While feminized seeds guarantee only female plants, regular seeds offer greater genetic stability. This makes them important for breeders to preserve and develop new strains.
They also allow for phenotype variation, offering variations in appearance, flavor, aroma, and effects. Growing regular seeds requires identifying and removing male plants, a process that becomes easier over time with experience.
Stable Genetics
Stable genetics refers to a strain’s ability to maintain desirable traits over generations of breeding. This is because plant breeders carefully select mother plants for specific properties they wish to see resurface in their offspring, which are referred to as phenotypes.
This process of stabilisation requires a lot of time, patience and capital, which is why so few cultivators have managed to achieve it. For those that do, their plants will display consistent cannabinoid profiles, predictable flowering times and high yields – traits that can greatly enhance the grow experience for medical and recreational users alike.
This consistency has yet to be achieved in cannabis production, which is largely due to the lack of seed specialists who can develop and patent stable genetics for commercial growth. Cultivators are instead reverting to cloning their favourite strains, which can be a labour-intensive and expensive process. With stable seeds, growers can cut costs and eliminate the need for a ‘mother room’, saving time and money while enjoying more productive harvests.
Breeding Potential
Regular cannabis seeds offer a variety of benefits for growers and breeders. They preserve genetic stability and offer a variety of phenotypes that cater to different cultivation preferences and needs. However, growing regular seeds requires identifying and removing male plants to prevent hermaphroditism, which can be time-consuming and difficult.
Feminized seeds, on the other hand, guarantee female plants and eliminate this hassle. Feminized plants are created by purposefully stressing inbred females and then harvesting pollen from the flowers to create feminized seeds.
However, this process can cause hermaphrodites, which means the seeds will contain both male and female genetics and could grow into either a male or a female plant. This makes hermaphrodite plants less reliable for breeding purposes, as they are more likely to produce hermaphrodite offspring than a purebred female plant. For this reason, many breeders prefer to use regular seeds when creating new strains. This gives them the greatest flexibility and allows them to create high-quality marijuana with desirable characteristics and attributes.
High-Quality Flower Buds
Regular seeds function the way nature intended. They have a 50% chance of developing into either male or female plants, preserving desirable traits and producing superior clones.
A fresh crop will display vibrant colors with shades of green, yellow, orange, and red. It should have trichomes covering the buds with a shimmering, pearl-like appearance. It should also emit a musty, musky aroma that indicates it has been properly cured.
Fast-flowering strains are designed to deliver high-quality buds and bountiful harvests. They are typically compact in size and offer resistance to common cannabis pests. They may also feature unique aromas, flavors, and effects that cater to individual preferences and cultivation goals.
Easy to Grow
This strain is a great choice for beginners because it grows easily. It flowers in about 10 weeks, is hardy and disease-resistant, and can thrive both indoors and outdoors in warmer climates. Its unique flavors of caramel, honey, vanilla, and toffee will make your mouth water. It has medical uses too, especially for pain relief.
Regular seeds can produce male plants, which are not desirable for weed cultivation because they will pollinate female plants and create smokable buds. This is why it’s important for growers to select and keep only the best phenotypes.
White Widow is one of the most popular strains in the cannabis industry. It has become a household name thanks to its sativa effects and moderate THC level. It’s also easy to grow, and its high-yielding plants produce trichome-encrusted buds in 7-9 weeks. It’s also a good choice for beginner growers because it can tolerate harsher growing conditions. This is why it’s a top choice among breeders.
