The Basics
When looking to grow Cannabis Seeds for beginners, it’s important to keep it simple. Indica and Sativa are the two main types of cannabis. Hybrid strains are some combination of these two, and there is arguably a third type, Cannabis Ruderalis, which comes from mountainous regions in Eastern Europe, where the light is very inconsistent. Rugged conditions produce sturdy and resilient specimens. When you mix Indica, Sativa, or hybrids with the Ruderalis, you get Auto-flowering.
- Auto-flowering Seeds
The easiest seeds to grow are auto-flowering seeds. These don’t require as much care as regular seeds, and they’re also resilient and can be grown indoors or out. They don’t require light to flower, but rather bloom based on maturity. These plants are smaller than their namesakes, which helps them fit in smaller grow spaces, such as indoors or in tight gardens. They generally also have a shorter flowering time than feminized photoperiod and regular seeds. The drawbacks are because of the shorter growth time, they aren’t as forgiving of mistakes as Photoperiods and Regular seeds, and they also have smaller harvests.
- Feminized Cannabis Seeds (Photoperiod)
Photoperiod feminized seeds depend on a light cycle to mature, mimicking nature. When summer ends and fall creeps in, natural light lessens, triggering flowering. Outdoors the plant is dependent on the environment; factors such as frost and early cold snaps can ruin your crop. Drought, heat, storms, and other surprise weather factors can also spoil the yields, or destroy the plants altogether. Adjustments can be made, however, and the longer grow periods can be taken advantage of to use advanced growing techniques and correct mistakes. Not for complete beginners, but with care and research can be done.
- Regular Cannabis Seeds
Regular Cannabis seeds are not feminized, thus you are as equally likely to be male as female. Male marijuana plants do not produce usable cannabis. They also pollinate the females, causing them to end flowering and producing seeds, ruining your harvest. The males must be removed as soon as they are detected to not waste resources or spoil your grow, not an easy task to identify early enough to prevent damage. Feminization occurs by taking a female plant and shocking it with a chemical, causing it to stress and go to seed with no male genetics, thus producing female only offspring. Regular seeds are mainly used by breeders looking to create their own strains.
- Sativa or Indica?
Generally speaking, Sativa strains are taller and leggy when compared with their Indica brethren, which are usually shorter and bushier. Sativa’s can sometimes need support to keep it from collapsing under the weight of their buds, while Indica’s need much more pruning and trimming to deal with their thick foliage. Very few strains are purebred, however, so checking their genetic tendencies is important to determine their actual type. Depending on your growing conditions and the strains tendencies, feminized photoperiod breeds can be managed by a novice gardener.
Exceptions and Generalizations
There are exceptions to every rule. In the most basic terms, feminized auto-flowering types are the easiest to manage for new growers. Shorter vegetative and flowering periods lead to a shorter overall time to harvest; combined with the sturdy Ruderalis genes, they are ideal for the inexperienced. Some feminized photoperiods are very easy to grow, have short flowering times, and are very hardy, making them very beginner-friendly. Each strain must be looked at individually. Regular cannabis has built-in maintenance to deal with the males and is best avoided for first-time growers.
