Best Regular Seeds Blog

Since the emergence of feminized seeds, regular seed has been overlooked by many growers. However, these untampered seeds can offer unique opportunities for genetic exploration and cultivation.

Growing regular seed requires identifying and removing male plants to prevent unwanted pollination of female buds. This process can be tedious, but it is essential to a high-quality crop.

Stable Genetics

Stable genetics is the foundation of providing growers with consistent crop production. However, creating stable genetics requires rigorous breeding over multiple generations. The process is time consuming and requires substantial space to produce many generations of seeds.

To stabilise a strain, breeders start with a mother plant that possesses desirable characteristics they want to be prominent in their cultivar. This mother plant is then crossed with a father that also has desirable characteristics. Over several generations, breeders weed out the less desirable traits and only allow desired traits to express. This process is called selective breeding, and it can take up to 12 generations to create robust stability.

Genes that code for certain characteristics can present in two forms, known as alleles. For example, a gene that codes for earthy flavour can appear in either form (earthy or diesel) depending on the genetic makeup of its parents. When these alleles are combined, it creates the phenotype of a cannabis plant.

Breeding Potential

Regular seeds offer an exciting breeding opportunity for experienced growers. They have the potential to produce male and hermaphrodite plants, which can be beneficial for those seeking genetic variation in their cultivation. However, it is important to keep in mind that they have a higher chance of producing hermaphrodite plants than feminized seeds.

Hermaphroditic plants possess both male and female reproductive organs, so they can pollinate other cannabis plants. This unwanted pollination can reduce flower production and quality. Therefore, it is important to monitor your plants and remove hermaphroditic individuals when necessary.

As with all seed strains, regular cannabis plants require optimal growing conditions. The temperature, humidity, light cycles, and airflow all impact the health of your plants. The right growing environment will help your plants reach their full potential and maximize germination rates, yields, and flowering times. It will also help you avoid problems such as mold, mildew, and other pests. It is important to provide your plants with adequate water and nutrients to maintain a healthy growing environment.

Phenotype Variation

For cultivators who are interested in creating their own strains, regular seeds offer the possibility of phenotype variation. These seeds are the result of a natural, unaltered cultivation process and are more likely to contain male plants than feminized seeds. However, they can be sexed to remove the male plants and guarantee the production of only female plants.

Seed yield is a complex trait that is influenced by numerous genetic and environmental factors. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between seed yield and its related traits in 210 uniculm accessions and 159 branching accessions. We found that PSY was positively and significantly correlated with CNP, CSL, PH, TSW, and FFS. These results suggest that increasing PH, CSL, TSW, and IFS could improve PSY. Moreover, the correlation between PSY and cone trait values also supports the hypothesis that more cones are associated with higher seed yield. This information can help breeders develop new strains with desired characteristics.

Cost

In general, regular cannabis seeds are less expensive than feminized varieties. However, this price difference can depend on strain desirability and seed quality.

Growers choose regular seeds because they can produce a mixture of male and female plants, and they can create new phenotypes by crossing different strains. This breeding process is critical for the growth of new cultivars and maintaining consistency in existing ones.

While feminized seeds are genetically guaranteed to produce only female plants, there is always the chance that a hermaphrodite plant may be produced. Hermaphrodites contain both male and female reproductive organs, and if hermaphroditic plants are not removed, they can pollinate other female plants in the crop.

Feminized plants require special care to prevent hermaphrodites, such as limiting pruning techniques like topping, fimming, and lollypopping. This additional level of maintenance can increase the cost of feminized seeds.

Regular seeds preserve the genetic stability that is essential for breeding. They also offer the potential for phenotype variation that can enhance or change desirable traits.

Growing regular seed requires identifying and culling male plants to avoid pollinating the females. This can be challenging for growers without experience.

Generally, most regular cannabis seeds produce roughly 50/50 male and female plants.

Stable Genetics

Genetic stability is the first step to consistent cannabis, and it’s an essential part of the value chain. Stable seed strains are bred for multiple generations until desirable traits are fully expressed. This requires a lot of careful, controlled breeding. This may involve back-crossing to previous generations in order to reduce the amount of genetic variation within a line.

The process of stabilizing a strain can take several years and is often costly. For this reason, many of the most popular strains on the market today are stabilized seeds.

To create stable seeds, a breeder will start with an established mother plant that possesses certain desired characteristics. Then she will cross it with an unrelated male plant that also possesses these desirable characteristics. The resulting hybrid offspring, known as the filial-1 (f1) generation, will have a fair amount of genetic variation. This variation is caused by the different alleles that each parent passes onto offspring plants, i.e. the genes that code for specific growth and flowering patterns (phenotypes).

Breeding Potential

Regular seeds grow in to male and female cannabis plants and are preferred by those who wish to create their own cultivars or hybrids. By using a combination of techniques to reverse the sex of the plant and backcross it with itself (or another desired parent), the breeder can produce offspring which are identical to the original clone used.

This process also allows for phenotype variation, which can result in differences in appearance, aroma, taste and effects. This is an exciting and intriguing aspect of growing marijuana and one which many growers enjoy experimenting with.

Alternatively, growers can simply let their regular seeds germinate and hope that most of them grow into female plants. This eliminates the need to deal with male plants and will yield a predominately female crop of high-quality buds. Moreover, this method of cultivation is more in keeping with the way that natural seeds operate.

