Welcome back to What’s Going On In Dave’s Grow? Lately, I have been reviewing and showcasing seeds in my posts. Some of you have been sending in emails asking how to choose the right seeds for your grow. Today I will provide a little insight into how I select my seed strains for my grow. I will be using a very informative site called royal queen seeds to show you how I go about seed selection for me.
First off, I like this site as a reference simply because it is so vast and is very informative when looking for seeds to purchase online. Currently, they do not ship to the US, but I hear they are expanding into the states in the coming year. Regardless, it is a wonderful resource for deciding which strains you want in your grow yourself.
Strain Selection
We all have our favorite strains. As a grower, the ultimate goal is to cultivate specific strains that you enjoy and tailor them to your liking. Believe me, there is nothing better than cultivating your own strain and enjoying the experience of consuming it. For me, one of those beloved strains is Amnesia Haze.
When researching strains for my grow, I like to look at key things like flowering time, is it available in feminized? What is the expected yield? Is it a sativa, indica or hybrid? and what is the average thc (and other cannabinoids) percentages? Now a lot of these factors are really dependent on the grower and not the strain. If you know what you are doing, you can flower a strain longer to create a more potent effect. The types of nutrients, lighting, drying, and curing methods also play an important role in potency.
However, having a nice guideline based on other growers’ experience with that particular seed strain is a nice place to start. One of the first things I look for is reviews. First-hand experiential feedback around cultivating a strain is very helpful. Below are some of the reviews for Amnesia Haze. See where that one reviewer says 100% germination? That is good to know. That means that person bought some of their seeds and all of them germinated successfully. Nice to know when you are spending money on seeds.
Growing cannabis is a lot like growing grapes for wine. Environmental factors play a part as does the lineage of a strain. Maybe you have had a positive experience from a strain and want to try something similar. Looking into the lineage is a great way to see what other strains have come from the ones you enjoy. This will open your world up to more strains to try.
Another important factor when selecting seeds is the flowering time as well as expected plant heights. The more information you can get about this the better. I personally like plants that are short and bushy. They tend to produce more bud sites. Stretchy strains tend to grow tall with a lot of space in between the plant’s nodes (inter-nodal spacing). I try to stay away from these types because they get tall and top-heavy causing them to bend over towards the end of it’s flowering cycle and sometimes break.
The last thing to look out for when purchasing seeds from a reputable source is seed type. The basics would include Regular, Feminized, and Auto-Flower. It makes looking for your favorite strains a lot easier if they are broken out into categories like this.
Some online retailers now include CBD strains in the mix. An important thing to note here is that CBD strains ARE NOT hemp strains. This does not mean you can purchase these seeds and grow CBD-compliant hemp strains to ship. These are definitely cannabis plants bred with higher CBD ratios but contain THC as well way over the legal .03% that hemp does. If you are looking for hemp flower, check out my hemp site happyflowercompany.com .
So there you have it. Be sure to do your research when looking for your next great strain to cultivate. I highly recommend Royal Queen Seeds as a resource for strain information. Happy gardening!