Regular seed is a popular choice for growers who want to create their own strains. They produce both male and female plants, which allow breeders to cross them and create new strains. This type of seed is also easier to use for cloning.
However, there are several reasons why growers should consider using feminized seeds instead. These include:
High-quality genetics
Unlike feminized seeds, regular ones endure a minimal amount of genetic tampering and are much more likely to produce robust descendants. This makes them an excellent choice for growers that intend to breed their own strains of cannabis.
The seeds produced by a regular plant are more likely to produce male plants than females, but this can be easily overcome by growing the plants in separate rooms and removing any males before they begin to flower. The sex of a seedling can also be determined by observing the plants during their pre-flowering phase.
Purchasing high-quality marijuana seeds is essential to a successful cultivation experience. Ensure that the seeds you buy are from a reputable breeder or seed bank to guarantee consistent genetics and a healthy crop. The seeds should also be kept in a stable environment with a suitable temperature, humidity, light cycles, and other factors that affect germination and growth. This will minimize stress and prevent the development of hermaphrodite plants, which may decrease yield and quality.
Stable plant genetics
As cannabis is a dioecious plant, it must produce both male and female plants to reproduce. While feminized seed can yield much higher harvests because growers don’t have to worry about weeding out the male plants, it comes with an inherent risk of genetic instability and loss of uniformity.
Regular seeds are more stable because they have not undergone any genetic modification. They are bred by crossing a hermaphrodite parent with a male that has desirable traits. This produces a filial-1, or F1, hybrid that exhibits a high degree of heterozygosis and has unpredictable Mendelian ratios.
Breeders can then select a specimen from this heterozygous population and breed it with an inbred female parent line to create the F2 generation. This process continues for several generations, until a desirable strain with stable genetics is achieved. This is a lengthy, expensive, and labor intensive process that requires patience and a lot of investment in breeding. Stable seeds can then be sold directly to growers or licensed for use by other companies to further develop and impart desired characteristics.
Diversity of phenotypes
Regular seed offers many opportunities for cultivation and genetic exploration. Unlike feminized seeds, which guarantee female plants, regular seed can produce male and female plants. However, sexing plants and removing hermaphrodites is essential to prevent pollination. This process requires time, patience, and expertise. However, it is worth the effort if you’re interested in phenotype variation and preserving genetic stability.
PCA and correlation analyses of phenotypic traits showed that 35 phenotypes could be classified into five categories. These groups correlated well with each other and reflected the eigenvalues of PC1, PC2, and PC3. The clusters of phenotypes were similar to those found in previous studies. The clusters contained branches, leaves, inflorescence, and fruit traits. The clusters of branch, flower, and fruit traits correlated with each other more than with the cluster of seed traits. This result suggests that functional trait diversity may be important for ecological restoration. It is also critical for delivering ecosystem services based on biodiversity.
Easy to breed
SSSC regular cannabis seeds are perfect for growers who want to experiment with creating new strains by crossing them. The resulting plants will produce male and female offspring that inherit the characteristics of their parents. This is a more natural and sustainable process than producing feminized seeds. It also eliminates the need to remove 40% of your crop once you have sexed it, which can save a lot of growing space and nutrients.
The best cannabis breeders choose to use regular seeds because they preserve the genetic stability of a strain, making it easy to create new hybrids. They can also be used as mother plants to produce clones. Clones are highly valued by cultivators because they are an efficient way to produce new marijuana plants with specific phenotypes. In addition, they tend to be more vigorous and can tolerate stress better than feminized marijuana plants. However, regular seeds do have a higher risk of hermaphroditism, which can cause unwanted pollination. This is why it’s important to select a trustworthy breeder or seed bank.
