Densely nutritious and capable of growing one of the most utilitarian plant in existence, Cannabis Seeds have been used throughout the annals of human history from the dawn of agriculture to the modern era. Some theorize that the growing of Cannabis even spurred the dawn of the agricultural revolution that spurred humanity into its current form from the wandering nomad and caveman we think of into man as we know it today. Cannabis seeds are packed with nearly every vitamin, protein, acids, and oils needed for survival making it an ideal crop, while the plant itself serves medicinal and utility purposes through hemp. Though, the seeds themselves do not give the mentally stimulating effects one associates with Cannabis, Cannabis oil may be extracted and used to create a multitude of nutritional products such as milk, cheese, and sweets which may prove to have beneficial health effects missing from today’s dietary staples. All throughout Ancient China, the Middle East, and the SE Asian island cultures Cannabis seeds have been known for millennia for these properties, the recent trend of the plants decent into negativity is a very recent phenomenon. Beyond this, the most common use of Cannabis seeds is for their more commonly known aspect, that of growing Cannabis.

So, while Cannabis seeds are indeed tasty and healthy, today their use has become that mostly of growing quality Cannabis. The vast breeding programs that sprang forth from Amsterdam in the 1970’s have grown exponentially across the world into a multi-million dollar business selling the best quality seeds, that just a few decades ago were seen as worthless. The sheer number of varieties available is staggering, outclassing any other recreation plant growing such as wine grapes and hops by an order of magnitude. Working together with breeders, the producers of these seeds have created a vast catalogue of seeds of any Cannabis variety imaginable. Indeed, today’s quality Cannabis seed are literally worth their weight in gold. Ironically, this new market of seeds is due in no small part to the war on drugs raging internationally.

 Before the persecution that began on Cannabis and its users, the seeds were available everywhere. Bricks of low quality Cannabis were regularly packed with their seeds remaining, making the little round orb nearly worthless. As time marched on along with Nixon’s war on drugs producers had to find new ways to produce higher quality product that took up less space as sales were suffering due to the intense regulations. The breeders realized that female flowers who were unfertilized produced next to no seeds and were significantly more potent. This is where the modern cannabis breeding programs came from, as a need more than a want.

With this discovery of feminized Cannabis being more potent and resulting in higher yields, the next evolution of Cannabis seeds came about known as super seeds. The art and science of Cannabis breeding is complex, but not overly intricate that one good pick up the hobby on their own. The professional breeders spend their lives recording every possible detail of each new strain such as their growth rates, their disease resistance, their flowering periods, and of course the psychoactive effects all under different conditions picking their favorite characteristics of one plant and breeding it with another to create a superior of the last generation. After many generations of consistency and predictability the new strains are ready for the market. As a hobbyist, this is completely within reach as well, maybe not as good as the pros do but everyone starts somewhere and the basics of breeding are not overly confusing to even the layman.

  As a breeder of Cannabis seeds in UK one must pay close attention to the sex of their plants, with many excellent seed banks like Ice HeadShop Cannabis Seeds. As they’re growing and have switched to their flowering cycles the sex of the plants become apparent. The males are taller, lankier, and have small pollen sacks on their branches. To avoid accidental pollination, and thus decreasing yields, one must be sure to separate the males you want to keep and destroy any others ones as pollen travels quickly and only a bit can ruin a harvest. If breeding is the goal, take the healthiest of the males and females together and allow pollination far away from any flowering plants that are not to be impregnated. After around 8 weeks together, the females will have produced the fruits of your labor, the Cannabis seeds. A new breed is available within these seeds to be able to repeat the process again, this can be repeated approaching infinity with the countless variations available due to an insurmountable number of variables within the plant and its environment.

 If breeding is not a prospect wished for by the grower, then there are options to avoid this altogether with the relatively new varieties known as Feminized Cannabis seeds. The standard seeds always comes from one male and one female parent, and is impossible to tell between male and female until the plant has matured. Generally the ratio of male to female is 1:1 with a slightly higher rate of females, but not by much, 50% is a good best guess. These are generally best used by breeders, as someone interested only in yields and production must exterminate the males causing a loss of production. Feminized seeds, however, have been bred specifically so that the male chromosome is unavailable during the plants development. Originally this was done through a special technique of one hermaphroditic plant, that is a plant of both male and female genders, and one female plant. The hermaphroditic plant have special tendencies to become both genders during stress, and bred with a female led to seeds that had much less chance of becoming male. Unfortunately the hermaphroditic trait could be passed down the lineage creating scenarios that may potentially ruin an otherwise healthy crop if the grower was unlucky. A new process was created used colloidal silver that has trumped this technique, and has created the new strain of seeds available that we see today of 100% feminized plants.

One last variation in the Cannabis seed is that of the Auto flowering seeds. These were created by the cross breeding of the Cannabis Ruderalis with the Sativa or Indica of the growers choice. The Ruderalis is an especially hardy form of Cannabis, discovered in the 20^th century, that does not rely on light cycles to flower. Simply put, these auto flowering seeds tend to grow at a consistent rate and will flower once they reach a certain age, generally around 10 weeks in total grow time.

The art, science, and history of the Cannabis seed is a rich one, and very worthwhile to learn about if one is predisposed to the desire of creating a new, useful, and beneficial plant. The basics are quick to learn, and have been part of human culture for a millennia.