Chapter Two
Selecting Seeds
Choosing the right seed is probably the most important decision a grower makes.
The seed (actually the fruit of the cannabis plant), properly known as an achene, contains the germ plasm or genetic material. This genetic material determines the plant’s potential size, shape, time to maturity, and cannabinoid content. Given adequate amounts of warmth, light, water, nutrients, oxygen and carbon dioxide, the plant can achieve the full potential that is present within the seed.
By choosing seeds from plants suited to the growing conditions in your garden, you can assure yourself of a large, potent yield.
There are several factors to consider when deciding what varieties to plant: the desired high, the maturation time, and the shape of the plant.
The high is the most important factor. Choose seeds from grass that you like. Potency should not be the sole determinant — the quality of the high is just as important. The ratios and absolute amounts of the known cannabinoids that are found in any particular sample is partly genetic, much the same as with grapes. (Each variety of grape has a distinctive taste, but there are variations from year to year because of differing climatic conditions.)
Maturation time is another important characteristic, especially for outdoor growers. Most imported marijuana now comes from Colombia or other equatorial countries with a growing season of eight to ten months. Plants from these areas have a long time in which to flower and produce seeds. When equatorial plants are grown in an area with a shorter growing season, they do not have enough time to produce mature colas, or seeds, before the end of the growing season (or before the start of the hunting season).
Ditchweed, or Midwestern cannabis, is descended from plants escaped from hemp fields. It was cultivated for fiber and seed from colonial times until the 1940s. Hemp matures in three to five months, depending on the variety. Unfortunately, most varieties contain large amounts of CBD, which doesn’t get you high, and small amounts of THC, which does.
There are several methods you can use to get plants that will mature within the American growing season. The easiest way is to choose seeds from plants acclimated to regions situated at some distance from the equator. Marijuana from northern Mexican states, such as Sonora, Sinaloa, and Jalisco, may mature up to six weeks earlier than Colombian. Other countries that grow marijuana and have shorter growing seasons are Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and northern India.
The problem with plants from these countries is that, as the distance from the equator increases, the ratio of CBD to THC increases. Marijuana from Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Nepal — countries that lie on the 30th parallel -may have equal amounts of CBD and THC. But this is not always the case. Remember that a particular population of plants (a patch or field) evolves in response to the conditions it experiences — the microclimate — rather than to the average conditions found in the region.
Another method for producing faster-maturing strains is to develop your own strain by selecting for particular qualities. For instance, you could plant a garden using an equatorial marijuana variety. By selecting for early-flowering potent plants, you can develop your strain into a fast-maturing one after several generations.
Marijuana and hemp can be crossed to produce hybrids. These plants will mature earlier than the equatorial parent and will be quite hardy, but the marijuana will not be as potent or have the same quality high as the exotic parent. Another drawback is that the progeny of the F1, or first generation — the F2 generation — will not breed true because of differences in genetic makeup.
This means that for a uniformly flowering garden, only F1 hybrids can be used. But growers can produce more than enough seed from just a pair of plants
To assure seed maturation, growing should be done in a greenhouse or indoors. Indoor growers can choose seeds and develop breeding programs based on the following considerations:
The seed (actually the fruit of the cannabis plant), properly known as an achene, contains the germ plasm or genetic material. This genetic material determines the plant’s potential size, shape, time to maturity, and cannabinoid content. Given adequate amounts of warmth, light, water, nutrients, oxygen and carbon dioxide, the plant can achieve the full potential that is present within the seed.
By choosing seeds from plants suited to the growing conditions in your garden, you can assure yourself of a large, potent yield.
Seeds vary in size and coloring according to variety. A large seed does not necessarily mean a more potent plant.
There are several factors to consider when deciding what varieties to plant: the desired high, the maturation time, and the shape of the plant.
The high is the most important factor. Choose seeds from grass that you like. Potency should not be the sole determinant — the quality of the high is just as important. The ratios and absolute amounts of the known cannabinoids that are found in any particular sample is partly genetic, much the same as with grapes. (Each variety of grape has a distinctive taste, but there are variations from year to year because of differing climatic conditions.)
Maturation time is another important characteristic, especially for outdoor growers. Most imported marijuana now comes from Colombia or other equatorial countries with a growing season of eight to ten months. Plants from these areas have a long time in which to flower and produce seeds. When equatorial plants are grown in an area with a shorter growing season, they do not have enough time to produce mature colas, or seeds, before the end of the growing season (or before the start of the hunting season).
Ditchweed, or Midwestern cannabis, is descended from plants escaped from hemp fields. It was cultivated for fiber and seed from colonial times until the 1940s. Hemp matures in three to five months, depending on the variety. Unfortunately, most varieties contain large amounts of CBD, which doesn’t get you high, and small amounts of THC, which does.
There are several methods you can use to get plants that will mature within the American growing season. The easiest way is to choose seeds from plants acclimated to regions situated at some distance from the equator. Marijuana from northern Mexican states, such as Sonora, Sinaloa, and Jalisco, may mature up to six weeks earlier than Colombian. Other countries that grow marijuana and have shorter growing seasons are Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and northern India.
The problem with plants from these countries is that, as the distance from the equator increases, the ratio of CBD to THC increases. Marijuana from Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Nepal — countries that lie on the 30th parallel -may have equal amounts of CBD and THC. But this is not always the case. Remember that a particular population of plants (a patch or field) evolves in response to the conditions it experiences — the microclimate — rather than to the average conditions found in the region.
Another method for producing faster-maturing strains is to develop your own strain by selecting for particular qualities. For instance, you could plant a garden using an equatorial marijuana variety. By selecting for early-flowering potent plants, you can develop your strain into a fast-maturing one after several generations.
Marijuana and hemp can be crossed to produce hybrids. These plants will mature earlier than the equatorial parent and will be quite hardy, but the marijuana will not be as potent or have the same quality high as the exotic parent. Another drawback is that the progeny of the F1, or first generation — the F2 generation — will not breed true because of differences in genetic makeup.
This means that for a uniformly flowering garden, only F1 hybrids can be used. But growers can produce more than enough seed from just a pair of plants
To assure seed maturation, growing should be done in a greenhouse or indoors. Indoor growers can choose seeds and develop breeding programs based on the following considerations:
- Fast development under limited-light/long-day conditions. This is similar to the light cycle experienced by northern latitude hemp plants.
- Insect and disease resistance: some plants may not get infected when the others do. The resistance could be genetic.
- Full bud development.
- Ability to regenerate for multiple flowering. Indoor plants can often be regenerated after flowering by changing the light cycle.
