For growers who wish to make their own strains, regular seed offers much more choice. It also allows the specialist to create his own phenotypes with precise characteristics that are not available in feminized seed.
Using regular seeds can also save on cost, in terms of the amount of growing space and wasted nutrients that is used when sexing plants.
Genetic Stability
Genetic stability is the ability of a strain to maintain its desired characteristics. This is important for breeding because it ensures that the desired traits will resurface in new plants. Stable genes will also produce a consistent plant with predictable properties. These properties are known as phenotypes and include flavor, scent, high, size of the plant, and many other characteristics.
Demonstration of the genetic stability of traits introduced into a plant genome via gene editing approaches forms a significant portion of the molecular characterization assessment required by most regulatory authorities allowing commercial authorization of seed products. This is assessed at the DNA (also called transcript) and protein levels and includes a variety of analytical techniques.
The analysis tests for stability of the inserted DNA sequence, inheritance pattern, and expression in different generations using various analytical approaches including sequencing, Southern blot, and RT-PCR. For the events discussed here, no sequence differences and stable protein production were observed in multiple assessments over several breeding generations.
Flowering Time
There are a number of advantages to choosing regular seeds over feminized ones. For one, they allow for a greater variety of cultivars to be preserved in their original form. In addition, a grower can get more out of their hydro system space and nutrients by not having to dispose of any male plants that are produced during the flowering process.
While most seed companies state a typical flowering time for their strains, it can vary depending on the germination and vegetative period. It can also depend on the climate and soil conditions that your plants are grown in. During the first week of flowering, your plant will start to stretch, and you’ll notice trichomes developing around the nodes on the stem. This is a sign that it’s time to increase the amount of flowering nutrients. It’s also important to check the plants for sex at this point; female plants will start growing white hairs at their nodes, while male plants will produce round pollen sacs.
Yield
Regular seeds are ideal for growers seeking a pure and potent crop. They produce a lot of resinous buds that are packed full of cannabinoid and aromatic terpenes which are responsible for the plant’s sought-after effects. The plants are also very suitable for Sea of Green (SoG) growing methods where multiple small plants are planted together to increase yields.
The best reason to grow regular cannabis seeds is to breed your own strains. By brushing pollen from male plants against females, you can create fertilised offspring that display the desired traits such as a particular morphology or flavour profile.
For this reason, many professional and amateur gardeners choose to work with regular sexed marijuana plants. This allows them to practise their growing skills and produces a larger selection of phenotypes to use in breeding projects. It also reduces the amount of space and wasted nutrients used when sexing a large number of plants. This can save you a significant amount of money in the long run.
Cost
Regular seed is a more expensive option than feminized. However, it is a good choice for beginner growers because it doesn’t come with the risk of producing hermaphrodite plants.
Feminized seeds can produce hermaphrodite plants that could pollinate your entire crop if you don’t cull them quickly enough. Because of this, feminized seeds tend to be more popular among first-time growers.
However, if you’re interested in breeding your own strains and capturing unique phenotypes, you’ll need regular seeds. It’s also important to understand that cloning is only possible with regular seeds. Cloning allows you to duplicate the morphology, potency and flowering time of a particular plant. It’s an exciting prospect that requires a lot of work and research, but it can be worth it in the long run. The best part about cloning is that you can make your own genetically identical plants! This is one of the most popular uses for regular cannabis seeds.