Regular seed is the cannabis variety that is traditionally forgotten by growers, despite its many advantages. It allows the cultivator to control and sex plants throughout the growing process.
They also allow for breeding and cloning, making them ideal for home breeders. This is especially useful if you haven’t mastered the cultivation process yet.
Breeding
Breeding regular seed is a great way to create new strains that are genetically diverse and display the traits you want. These can include height, structure, internodal spacing, aroma, leaf pattern and vigor.
Unlike feminized seeds, which have been chemically altered to produce viable pollen, regular seeds are pure and stable plants that naturally express both male and female chromosomes. This means that you can grow out large selections of either male or female plants for your breeding projects.
The process of breeding your own cannabis strains is a lot of fun and rewarding. You can pick your favourite male and female specimens and cross them to create offspring that are more dominant of a specific phenotype.
This can be done with regular seeds, however, if you’re a beginner in the field of breeding it is better to start with feminized seeds as they are much more popular. Feminized seeds are a great option for growers who want to create bud-producing plants that are highly potent and high in cannabinoids.
Cloning
Cloning is the process of creating genetically identical offspring from a cell, tissue or organism. This is a natural form of reproduction, used by many plants and fungi.
Clones can be produced from a cutting of the mother plant, or by using deep tissue culture. This process is done in a lab and is very safe.
Cloned plants are also less susceptible to pests and diseases than seedlings. They can also be grown in a controlled environment. This is an advantage for commercial growers who need to grow in a large number of plants quickly, without losing control over quality or yields.
Pollination
Pollination occurs when the male anther of a flower transfers pollen grains to the female stigma. It is an essential part of the plant’s reproductive cycle and is an important step in making seeds.
The first signs of pollination are swollen bracts that’ll soon house seeds and changes in the pistils on buds. These changes typically appear in the first three weeks of flowering.
There are many ways to pollinate regular seed, including shotgun pollination by shaking a male flower directly above the female or pollinating individual flowers with a brush or your finger. Once pollination is complete, the pollen should float down onto the female’s stigmas and fertilise them.
To get the most out of this process, make sure your female cannabis plants are isolated from other blooming and vegetative plants during the pollination stage. If you do not isolate them, your pollinated plants may be exposed to fertilizer and nutrients that can interfere with the development of seeds.
Storage
Seed storage is the process of storing seeds to keep them viable for future use. It can be important for home growers, as it helps preserve their favorite strains for future years, or it may be necessary for seed banks who need to stock seeds for sale.
Some seeds may only last for a few years, while others can survive for several decades. But no matter how long they last, a seed must be stored under optimal conditions to maintain its viability and germination rates.
The ideal temperature for storing seeds is cool and dry, with low humidity. This means the container must be sealed and in a dark location. A vacuum-sealed jar, box or bag is the perfect solution.
