Depending on the grower’s experience and aims, regular seed can be a better option than feminized. However, it’s important to know that there are some drawbacks.
First of all, they can run the risk of producing male plants a third of the time. This is especially true if the grower is not experienced and doesn’t know what they’re doing.
Breeding
While feminized seeds have gained much attention in recent years, some old school cultivars that never made the leap are still available as regular seed. For growers who want to keep their favorite strains intact, or develop new breeds, regular seed is a great choice.
Regular cannabis plants are unaltered and are often stronger and healthier than feminized versions. They also allow for a greater diversity of phenotypes to develop.
The best way to find a suitable seed is to check its growing information and look for a few reviews from other growers. Then, select the strain that is right for your environment and goals.
If you’re a beginner grower, you might want to try feminized seeds instead of regular ones for your first few crops. Feminized seeds are easier to breed and offer a more even ratio of male to female plants. They’re also more resistant to pests and diseases, which makes them a good choice for growers who are looking to maximize their crop size.
Cloning
Regular seeds are essentially miniature plants that produce their own unique genetic code. Like any pair of siblings, they will display different traits from one another based on their environment, which influences how they grow.
Cloning is a way to reproduce these traits from an original plant, using a seed as the parent. This is especially useful when it comes to ensuring that the desired genes are inherited and displayed in a new strain.
A major benefit of cloning is that it offers an exact copy of the mother plant’s genotype. This is a big plus for a grower who wants to hone in on particular traits for their strain, such as high CBD levels, flavour, potency, or tolerance to cold.
However, clones are not perfect, and they can contain pests, diseases, or pesticide residues that can affect the other plants in the garden. This is why it’s important to inspect your clones carefully before introducing them to your growing space. A clone’s stem width is a good cue to look for, as thin stems tend to mean they were taken from a weak branch and will not grow well.
Genetic Stability
Genetic stability is one of the most important factors to consider when producing a biologic. Whether it is a vaccine or a drug, transgene insertions have the potential to mutate and cause a change in the product.
Therefore, ICH Guidelines require a specific characterization of the integrity of insertion sequences to ensure that the production process and product are stable. Stability testing is an excellent way to do this.
Seeds stored for 29 days showed very low viability (P20), and 23% epigenetic changes compared to control seeds, but no differences between 13 and 29 day storage with either air or vacuum atmospheres were found (p = 0.28 and p = 0.07, Supplementary Material Table S2). Similar values were obtained when seeds were stored-imbibed.
Cost
The price of regular seed varies depending on several factors. The type of seeds, their THC levels and CBD concentrations, and the location of the supplier all affect pricing.
Feminized cannabis seeds are usually more expensive than regular seed varieties. They require extensive breeding and can take a long time to produce.
Despite these higher costs, feminized seeds can provide growers with a more consistent crop than regular varieties. This makes them an ideal choice for commercial growers looking for a specific ratio of female to male plants.
However, when working with a large pheno hunt or producing new genetics, it is better to use regular seed varieties instead of feminized ones. This will save on growing space, substrate and products such as fertilizers and insecticides. It also avoids the problem that can arise if you forget to remove males. Lastly, it is a good way to increase the overall yield of the crop.