Month: July 2023

Whether a cultivator grows regular, photoperiod or feminized seeds depends on many factors, including cultivation experience and the purposes of their crop. Some growers choose to save seed from their own gardens.

The main reason to work with regular seeds is their genetic stability. They also offer more male plants than feminized seeds do, which is very useful when pheno hunting.

Breeding

For the grower interested in breeding and creating new strains, working with regular seeds is still the best option. These will produce male plants which can be used to pollinate female flowers and create new genetic crosses. This is the process of crossbreeding which can be extremely rewarding for the gardener that enjoys this aspect of growing cannabis.

However, this does mean that you will need to cull some male plants from your crop and this can be a time-consuming process. This may also result in some of your fertile plants being wasted. This can be a significant drain on your hydro system space, nutrients and dedicated space.

However, this is a process that has been around for a long time and many gardeners that work with regular seeds find it very rewarding and exciting. These growers are often referred to as breeders and they can be found all over the world. They are usually small family-run businesses.

Cloning

The cloning process is a natural form of reproduction that many plants, fungi, and bacteria use. It allows the organisms to spread quickly and avoid unwanted mutations, but can also result in undesirable traits being passed down to future generations.

Clones can be fragile and require a very specific growing medium that must maintain a stable temperature. This can lead to them being damaged or dying before they can root.

The other drawback is that clones don’t produce seed, so growers have to buy new mother plants each time they want to take a cutting. Additionally, clones are often treated with high levels of pesticides to keep them safe during transportation. This can cause them to accumulate these chemicals in their tissue, which can then transfer to any seeds they later produce.

Mother Plants

Mother plants are essential for the cultivation of clones, as they allow for a quicker and more streamlined harvesting process. By having a set of mother plants, growers can skip the veg cycle and jump straight to flowering. Keeping healthy mother plants is crucial to producing high-quality clones, and this means pruning/trimming them regularly and observing strict cleanliness standards.

It is also a good idea to keep your mother plant away from fungus and disease, as these can quickly kill off the cuttings you are taking from her. Mother plants are also best kept in a vegetative light cycle, as this reduces the likelihood of them turning hermaphrodites due to stress. This isn’t a problem with feminized seeds, but can be an issue with regular seeds that aren’t grown to be hermies. In fact, hermaphrodites are more likely to develop on plants that have been stressed due to temperature fluctuations. This is something to be aware of when choosing your seed strain.

Genetic Stability

Genetic stability of newly introduced traits in seed produced via plant-based transgene approaches is an important part of the regulatory assessments these products undergo prior to commercialization. This involves both genotypic and phenotypic stability.

In order to know more about genetic stability of seven promising rice entries, a research was conducted through estimating agro-morphological traits under 12 Egyptian environments. Results showed that line numbers 1, 3, and 5 exhibited the highest level of genetic stability and came in first place while lines 2, 6, and 7 were close behind them.

Genetic stability studies are important in seed production because they help to ensure that the traits will continue to be transmitted through future generations. They also provide important information to plant breeders as they look for ways to further enhance the genetic gains that they’re achieving through their breeding programs. This will help to improve the stability of the traits in the field and ensure that they continue to perform the same way under a variety of environmental conditions.

If you are an intermediate grower and want to try breeding your own cultivar, regular seeds provide an excellent opportunity for this. They will germinate as expected, and can be sexed to produce the desired ratio of male to female plants.

However, they will produce males, requiring you to spend time and resources weeding out these unwanted plants. This limits your yield.

They Are Unaltered

A stalwart favourite of growers, regular seed represents the natural, unaltered cannabis plants that we were all used to till feminized and autoflowering seeds came along. These seeds produce male and female plants at an equal rate and are photoperiod, relying on the light cycle to grow into mature marijuana plants.

Growers like to work with regulars because they give them the opportunity to pheno hunt. When a male plant is spotted, it can be separated from the female and its pollen sacs can then be used to fertilize a clone. This is how new cultivars are developed.

Regular seeds also allow growers to develop strains that don’t exist as clones, which is why many classic, old school strains are still only available as regulars. They are often a more robust breed than their feminized counterparts and therefore offer a rich genetic pool for breeders to explore and exploit. This can result in the creation of unique, rare phenotypes with exciting and potent flavours.

They Are Cheaper

A lot of growers use regular seeds as a part of their seed stock making process. The process is a delicate one. Male plants must be separated from females and pollen transferred to the desired female plant. This is done to ensure that the females are pollinated and that a crop of seeds will be produced.

This can be a time consuming task and the cost of the male plants can add up. Taking this into account, some growers prefer to use feminized seeds.

Nevertheless, growing regular seeds can be rewarding, especially for experienced growers. Choosing the right strain can result in spectacular harvests that are packed full of rich, potent smoke. From euphoric highs to body relaxing effects, the possibilities are endless when it comes to selecting the perfect strain of your choice. So if you are looking for something different, why not try a sampler pack of regular seeds from Amsterdam Genetics? These mixed packs can offer a wide selection of strains that are sure to meet all your cultivation needs.