Phenotype Variation

Regular seeds are essential for gardeners that want to develop their own strains. They are important because they allow for phenotype variation, allowing growers to create unique cannabis strains with different flavors, aromas and effects. They also offer genetic stability, which is important for breeders who want to create stable crops.

The seed size and seed number traits exhibit significant natural variation in A. thaliana, as do other life-history traits (Kranitz et al. 1991; Alonso-Blanco et al. 1999; Van Daele et al. 2012). However, the QTL that explain variation for seed size and seed number do not overlap. This indicates that the trade-off between these two traits may not be as strong as has been previously suggested.

We also found that PSY correlated with PH, CSL, CNP, TSW, and IFS in uniculm accessions and with PH and FCH in branching accessions. Thus, these traits are likely the key factors that influence PSY. The correlations we observed in this study provide new insights into the genetic architecture of seed yield in sesame.

Easy to Grow

Unlike feminized seeds that have undergone the process of genetic manipulation to produce only female plants, regular seeds will produce both male and female cannabis plants. This can be a drawback, as growers will need to remove the male plants (which produce pollen sacks) from the growing process and hope that only the female plants will eventually produce smokable buds.

Regular seeds also have the potential to offer phenotype variation, meaning that each plant grown from the seed will express its own unique characteristics. This can result in varying yields, aromas, flavors and effects from the same cultivar.

Growers will need to take into account their location, growing experience and target flowering time when choosing a specific strain of regular seed. However, overall regular seed is a popular choice amongst growers as it allows for the possibility of a larger harvest and can provide a good crop of mother plants for taking cuttings/clones. Also, since the majority of a crop will be female plants it is easier to manage and less prone to stress throughout the growing process.

Cannabis seed is the embryo of a new plant that needs to go through the process of germination to become nutritionally self-sufficient. Germinating seeds is the most difficult and most important step for a beginner grower to master.

For beginners, try autoflowering seeds that don’t require changing the light cycle. ILGM sells feminized and regular seeds, with excellent customer support and a respectable germination guarantee.

Germination

The germination stage is where the seed breaks out of its protective shell and becomes a sprout (or radicle). Depending on temperature, moisture, and substrate composition this happens within 3-10 days.

Typically cannabis seeds are planted in a medium such as a pot or germination tray and then covered with soil. Then a grower waters the soil to ensure that it is damp, but not soaking wet.

This method allows the grower to monitor the seeds as they germinate and not worry about overwatering. However, the seeds must be checked often and re-moistened as they can dry out very quickly. When re-moistening a seed, a good practice is to use distilled water (or water that has been treated with root stimulator) as it will have the best pH for your seed.

Soil

The cannabis seed needs to be in a light, airy growing medium. A common mistake made by new growers is to use a rich, heavy soil. This can cause germination problems. The roots can’t find the oxygen they need and the seedlings will die.

Too much moisture can also be a problem. Too much water can rot the seed and damping off can kill a young seedling. If the environment is too warm or too cold, the germination will be delayed.

It is important to keep the environment for a seed/young seedling clean and free of fungus. Nutrients/fertiliser should be avoided as much as possible at this stage. This is because a young seedling is prone to fungal diseases. This can include ‘damping off’ and other fungal infections.

Light

Most cannabis seeds germinate easily in the dark, however some experience issues with excessive light. Too much light can damage the seed and prevent it from sprouting or developing properly.

Cannabis plants use sunlight to perform photosynthesis. Photosynthesis converts the energy in carbon dioxide and water into energy for the plant, and also creates essential amino acids and proteins.

The light cycle of a cannabis plant dictates the growth stage of the plant, with outdoor growers giving plants long hours of sunlight to encourage vegetative growth and flowering. Indoor growers provide their clones and seeds with a more controlled light schedule, including full-intensity lights during the first weeks after germination. This is because cannabis seedlings are not yet ready for the flowering phase of their lives.

Temperature

Weed seeds are relatively easy to germinate and will become little seedlings within a few days. To do this, simply fill a small plant pot with potting soil and water. Then, put your weed seeds in the soil and give it some light.

Temperature is one of the most important factors that influences seed germination. The optimum temperature for radicle and shoot growth is 20 degC, while the optimal temperature for root growth is 15 degC.

The temperature also influences the dry weight of a seedling. A seed’s ability to hydrate depends on its internal potential energy, which is dependent on the seed’s metabolic and enzyme activity and its enthalpy. Increasing the temperature will increase this energy and accelerate hydration. However, over a super-optimal temperature, the energy will be lost rapidly.

Water

When seeds are germinated, the outer shell of the seed breaks apart and a sprout emerges. The sprout, also known as the taproot, is both a root and a stem, so it pushes up through the soil or growing medium to get the light it needs to grow into a full cannabis plant.

Temperature: Cannabis seeds need warmth to break out of dormancy, and they thrive in temperatures between 70 – 78°F. Temperatures lower than 70°F delay germination, and higher temperatures can upset seed chemistry.

Water: If seeds are soaked in a glass of water, they may float at first, but will eventually sink. If the seeds float for more than 24 hours, they are not viable and should not be planted. Instead, seat the seeds in a Rockwool cube and mist with distilled water.