Regular seed packets are popular with marijuana enthusiasts. Seed is necessary for establishing and developing new marijuana crops. Regular seeds used in cultivation need to be harvested regularly since they help the plants grow quickly and even out from the harvest or collection period. Indica and Sativa seeds will always have more female flowers than male. The female flowers of these plants will produce more seeds when planting than the male flowers.
Regular seeds are usually small seeds which grow into about 50% female and 50% male plants. Typically, cannabis plants with female flowers are utilized for crossbreeding and producing new feminized strains. For an average grower who won’t engage in crossbreeding but just wants to carefully harvest a crop of highly potent and highly smokeable buds every time, female plants would be of no importance and will therefore be discarded. This is where feminized cannabis seeds could prove to be beneficial.
When an amateur cultivator begins to cultivate feminized marijuana strains, he is stepping into something more competitive. If he were to use regular seeds, he has no way to distinguish between the female and male flowers. He will likely grow a crop of regular strains, which are also likely to be highly potent. Many times these regular strains will be grown outdoors, where there’s little or no concern for insects or disease. However, indoor growing conditions present their own set of challenges which need to be considered when starting to cultivate feminized plants.
Many professional growers with vast experience have learned that some of the most popular and well-known varieties are Sativa and indica. While many studies have been done on these two plants, their true hybrid roots have only been fully unlocked by the elite. In fact, these two types are so similar in structure they are often mistaken for each other. There are a few key differences between these two plants, which has resulted in the regular seed being discarded.
One of the biggest differences is the actual flowers produced. The regular seeds produce just a few large blooms on top of one another with the male plant taking the rest of the soil as male plants lay down runners. With feminized seeds this is not the case. The plant will produce five large blooms on top of one another and the male plant will cover the female plants with soil as it lays down runners. This allows the feminized seeds to do their job of producing large, strong flowers on top.
When working with feminized cannabis seeds, there is also another important factor that must be remembered. These are very sensitive species. They are extremely sensitive to any outside disturbance and so it is imperative that the grower does all they can to mimic the conditions of natural growing. This means observing the weather, making sure to water the plants well and feeding them only when the soil is ready. If outside factors are managed properly, the feminized seeds will grow up to be extremely comparable in strength to the regular seeds.
Some breeders are producing hybrid strains which are a direct result of cross-breeding different regular and feminized cannabis seeds. These are often referred to as super-hybrid strains and the science behind them is still relatively young. However, it is known that they can be more powerful plants than the original. Some of the latest traits are showing promise and this could just mean that we may soon see hybrid strains crossing with traditional ones and being released into the marketplace. Whether or not this will become a reality remains to be seen, but it is a possibility.
Hybrid plants offer a huge amount of potential, especially when it comes to breeding for medical purposes. Hybrid strains have proven to be less susceptible to disease and are able to resist pests and diseases much better than their parent plant. Some of the latest diseases to afflict indica strains are known to attack them during the late summer months, which is when most buds are produced. Being able to resist disease and weather increases the likelihood that you will harvest large quantities of buds and save yourself a lot of money.