They Are Stable

Regular seeds contain both male and female DNA so they will produce an equal proportion of male and female plants at maturity. This means that you will be able to enjoy a heavy yield for the first harvest and the seedlings produced can also be used for your next crop.

However, it is important to separate the male plants from the females early on in flowering. This will prevent the male plants from pollinating the colas and ruining your crop.

This will also save you a lot of money on products such as nutrients and light that you would otherwise be wasting because you wouldn’t have to remove the male plants from the garden. This way you will be able to use the entire growing space and also ensure that your female plants are producing buds. This will improve the overall quality of your crop. This is why many growers prefer to use regular seeds rather than feminized ones.

They Are Organic

In many cases, if you like the morphology or colour of a particular strain you can replicate it through cloning. This process is essential for those who wish to grow multiple harvests or create their own strains as it allows you to preserve the genetic stability of a parent plant, whilst exploring new and exciting phenotypes. Regular seeds do not contain hermaphrodite chromosomes like feminized seeds so they are more likely to produce male plants than their feminized counterparts.

This can prove tricky for beginners, as identifying and removing male plants is necessary to avoid pollination and maintain the quality of your yield. However, with proper observation and experience this becomes easier over time. Regular seeds are great for those who want to start breeding as they can produce a ratio of male and female plants that can then be used to cultivate the next generation of strains. For this reason, it is recommended that you only purchase these seeds from reputable breeders and seed banks.

If you’re a beginner, you’ll want to pick out strains that are easy for new growers. ILGM’s selection of beginner strains is ideal for this purpose.

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Germination

The simplest and most natural way to germinate cannabis seeds is to stick them directly into their intended growing medium. This can be done in soil, but a more common method involves using jiffy pots or a similar seed propagation system. This is a great option for beginners, as it eliminates the risk of damaging a delicate seedling by transplanting it.

For best results, the seeds should be soaked in clean water for 12 hours. This will help them imbibe moisture, and encourage the embryonic root (radicle) to break through the seed shell and start absorbing nutrients.

It is important to note that the initial weeks of a seedling’s development require very little interference from the grower. Nutrients will need to be monitored, and the environment should be kept at the correct temperature and humidity, but once a seedling has sprouted and begun to take shape, it is ready for its first vegetative growth cycle.

Vegetative Growth

Cannabis plants require a healthy and robust vegetative growth phase in order to prepare for flowering. Whether you grow using SOG or SCROG methods, or simply with an indoor lighting cycle of 18 hours on and 6 hours off, the vegetative stage will take several weeks for your seedlings to develop into full fan leaves.

This is the time when you should water your plants only when the top 3cm of soil or hydro media is dry. Over-watering can starve your plants of air and lead to root rot.

When cultivators strike the perfect balance between temperature, humidity, and light conditions, their plants thrive during the vegetative stage. The best growers can help their plants stay in the nutrient sweet spot throughout the veg period, which sets the stage for a bountiful harvest. Size often equates to yield, and growers should aim for large and healthy plants in the veg phase. This means that your plants will produce a larger amount of flowers when they reach the blooming stage.

Flowering

When a cannabis plant is in its vegetative stage it’s important to provide it with the best possible environment for growth. The seeds are delicate and must be stored properly, with a dark, cool place for the best chance of survival.

Once a plant starts to elongate it’s ready to enter the flowering stage, this is when it produces its psychoactive trichomes. The trichomes are made up of THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids. These can be found in the buds that grow tightly together in a cluster called a cola. The bud is what you smoke, vape, dab, or ingest to experience the effects of the plant such as talkativeness, increased sociability, euphoria, or the munchies.

Cannabis plants are usually dioecious, but sometimes they demonstrate intersex characteristics and are referred to as hermies. It’s critical to identify male and hermie plants as early as possible and cull them before they flower. Once hermie flowers bloom they can pollinate female plants and ruin your weed harvest.

Harvest

Cannabis seeds contain a number of essential nutrients including Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, fiber, chlorophyll, antioxidants, and immune-stimulating secondary plant compounds. They also contain a significant amount of the amino acid arginine, which plays a key role in producing nitric oxide, responsible for relaxing blood vessels and promoting blood flow.

The best way to determine when a plant is ready for harvesting is to check the trichomes using a trichome viewer. Trichomes will be clear in the first stages of ripening and will become milky white as the buds mature and reach their peak potency.

If you’re growing outdoors, you’ll be at the mercy of the seasons and may have to wait for your plants to ripen naturally before harvesting. If you’re growing indoors, however, you can manipulate the ripening process by changing your lights to a 12/12 cycle (one hour of light and one of darkness). This will trigger the plants to begin the flowering stage.