What are regular cannabis seeds like? Regular cannabis seeds are just like nature designed, a perfect combination of male and female which has no special set of characteristics that sets them apart from each other. While many modern hybrid seeds have their own special qualities, usually driven by profit, autoflowering and other genetically enhanced seeds all have their own special qualities. These include cannabidiol, or CBD; THC, which is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana; delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THCV; and Cannabidiol which is almost the same as CBD. However, unlike other hybrid seeds, regular cannabis seeds have been altered, through heat treatment, and then autoflowering to make them high in CBD.
Autoflowering and autoclaving are methods used to alter the genetic makeup of plants in order to make them resistant to pests, herbicides, and disease. This makes plants more resilient, meaning that they can withstand more stress and be better able to fight off diseases and bugs. Autoflowering and autoclaving are the process through which cannabis plants are transformed from plants that are non-psychoactive (cannabis chemotypes) to those that are highly chemoactive (cannabis genotypes which are high in THC). This process, through heat treatment, makes regular cannabis seeds much more resistant to pests and disease.
How are regular cannabis seeds feminized? During the autoflowering and autoclave procedures, the female plants’ stigma cells are changed, rather than the male counterpart cells. The result is a plant with two X chromosomes instead of one, and two copies of the genes responsible for producing the specific characteristics of the desired cannabis variety. While some hybrid and crossbred cannabis varieties are known to have undergone feminization, these are very rare, and marijuana feminization occurs only in traditional breeding methods.
There are several different methods for feminizing cannabis, and the method used depends on the stage of the cannabis plant development. During the first two weeks of the growing cycle, the female plants are treated as normal and then undergo what is known as “startling.” During this time, the plant goes through a rapid maturation process. This process, during which the female plants experience multiple nights of heavy growth, causes the ovaries to release their mature egg cells into the growing media, where they are either stored for up to three months or transferred to another container for replanting.
In addition to regular seeds, hybrid and crossbred cannabis varieties can also be feminized using different methods. One method involves introducing female plants into male counterparts, and then exposing the resulting crops to heat. Heat treatments are performed using synthetic hormones or through exposure to radiation. Another method involves transforming male plants into females by means of interferon, an anti-fungal protein. This treatment is only effective during the initial five days of development, after which the crops revert to their natural state.
Crossbreeding is another method for transforming normal cannabis strains into feminized ones. In crossbreeding, the same plants are crossed with different breeds, resulting in a greater number of phenotypes. Crossbreeding can produce highly prolific phenotypes that have high yield potential; however, the process of crossbreeding introduces a certain amount of risk into the breeding process, due to the fact that the plants may not have the appropriate conditions required for successful production.
Regardless of the method of crossbreeding used to create new cannabis strains, the result will be the same: it creates new genetic combinations. The genes responsible for creating new strains can be inserted into the breeding mixture by using artificial methods, such as micrografting or needle implantation. In most cases, only one single gene is introduced per species. However, the resulting offspring still retain their individual characteristics, including breed characteristics (e.g., height) and the target trait (e.g., taste). To ensure consistent results and preserve the target trait, all subsequent plants in the gene pool must be similarly bred.
While the creation of new, unique strains is important to the cannabis industry, the main reason behind their creation is to serve as an alternative to regular cannabis seeds when breeding for profit. Despite the fact that breeding for profit can result in a loss of revenue, the increased demand created by the public allows breeders to earn a significant amount of profit by selling their individual genetics. However, despite the profits that can be made by these breeders, the overall success of breeding for profit relies on the pure genetics of the plants produced. Maintaining the targeted genetic qualities is the key to sustaining consistent yields, making it possible to produce enough cannabis each year to meet the projected demand.