Regular cannabis seeds offer a pure and natural growing experience. They are a firm favourite for old-school growers as they offer a chance to cultivate both male and female plants.
Unlike feminized seeds, these varieties contain both male and female chromosomes which means they will produce 50/50 offspring. This makes them ideal for breeding as well as seed saving purposes.
Breeding
The ability to breed regular seeds is essential for many growers. It allows them to create new strains and phenotypes that would otherwise be impossible, which is great for cultivators interested in developing new marijuana varieties.
Regular seeds are also less expensive than feminized seeds, making them ideal for beginner growers who want to practice their growing skills. Feminized cannabis seeds, however, are best for a grower who is looking to produce a bud-producing crop with high THC and aromatic terpenes.
Using regular seed also gives you a better chance to find new strain phenotypes than with feminized seeds. This is especially important if you have some breeding goals that you want to achieve, such as increasing resin production or reducing flowering time.
Using regular seed for breeding is also a good option for old-school growers who are looking to explore the diversity of cannabis genetics, or for those who want to preserve genetics that they can use for future breeding experiments. For this reason, we offer a range of regular seeds in our Amsterdam Genetics collection.
Cloning
In the natural world, plants use cloning to form new plants. They do this by cutting a leaf and exposing a callus of non-specialized cells (which can receive nutrients and grow).
The resulting clone then grows into a plant with an identical genetic code. This process is called asexual reproduction.
However, cloning does not guarantee that the resulting plant will be healthy or disease-free. For this reason, growers should make sure to select strong, healthy plants that are free of pests and diseases before cloning them.
In contrast, seeds have an advantage over clones because they are more reliable for producing consistent results. This is because they have been exposed to less stress and less disease during their development.
Pollination
The process of pollination is a natural part of the growth cycle and occurs when a pollen grain moves from the male anther (the tip of the flower) to the female stigma. Pollination is a vital step in ensuring seed production and the next generation of plants.
Plants use a variety of methods to transfer pollen, including wind and water, insects, birds, bats, and other animals that visit flowers. Bees are one of the most important pollinators, but many other insects and fungi also help pollinate flowers.
Pollinators are vital to the lifecycle of all plants, but their populations are increasingly threatened by a range of stressors, including over-pesticide use, pollution, habitat loss, and parasites. Successful pollination is critical to the continued availability of fruits, nuts, seeds, and other plants that provide food for people and livestock.
In addition to traditional breeding, outdoor growers often plant a small number of seeds in the hope that they will cross-pollinate and seed set, thus reintroducing cannabis back into the wild. Feminized seeds are a popular choice for this purpose because they ensure that all the offspring are only females, avoiding unnecessary hassles and lower yields from accidental pollination.
Seed Saving
Regular seed is a type of seed saved from a plant that is not a hybrid or cross-pollinated. This means that the seeds from these plants will reproduce true to their parent plant and if planted, will produce the same type of plants they did in your garden.
Some crops, like lettuces, beans and peas are self-pollinating. These plants have developed in a way that allows them to fertilize themselves without needing outside help or windy conditions to do so.
To save seeds from these plants, you simply let the fruit ripen on the vine and then pop it open to collect the seeds. Then you dry the seeds out in an area where there is good air circulation, but no direct sunlight (or heat).
