Month: August 2023

Unless you buy feminized seeds, it’s likely your new plants will be regular. This means they have a 50% chance of emerging as male or female plants.

Male plants pollinate females, reducing the potential yield of your crop. Identifying and eliminating them early on ensures your harvest is maximised.

Many growers choose regular seed for its breeding potential, creating new phenotypes and strains with desirable traits. This requires patience and cultivation experience.

Breeding

Breeding is the process of combining plants or animals with different characteristics in order to create offspring with desirable traits. This can be done through artificial selection or crossbreeding. Many crops are bred to be more nutritious, resistant to disease, or have higher yields. Breeding also refers to the process of selecting, cloning, and propagating seeds for commercial production.

In traditional breeding, inbred female seed parent lines are evaluated as full-siblings to choose superior individuals that are then recombined with genetically diverse male parent plants. In this process, only a fraction of 2,000 “sister” lines will be selected and ultimately produced as a new variety; the rest are eliminated during the evaluation period for unfavorable agronomic and molecular traits.

A low heritability for germination and emergence traits limits the potential of improving these traits through conventional breeding. However, genetic variation for germination performance is correlated with the allele frequencies of certain marker loci (see Figure 9). Selection for a particular haplotype can enhance germination without negatively impacting essential seed quality traits.

Cloning

Cloning is a form of reproduction that creates genetically identical plants or organisms from a single parent. Clones can be produced from existing plants or from body cells extracted from an adult human or animal. Clones can also be grown in a lab using special conditions.

Clones offer a number of advantages for growers. They are an exact copy of their mother plant so they will grow and flower the same way, and they can be injected with hormones to speed up the growth process and reduce the time to harvest.

There are a few downsides to using clones though. The biggest is that they can carry flaws inherited from their mothers, such as hidden genetic defects or weaknesses to diseases and pests. It’s important to choose a healthy mother plant that has been well-vegged before cuttings are taken. You should also avoid taking clones from a plant that has been exposed to disease or pests, which could potentially ruin your entire crop.

Pollination

Pollination is the process of transferring pollen grains (male genetic material) from an anther to a stigma. This is necessary for fertilization and seed production in flowering plants. Some flowers are able to self-pollinate, but most require pollen from another flower of the same or a different species in order to fertilize their ovules and produce seeds. This can happen naturally by wind or with the assistance of insects or other animals, such as birds, flies, bees and butterflies.

In some cases, animal pollinators are a bit more efficient than wind at moving pollen from one flower to another. This is usually because the pollinators visit a large number of flowers within a given area, increasing the odds that they will transfer pollen to the right flower. However, even “efficient” animal pollinators can sometimes fail to get the job done. This is a matter of luck. It’s also a factor in why some species of plants are unable to reproduce with other members of the same species, such as in the case of solitary bees.

Genetics

One of the most important things to consider when choosing regular seeds is their lineage. To some growers, especially those who enjoy a more traditional style of cannabis, the genetics of each variety is very important, as they look for specific growth, flowering and psychoactive traits that are consistent throughout the strain.

As the name suggests, regular seeds are sown with pollen from a male plant, rather than being subjected to the chemical spraying process used in feminized seed production. This means that there is a higher chance of hermaphrodite plants being produced during the growing process, which can cause stress to your plants and reduce the overall potency of your harvest. As a result, many growers prefer to choose regular seeds in order to avoid the stress and extra work that comes with hermaphrodite flowers. They also offer a more natural approach to breeding, which some find more desirable in terms of the integrity of the strain’s lineage.

If you want to cultivate weed, you should buy seeds that are known for high THC levels and good yields. You should also choose feminized seeds, which are engineered to produce female plants only.

Germinating cannabis seeds can be a lengthy process, but it is possible to speed up the process by following some tips. These include lowering oxygen levels and temperature storage.

White Widow

Despite being one of the more popular cannabis strains around, White Widow seeds are not always easy to find. If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on some, then you can start cultivating this classic marijuana variety and enjoy its many benefits.

First bred in the 1990s by Green House Seeds, this hybrid is named for the white crystals that cover its buds. It’s also well-known for its strong THC content — usually between 16-26%.

The plant is mold-resistant and grows well indoors as well as outdoors in warm climates. It responds well to the SCRoG method and produces high yields when cultivated properly.

This strain is often used recreationally for its euphoric and social-stimulating effects. It’s said to increase focus and can help alleviate anxiety and depression. Medical patients use it for pain and insomnia relief, too. It’s best to start with a low dose of this marijuana strain to avoid side effects like dry mouth and eyes.

Animal Cookies

Animal Cookies is a hybrid strain that is a cross between GSC and Fire OG. It is a popular choice for medical and recreational cannabis users because it offers uplifting and stress-relieving effects. It also has a sweet and earthy flavor that is pleasing to the palate.

It is a moderately difficult strain to grow, but it is well worth the effort. It grows best indoors, but it can also be cultivated outdoors in warm and sunny conditions. Regular trimming is important, as it promotes lateral growth and improves light penetration.

The seeds for this strain can be purchased from a variety of marijuana seed banks. Many of these offer a wide selection of regular and feminized varieties, as well as a number of different payment options. Make sure to choose a bank that is committed to providing quality seeds. They should use strict quality control measures to ensure that the seeds are free of contaminants.

Northern Lights

Buying in bulk is a wise choice for cannabis and Kratom enthusiasts who want to maintain a steady supply of these popular commodities. Buying in large quantities allows you to experiment with different strains, find your favorite, and save money in the process.

