suited for novice growers, as they eliminate the need to identify and remove male plants.

Cloning

Using regular seed allows you to find new genetically diverse plants with desirable traits like height, structure, internodal spacing, aroma, and vigor. This is also important for breeders who want to work with a wide variety of phenos and bring them to market. Clones can be great but starting with seeds is the most economical way to grow cannabis.

Cloning is the process of taking a cutting from a “mother” plant and using it to produce multiple clones that are genetically identical. It’s important to use a mother plant that is free of pests, bacteria, and diseases. It’s also important to choose a location on the mother plant where there are new leaf buds. This will give you the best chance of success with your clones. Getting the rooting hormone right is critical to your cloning success. This helps the clones to grow roots and begin vegetative growth more quickly. Clones skip the germination and seedling stages that are required when growing from seeds, which can add around three weeks to the overall grow time.

Old-school genetics

Old School Genetics are a European cannabis seed company with their headquarters in Barcelona, Spain. The breeders behind this company are extremely experienced and know what it takes to create top-notch varieties. Their main breeder, Oldman Green is a well-known grower that’s probably most famous for the Peach Slush strain of the mid 90s which won quite a few ICMAG cups and still remains part of his catalogue today!

Old Man Green and his team have a library of rare and exclusive cuts from iconic seed banks and growing collectives that they then cross with contemporary strains to produce their unique hybrids. This launch drop features collaborations with Karma Genetics on the majority of these varieties and an exclusive collab with GG Strains for the beautifully-bred strain OS Glue.

Unique strains

Regular seed is prized by some growers for its ability to produce offspring with genetically diverse traits. This process is a bit more complicated than the feminizing process, so it’s not as common or easy.

Feminized seeds are more expensive than regular seed because they require more work and resources to produce. They also offer a greater guarantee of success, as only female plants will emerge from a pack of feminized seeds. However, regular seeds are more cost-effective and more versatile than feminized strains.

A classic variety for veteran cultivators, Tropic Thunder has fruity notes like a sunset cocktail and offers up to 35 oz of mellow buds. Its sativa lineage makes it trickier to cultivate, but it’ll thrive with experienced training and greenhouse conditions. It flowers in ten weeks and is ready to harvest in October. This strain is a hybrid of Freakshow and Sensi Durban. This combination creates a tropically fruity and mellow indica with THC levels up to 29%.

Seeds are the embryos of new plants. They are contained within a protective outer covering called a husk or seed coat. Inside the seed is the embryo, which is made up of cotyledons and a radicle.

This mix can be used to start a new lawn or overseed a patchy one. Before sowing, the soil needs to be properly prepared by mowing, raking and removing debris.

Definition

Seeds are the rudiments of a new vegetable plant, containing an embryo and supply of food reserves wrapped in a protective shell or seed coat. Seeds are generally dormant until they are sown and the conditions for their germination are met.

They are the primary source of most of the world’s food, including cereals and legumes. They also provide most of our cooking oils, many spices and some important food additives.

In agriculture, “growing true to seed” refers to plants that produce seeds that are genetically identical to the parent plant. Open-pollinated seeds such as heirlooms, and hybrid seeds produced from cross-pollination are examples of this.

Stratification, the process of subjecting seeds to periods of cold and warm temperatures before planting, breaks down physiological dormancy. This method is used for a number of crops to increase their chances of germination. Stratification can be done artificially or by subjecting seeds to natural cycles in temperature, such as during a typical annual cycle.

Origin

The seed was one of the great evolutionary innovations that allowed vascular plants to dominate biological niches on land. Its development also eliminated the requirement that sperm cells swim through environmental water to reach the megagametophyte, opening up many new biological possibilities for plants.

A seed is a mature ovule that contains an embryo. The ovule consists of a diploid megasporangium (nucellus) with a single functional megaspore, surrounded by diploid covering layers, the integuments, that evolve into the seed coat. An apical opening in the megasporangium that later becomes the micropyle facilitates wind pollination and ovule fertilisation.

Plants that reproduce with seeds are called “angiosperms” or “gymnosperms”. Angiosperms grow their seeds inside fruits, such as tomatoes or apples; gymnosperms, such as pine trees, grow their seeds inside hard cones. Other plants use spores to reproduce. Spores require more moisture than seeds, so they only work in wet places, such as along lakes and rivers. This limits the range of plants that can grow using spores.

Functions

Seeds serve several functions for the plants that produce them, including nourishment of the embryo, dispersal to a new location, and dormancy in unfavorable conditions. They also represent the basic input for agriculture upon which many other inputs depend.

The outer layer of a seed is known as the seed coat, and it provides protection and moisture retention. Inside the seed is a food source called the endosperm, which stores starch, sugars and proteins that provide energy to the embryo until it germinates.

During germination, parts of the embryo break out of the seed coat. One of these parts, the radicle, grows downward to anchor the plant firmly in the soil. The other part, the cotyledons, grows upward to form the first leaves of the plant.

Oxygen is necessary for cellular respiration during the germination process. However, the seed cuticle and the lipid-containing aleurone layer of the endosperm act as barriers to oxygen uptake. In a study of barley seeds, researchers found that the activity of DNA repair enzymes could help overcome these barriers and allow oxygen to reach the embryo (Adamski et al., 2004).

Distribution

Seed distribution involves moving packaged seed from the store where it is held following processing and packing to farmers. This may be a single step, if sales are made directly to farmers, or a series of steps involving intermediate wholesalers and retailers. A contract will exist between the supplying organization and the dealer, covering not only product delivery but also various administrative and record keeping obligations.

Generally, farmers purchase seed only shortly before the time to plant, making it difficult to plan a distribution system to meet their needs. In some cases this can lead to shortages and disappointment for the customer, especially if they cannot get the variety they want.

Focus group discussions with farmers have found that the availability of improved varieties, household income, educational level, extension contact and access to credit influence their selection of formal seed distribution systems. They also affect the choice of methods they use to generate off-farm income and seed saving.