Regular seed requires more experience to cultivate, since growers must carefully weed out male plants to prevent them from pollinating the whole crop. This process involves looking for minuscule sprouts that resemble hairs and discarding any that appear.
However, growing regular seeds offers several advantages that feminized ones do not. Some old-school strains never made the cut for feminization and could benefit from a grower’s attention and effort.
Breeding
With all the focus on feminized seeds, it is easy to forget that regular seeds still work perfectly well. While you will need to do some work weeding out male plants, this can be more than worthwhile in terms of a superior harvest.
You will also save on growing medium, nutrients, and energy by not having to sexed your plants. This can save you a lot of money in the long run.
When breeding, you will find that regular seeds give a 50% chance of producing both male and female plants. This is exactly how nature intended, and it gives breeders the freedom to create a new cultivar or take clones of plants with the exact characteristics they desire.
In addition, many old-school strains that existed before the feminized market boom never got feminized and passed into obscurity. Using regular seeds can give you access to these gems that have been preserved in their original form for decades.
Cloning
Cloning is a form of reproduction that is used by plants, animals, and fungi. It involves transferring an embryo’s DNA into another egg cell that has had its nucleus removed. This embryo will then grow into many different types of cells and tissues. Scientists can use cloned embryos to develop nerve cells to fix spinal cord injuries or insulin-producing cells to treat diabetes.
Scientists are also using cloning to save endangered species of animal. For example, a baby guar was recently cloned from a surrogate mother. However, cloning is not without its drawbacks. For one, cloned animals don’t have the same genetic diversity as regular seeds. This can lead to diseases and a higher susceptibility to pests and parasites. In addition, clones cannot crossbreed to produce new strains. If you want to develop a new cultivar, you’ll need seeds instead of clones. That’s why most growers prefer to work with regular seeds.
Old-school genetics
Old-school genetics refer to classic cannabis strains that are established and fully proven. These strains are easy to grow and produce high-yielding crops with top-quality results. They’re also great for creating hybrids and crosses. Many of these classic old school strains have won numerous cannabis cups and are still popular among growers today.
Founded in Barcelona, Spain, Old School Genetics is a European marijuana seed company created from a collective of amazing breeders. The main man behind this committed breeding company is Oldman Green, a well-known grower who’s best known for his Peach Slush strain from the mid 1990’s that won quite a few awards.
Old School Genetics has a massive library of rare cannabis cuts from iconic seedbanks and growing collectives which they use to create unique hybrid cannabis strains. The latest release from this highly respected Spanish seed bank includes a collaboration with Karma Genetics on most of their varieties and an exclusive collaboration with GG Strains for the beautiful OS Glue variety.
Price
While feminized seeds are in high demand and sell for higher prices, regular seed is still available. Some gardeners choose to buy regular seeds and separate male plants from females for breeding. This process is time-consuming and requires a lot of effort. However, it also allows gardeners to experiment with phenotypes and find new strains.
Unlike feminized seeds, which only grow into female plants, regular seeds have a 50% chance of growing either male or female plants. This explains why they are cheaper. Obtaining feminized seeds is more complex, as breeders need to halt the production of ethylene and force the plants to produce pollen sacs.
These seeds are often preferred by those who want to breed for specific traits like aroma, taste, THC content, and CBD levels. The best regular seeds come from old-school cultivars that never got feminized in the weed rush of the 90s. One such seed is Bruce Banner, which smells of ripe blueberries and delivers potent effects.