The precise origins of Northern Lights are a bit cloudy, but this classic cultivar is widely believed to have come from Afghani inbreeds. It is also known for containing Thai sativa genetics. Breeders who have worked with this variety claim that it yields high THC levels and provides smokers with a soothing euphoria.

Feminized Northern Lights seeds produce plants with compact growth, stout branches, and close-spaced internodes. These traits make this cultivar easy to grow indoors in regulated spaces. It is also suitable for outdoor growing in a warm, temperate climate. This strain’s aroma evokes the great outdoors, with notes of pine and earth. Smoking this strain gives you a relaxing and uplifting buzz that is perfect for stress relief.

Blue Dream

Blue Dream is a sativa-dominant strain that delivers a balanced high. This strain has been used to help alleviate nausea and vomiting, stimulate the appetite, and increase focus and creativity. It also has mood-enhancing properties and provides an energetic high that is perfect for daytime use.

This strain is easy to grow and is resistant to pests. It requires moderate amounts of nutrients and a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. It thrives in well-draining soil and does best with a regular feeding schedule. Be careful not to overfeed, as this can lead to nutrient burn. It also prefers warm and stable temperatures and a moderate amount of humidity.

This cannabis seed is a good choice for both beginners and professionals. It grows with ease and produces a good harvest. Soak the seeds in a bowl of water for about 24 hours and then transplant them into a well-draining pot with a light potting mix. Then, provide 18 hours of light per day during the vegetative phase and 12/12 hours of light when you’re ready to switch to flowering.

Seed is a mature ovule comprising an embryo or miniature undeveloped plant and food reserves enclosed within a protective outer covering, known as a seed coat (testa). Open pollinated plants such as heirloom varieties usually grow true to type from seed.

Seeds disperse in many ways. Some have wings or barbs that attach to animal fur or feathers, and others float in water. Others have hard or thick seed coats that require physical or chemical stimulus to break a physical or chemical dormancy.

Definition

The seed of a plant is its embryonic beginning, enclosed within a protective coating and with some stored food materials. Seeds are the means of reproduction for all flowering plants. Seeds are also important as sources of many foods, including wheat, corn, beans and peanuts.

The embryo is surrounded by a nutrient tissue, called endosperm and a protective seed coat. The nutrient tissue is often composed of starch and proteins.

Seeds vary in size, shape and color. They may be discoid (having thick sides and rounded corners), ellipsoid, lenticular or ovoid. Some seeds are striped or patterned with lines or ridges. All seeds can grow into a new plant given the right conditions. This is known as germination. The first part of the new plant that emerges is called the radicle and is followed by a stem, then leaves called cotyledons.

Origin

Seeds represent one of the most complex and evolutionary successful methods of sexual reproduction in vascular plants. They evolved in the gymnosperms and angiosperms (which account for most biodiversity today). Other plants such as ferns, mosses and liverworts do not produce seeds but use water-dependent means to propagate themselves.

A seed consists of an embryo with stored food and a protective covering, called the integument. The integument may consist of one or two cotyledons, or in the case of some flowering plants, of a tissue derived from the nucellus called perisperm.

In a seed plant the male gametophyte is hidden in the pollen grain and the female gametophyte in the ovule. This arrangement is known as heterospory. Experiments have shown that a 2m:1p genomic ratio in the endosperm is critical for normal seed development.

Structure

Seeds may differ from one another in shape, size and surface but they have similar structure. They contain a fertilized mature ovule (embryonic plant) inside a protective coating called a seed coat.

The embryo develops into a new plant when the seed grows. This is aided by the food stored in the seed known as endosperm. The embryo may have only one cotyledon or seed leaf (Monocotyledons) or two cotyledons (Dicotyledons). There is a root part called radicle and a prospective shoot called plumule at either end of the embryonal axis.

There is also a seed coat, which can be smooth, wrinkled, ribbed or striate. The seed coat protects the embryo from microbes and the environment. It has a scar on the top called a hilum and a small pore called a micropyle.

Function

Seeds have an extraordinary ability to wait, often for a long time, until external conditions are suitable for them to sprout into new plants. Besides their genetic information, seeds also contain food stored in the endosperm or cotyledons.

The seed coat, a protective cuticle, may also play an important role in seed viability. It is a physical barrier against pathogen penetration and provides the seed with a degree of protection against harsh environments.

In some cases, the seed coat is colored or contains antifungal compounds, for example glucosinolates in brassicaceous crops. Studies of mutants impaired in the production of these seed coat pigments have revealed that genes involved are involved in synthesis and compartmentation of PA flavonoid compounds. Moreover, it is likely that the activity of seed DNA ligases is essential to maintenance of seed viability during storage and germination.

Dispersal

Some plants use animal dispersal to get their seeds to new places. Fleshy fruit or seedpods often have burrs or barbs that catch on animals’ fur, feathers or digestive tracts (endozoochory). Others have wings for wind dispersal.

Other fruits crack open when ripe and shoot their seeds out into the environment. Examples include apples, figs and gorse. This is known as ephemeral dispersal.

Many tree species that produce fleshy fruits rely on hitchhiking animals as their free “bus” for seed dispersal. All major groups of vertebrates including mammals, birds and reptiles act as animal dispersers. Even large carnivorous frugivores like our lions and jaguar can disperse tree seeds by simply brushing against them.