With more and more people leaning towards growing new types of cannabis seeds like feminized variants, should you really set aside the traditional regular seeds? Is there a significant difference between growing feminized seeds and growing regular ones? In this article, we will look at regular seeds, feminized seeds, and find out what makes them similar, and what makes them different.
First Things First: Cannabis and Reproduction
Before you differentiate these two main types of cannabis, it is important to identify the different sexes of cannabis. A cannabis plant, just like humans, can be born male or female. In some cases, a cannabis plant can also be a hermaphrodite.
Male plants can be characterized by their pollen sacs. These are round or oval-shaped and develop during the flowering stage of the plant. On the other hand, female plants, develop pistils and flowers. These two parts catch the pollen once it is released by the male plants in order to create new seeds. So, in a simple way to look at it, male cannabis plants just have to release pollen, the female plans have to catch it, in order for reproduction to work.
The third type of cannabis plant that rarely occur are hermaphroditic plants. They contain both calyxes and pollen sacs. This usually happens when the cannabis plant encounters stress while it is growing up, making it result into survival mode. For some reason, the plant thinks that it will not experience pollination for the rest of its life, so it tries reproduction with itself. In cases like this, a female plant with pistils and calyxes also develop pollen sacs.
What Are Regular Cannabis Seeds?
Regular cannabis seeds are produced by the meeting of a male and a female plant. Just like what was described earlier, regular seeds are born from the meeting of the pollen from a male cannabis plant to a female cannabis plant. All of this happens naturally – without the interference of a grower, chemicals, or technology.
In the same way, if you plant the regular cannabis seeds that you acquire from this plant, you will experience something similar as you grow them. If you plan on growing cannabis for flowers, you have to focus on the female plant. If you grow a male plant, relocate them to a different location to avoid pollination.
What Are Feminized Cannabis Seeds?
Feminized cannabis seeds are derived from two female cannabis plants, and in return, it only produces female plants 100% of the time. Originally, feminized seeds were designed through subjecting a female cannabis plant to stress – forcing it to produce pollen. When you expose this plant to another female, she will get pollinated and will then result into the production of feminized seeds.
The Key Differences Between Regular and Feminized Cannabis Seeds
1. Though these seeds look fairly the same, they are different in their genetic makeup. Feminized cannabis seeds do not have male chromosomes, while regular cannabis seeds have the complete genetic makeup that allows them to either be male or female in terms of gender.
2. Regular cannabis seeds can be used for breeding, while feminized cannabis seeds cannot. It is very helpful for breeders who seek to improve certain characteristics in a cannabis crop. It is also helpful for growers who want to do some experimentation.
3. Regular cannabis seeds perform so much better in cloning compared to feminized cannabis seeds. Cloning feminized cannabis might not lead to great characteristics once grown.
4. Feminized seeds allow a better consumption of the growing space compared to regular seeds. This is because they give the grower the ability to get the right amount of plants you need at a particular time without having to worry if any males will show up.
Advantages Of Growing Feminized Seeds
1. By growing feminized cannabis seeds, you have the ability to make the process easier and quicker. You can eliminate the steps of having to find the sexes of the plants and having to remove them in your grow room.
2. The best part of growing feminized seeds is that it allows the efficiency in your grow space – especially if you are growing indoors with a limited area. As you will surely produce dank buds at any time, you will be able to enjoy a consistent, stable, and bountiful amount of yield.
3. Feminized seeds are strong enough to withstand different types of plant training techniques even at the early stages of growth.
Advantages Of Growing Regular Seeds
1. For many cannabis growers, finding phenotypes is the only reason why they take time on cannabis cultivation. By sticking to regular seeds, the growers are sure that they get the full lineage of the cannabis strains. This assures that you will get a genetically untouched phenotype that is totally unique and have characteristics that you can be sure of every time.
2. Another great thing about growing regular seeds is that you can create your own cannabis strain. This means that you can breed the male and female cannabis plants that you have in your own grow rooms. These will produce a strain that will feature the best characteristics of both of its parents.
3. Growing regular seeds can even give you a chance on a small scale commercial growing. You can organize a small breeding project where the bottom line is to create your own type of cannabis strain that will be enjoyed by the community for years to come. After you have practiced breeding clones and male plants, you will be able to have a strain that you can truly call your own.
4. One of the best parts of growing regular strains is that it allows you to get the old school strains that were never modified to be a part of the selection of feminized strains. If you are a fan of the early days of cannabis and you never want to forget the old school gems, you can find them among traditional regular seed breeders and include them in your next purchase.
Final Thoughts
Both regular cannabis seeds and feminized cannabis seeds offer something unique and special to the industry. At the end of the day, it all boils down to what your true purpose in cultivation is. If you are after breeding, you can go for regular seeds. If you are after a shorter growing time, you can go for feminized seeds.
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