Cannabis is a group of flowering plants belonging to the Cannabaceae family. Its exact number of species is still unclear, with three main species being recognized as C. sativa, C. indica, and C. Ruderalis. However, the genetic standing of C. Ruderalis is still a matter of dispute, as many categorize it as a Sativa variety.
These three cannabis species have different seed types you can plant. Whether you want to grow them for your personal or commercial use, getting the right information about these seeds is critical. You need to understand these seed types and their ideal growing environments and needs before choosing them.
Therefore, this post discusses the three main weed seeds on the market. We shed light on their suitability, disadvantages, and advantages. Keep reading to make an informed choice.
Contents
Regular Seeds
We start our discussion on a regular note by examining regular weed seeds. These seeds are produced by crossbreeding male and female cannabis plants. They can be male or female. When growing these seeds, the exact male-to-female ratio remains unknown until the plants start flowering and displaying their sex.
Female plants produce the desired flowers, allowing growers to experience the full expression of that strain’s genetic lineage. After the sexes start manifesting, you need to segregate them to prevent pollination that spreads up to 3.75 miles apart.
You have to discard the male plants because they don’t produce many flowers to give you enough cannabinoids. Reduced cannabinoid levels mean that the final product you get from your plants will be of poor quality, not giving consumers value for their money.
However, male weed plants have other benefits their female counterparts lack. For instance, they produce a soft material used to produce hemp. Some hemp products these seeds help produce are shoes, clothes, fiber, ropes, and general household items requiring soft, durable fiber. The males can also produce aromatic oils used to control pests in gardens.
Advantages of Regular Seeds
- 100% pure because they aren’t genetically modified.
- They produce both genders, promoting new seed creation.
- They contain no chemical agents, unlike feminized seeds.
- Seeds(male) are useful for other purposes, for instance, hemp production.
- They offer many strain varieties of classic and modern genetics.
- Breeders can build pollen banks using male plants.
- They offer healthy cuttings for cloning.
- They give you an equal chance of getting male and female plants.
Disadvantages of Regular Seeds
- Getting a particular gender can be unpredictable.
- Inexperienced growers can misidentify male and female plants.
- Accidental males in the cultivation room can fertilize their female counterparts.
- They require a grower to establish a separate grow tent or greenhouse for males and females.
Determining Your Cannabis Plant’s Sex
Identifying your plants’ sex is crucial. You can do it after four to six weeks of the growing cycle. To identify a plant’s sex, you should check between its nodes. The nodes are found on the stems where the branches and leaves are. Check the nodes to locate the growth of small sacks of two bracts.
The pollen sacks grow on male plants, and they spread stigma and seeds to female plants. Bracts grow on female cannabis plants and enable them to perform their reproductive duties. They appear as green tear-shaped leaves.
Who Should Grow Regular Seeds?
You should grow regular seeds if you want male and female plants. Getting these sexes at your disposal allows you to create your own strains. This way, you can choose plants with your preferred traits and use them to create your customized varieties. You can freely modify their size, productivity, cannabinoid content, and terpene profiles.
You may also cultivate regular seeds if you want to get cuttings, or clones. The clones are great for cloning, which saves you the germination stage and lets you create plants with exact features like their parents. Other seeds produce poor-quality and weak clones or don’t produce them at all (like autoflower seeds). Also, check out How to Get Grammarly Premium For Free in 2024?
Feminized Seeds
Feminized seeds grow into female weed plants that produce the flowers that all cultivators want. These seeds are produced when female plants produce male flowers. This instance results from introducing light at appointed times during the dark flowering hours. Alternatively, it occurs by spraying a plant’s flower sites with colloidal silver to produce a chemical change in the plant. Eventually, this change produces male flowers with pollen.
The resulting pollen from a female plant is used to fertilize other female plants. Results? All the plants are females because their parents were females.
Advantages of Feminized Seeds
- Feminized weed plants produce sensimilla, which is necessary for producing high-quality consumer products.
- You can maximize your growing space by germinating only necessary seeds.
- They save you time and labor you would waste by removing male plants.
- They eliminate the 50:50 genetic gamble regular seeds have.
- You don’t need to waste time determining plant sex. This exercise can be challenging for new farmers.
- Streamlining the growing process is easier.
Disadvantages of feminized seeds
- These plants aren’t suitable for breeding.
- They produce weaker clones.
- You must start from the germination stage because their clones are weaker; thus, you spend more time.
- Sometimes they turn into hermaphrodites because of poor genetics or environmental stress.
Who should grow feminized seeds?
You need to consider these seeds if you want to get the best resinous flowers. They are ideal for a new grower who doesn’t have the experience to distinguish between male and female plants.
Auto-flower Seeds
Auto-flowering weed seeds are hybrids from Indica or Sativa plants that were crossbred with the Ruderalis species. This cannabis species is suitable for regions with shorter summer seasons and colder climates, like Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. These climatic conditions force the plants to start flowering automatically after a short period. Thus, the ruderalis weed plants have developed this fast flowering ability based on age and time, not a light exposure change.
These plants derive their name from their ability to bloom without changes in the light cycle. Growing them is easy, and they flower faster than other seeds. Their opposite are photoperiod breeds. These weeds need shorter light cycles to trigger blooming, which signals the fall’s arrival and cold days ahead.
Most growers don’t cultivate pure Ruderalis plants because they are small, shrubby, low in THC levels, and generate low harvests. However, the crossbreeds of Indica and Sativa with the Ruderalis variety are a safe deal for most growers who want to make their favorite strains auto-flower. You can get more details and buy cannabis seeds here – https://askgrowers.com/seeds.
Advantages of Auto-Flowering Seeds
- They require minimal daylight, reducing plant scheduling for growers.
- They grow faster.
- They are hardy plants that can easily resist common garden challenges.
- They are small and compact-sized.
- They are rich in CBD.
- Their hardy genetics make growing them easy and rookie-friendly.
Disadvantages of Auto-Flowering Seeds
- They produce lower yields.
- These plants contain less THC and are less potent than photoperiod strains.
- They don’t produce clones.
Who Should Plant Auto-Flowering Seeds?
You should go for these seeds if you want plants that mature for harvest fast. They suit a grower who wants to maximize their returns quickly. The plants’ small size makes them suitable for growers with limited growing spaces. Besides, they make some of the best breeds for the Sea of Green (SOG) growing technique.
Parting Shot
You need to select your weed seeds carefully because they significantly determine many parameters of your growing experience and its output. Whether you want to grow cannabis for its health benefits or for commercial use, paying attention to seed types is vital. Here, we discussed top weed seeds with their advantages, disadvantages, and suitability. Use these details to make an informed choice that will boost your growing proficiency.
