Formerly, you could only choose between regular Indica, Sativa or Hybrid seeds. Seed banks and breeders have done a tremendous amount of research and development into different types of seeds, and we’ll let you know about them here.
Cannabis Seed Species
Indica Seeds
Indica strains stand out for their optimal yield/life cycle ratio. They are usually more productive than Sativa strains and they also take less time to complete their development.
The productive advantage of this type of cannabis seed is due to the high density of their buds, which also makes them more prone to mold, especially in areas of high humidity and temperature.
Cannabis species are differentiated by the characteristic shapes each adopts during growth. Indica seeds develop into a bushy shape; topping or using an LST technique can help increase their yield so that light can better penetrate all parts of the plant (if you want to know more about cultivation techniques we invite you to visit our post of it in our blog). The dark green tones and the wide shape of their leaves also give away Indica strains.
Due to their short stature, these types of cannabis seeds are ideal for growing indoors or in places with limited space. Their short flowering cycle also makes them ideal for outdoor use.
Sativa Seeds
Sativa strains are less productive than Indica strains, so to obtain the same amount of flowers, you need to plant more seeds.
Their buds are airier and fluffier giving them greater resistance to humidity and mold than the Indica seeds.
In addition, the THC level of this type of cannabis seeds is higher, and their effects are more cerebral and energizing. They offer exotic and tropical flavors.
Their flowers grow airy and elongated. The leaflets are much more widely separated and have light green hues.
Leaflets: Individual parts that sometimes divide the leaf blade.
Due to their tall stature and the amount of space they require to grow, planting Sativa seeds indoors or on balconies requires practicing techniques that replace vertical growth with horizontal growth.
Hybrid Seeds
Hybrid cannabis seed types arise from the mixing of two genetics, a Sativa and an Indica, to create seeds with enhanced characteristics.
The goal of hybridization are to reduce the flowering time of a Sativa, give exotic flavors to Indica strains, and achieve greater productivity from a Sativa by producing denser, tighter buds like an Indica.
Seed banks constantly create hybrid seeds to develop new varieties and offer the best plants. When two varieties are crossed, what is known as a Phenotype appears: plants with different characteristics but the same genetics.
Ruderalis Seeds
Ruderalis seeds are the least known because virtually no seed banks sell them. They are only used as part of hybridization; the union of a Ruderalis with another species transforms it into an autoflowering strain after proper stabilization.
Ruderalis cannabis are wild plants native to the coldest areas of northern Europe, central Russia and Siberia. The limited hours of daylight, along with constant frost, forced this type of marijuana seed to adapt to the environment, forcing it to flower without changes in light and under extreme temperatures.
This type of marijuana seed has THC levels below 3% and barely grows compared to other varieties. They are compact, very robust, and resistant.
Regular seeds
Regular seeds were the first used for cannabis cultivation. They are characterized by being able to germinate both male and female plants. These types of marijuana seeds typically germinate 90% as males.
Male seeds produce the pollen that females require to create seeds, which can be cultivated to create new plants, but females are also the producers of flowers. A pollinated female produces a poor yield, full of seeds and with poor quality. Therefore, the usual course of action was to discard the male plants once they were identified.
Nowadays, the use of this type of marijuana seeds has been limited to growers who raise their own hybrids or seed banks for the same purpose.
If you want to know more about Male and Female plants or seeds of cannabis we invite you to visit our post in the blog.
Feminized Seeds
Fem seeds are those that have been modified to be incapable of creating male chromosomes, constantly growing female plants that will create the buds.
The feminization of any type of cannabis seed is a lengthy process that requires extensive testing and time to ensure its stability and consistency, allowing it to be declared feminized.
This process has achieved a 99.9% effectiveness rate, so there will always be a minimal chance of germinating a male plant. Any type of feminized marijuana seed is a better option than a regular one for growers. These seeds eliminate the need to differentiate the sex of the plants and be constantly alert to remove the males in time to avoid spoiling your harvest.
Autoflowering Seeds
This seeds are capable of changing phases regardless of the environmental conditions surrounding them. They are self-programmed to begin flowering obviusly after the appropriate weeks of growth.
They are very easy to grow because this type of marijuana seed can develop with up to a couple of hours of light per day. In fact, they have a high tolerance to light pollution, so interrupting their hours of darkness will not affect them.
Autoflowering seeds are created by mixing the genetics of a Feminized or Regular seed with a Ruderalis. From the Ruderalis they acquire a shorter life cycle, slower growth, resistance, and the ability to autoflower under almost any circumstances.
These are harvested 10-12 weeks after germination. Their yield is lower than that of feminized seeds.
These seeds are what we sometimes call automatic seeds.
CBD Seeds
All types of CBD marijuana seeds have the same characteristics as Feminized, Regular or Autoflowering seeds but with a higher CBD level than conventional seeds. In many cases, efforts are made to reduce the THC level as much as possible so that they can be used for medicinal purposes.
These seeds never contain the appropriate percentage of THC so they can be used in the manufacture of legal CBD products, which currently sits at less than 0.2% in Chile. Hemp seeds are used for this purpose.
These types of marijuana seeds have more relaxing and stress-reducing effects than other seeds.
Hemp Seeds
Unlike CBD seeds, this type of marijuana seed alway contain THC levels below 0.2%, so CBD predominates.
Also called Industrial Hemo, this is the variety used to extract CBD and create products for therapeutic purposes. Even so, the levels of this substance provided by Hemp can never reach those achieved with CBD seeds.
Hemp seeds are not only used to obtain Cannabidiol; fibers are extracted from this plant in the textile industry, to produce paper, insulation, rope, motor fuel, paints, cosmetics, etc.
Furthermore, its seeds can be consumed in the form of oil, whole, raw, roasted, or ground into flour.
Fast Version Seeds
As with CBD marijuana seeds, this type of seed has virtually all the same characteristics of Regular or Feminized seeds, but its life cycle is shorter than usual, allowing for harvesting before the first frost.
In fact, many of these seed types complement each other. Sativa, Indica, Hybrid, or Ruderalis varieties can be Feminized, Regular, Autoflowering, or even Fast Version; while Hemp seeds are Sativa.
