Many growers ask why Sensi Seeds carries regular seed in addition to feminized. The answer is simple: breeding!
Regular seeds offer breeders more genetic stability, which is beneficial for creating new strains. They also provide the possibility of phenotype variation, meaning each plant may have slightly different traits including growth pattern, leaf and stem development, scent, yield, insect resistance, terpene profile and THC/CBD ratio.
Stable Genetics
In order to stabilise a strain, breeders need to cross together plants with desired traits over several generations. This process of inbreeding will help to ensure that the desired characteristics are dominant and more easily expressed, while unwanted characteristics become gradually recessive and eventually disappear from the strain’s gene pool.
A stable genetic line can be created using F1 hybrids if the parents have desirable qualities, however, this requires a lot of time and effort to achieve robust stability. A more efficient way to stabilise a strain is through back-crossing, which can reduce the number of generations needed to stabilise a specific trait.
As the cannabis industry takes a cue from agriculture, we expect to see more specialised seed companies that offer stable genetics and plant trait development. This could free up growers to focus on what they do best and create high-demand cultivars. The emergence of these specialist agtech companies could also make stabilised seed a viable revenue stream for the industry.
Less Expensive
Due to the natural process of producing seeds, regular seed is a cheaper option than other types. Compared to feminized seed, which is produced by spraying female plants with an unpleasant-sounding chemical that triggers them to produce male pollen sacs, regular seed is a more organic and sustainable way of producing cannabis.
Regular seeds also offer a more varied genetic strain than feminized seed, as they preserve the genetic stability of the parent plants and allow for phenotype variation in offspring. This variation offers growers and breeders the opportunity to experiment with different strains and create new hybrids that may offer unique flavors, aromas, and effects.
However, growing regular seed is not without its challenges. Unlike feminized seed, which produces only female plants, regular seed has a chance of producing hermaphroditic plants (females with both male and female reproductive organs). This requires careful monitoring and removal to ensure that only the desired plant is harvested for flower production.
Easy To Breed
Regular seeds preserve the genetic stability of their parent strains, making them ideal for breeding cannabis. This allows breeders to create a variety of phenotypes that produce unique flavors, aromas, effects, and appearances. It also allows growers to make their own strains by crossing different varieties to produce new hybrids.
While feminized seeds are great for those who only want female plants, there are advantages to using regular seed as well. First, it is easy to find a wide range of strains. Second, regular seeds are less expensive than feminized seeds.
However, growing regular seeds requires more care and attention from a grower than feminized seeds. This is because regular seed has a chance of producing hermaphrodite plants that contain both male and female reproductive organs. This means that a grower must carefully monitor their crop and remove hermaphrodite plants before they flower. This can lead to unwanted pollination and decreased quality in the final harvest.
Create Your Own Strains
Just like you and your siblings might have different physical attributes from your parents, each seed created through cross-pollination will also express a unique combination of characteristics from the parent strains. For many growers and breeders, this diversity is a welcome addition to the harvest.
However, the majority of growers prefer a stable strain with predictable effects and an excellent terpene profile. The best way to achieve this is by selecting a few specimens and backcrossing them with each other until they create offspring that embody your desired qualities.
While it isn’t everyone’s ambition to become a cannabis breeder, creating your own regular strain can be a fun and rewarding experience. Just be sure to select the best specimens from the crop and treat them well in order to ensure a successful breeding process. The results will be well worth the effort. If you are able to create a cannabis strain that you can be proud of, then it will make the long wait for your next harvest all the more worthwhile.