How to choose the best marijuana strain for your grow

If you’re interested in growing marijuana, whether for medical or recreational purposes, it is important that you choose the seed that best matches your needs and preferences. From the effects that you’re after, to how easy it is to grow, there are several factors that you need to consider before making this decision. In this post we give you some top tips to help you select the cannabis variety that’s best suited to you.

Something that growers are often unsure about is which marijuana strain is best for their grow. This is an important point to think thoroughly about before starting with self-cultivation, as it involves choosing the marijuana varieties that will ultimately turn into your cannabis plants. These genetics can be categorised as follows: feminised Cannabis seeds, autoflowering Cannabis seeds, regular cannabis seeds, and CBD-rich cannabis seeds.

Depending on the type of seed used, the plant’s needs will be different. These variations include different growing times, lighting requirements, dimensions of the growing space, type of care, etc. So what’s the best marijuana seed for you? First of all, let’s explain the differences between the different types of seeds.

Feminised cannabis seeds

Plant biotechnology offers the possibility to obtain a high percentage of female plants (99%). The feminised seeds sold by seedbanks are normally obtained through the inhibition of a phytohormone, without the need to make genetic modifications. This option saves effort, space, and growing time, as it avoids having to separate males from females, and also leads to better performance and quality. The methodology used to produce feminised seeds consists of the inhibition of the phytohormone ethylene, which is responsible for the maturation and senescence of the plant tissue as well as for the sexual development of the plants. The use of this technique results in seeds in which both the egg and the pollen grain provide X chromosomes, giving way to practically a whole generation of female seeds. Feminised seeds appeared on commercial circuits in the 1990s; and, even though they weren’t initially well accepted by users, nowadays most growers have changed their opinion.

Purple Kush x Black Domina

Purple Kush

Purple Kush is a popular strain of cannabis known for its deep purple color and potent sedative effects. Purple Kush is a strain that’s born to thrive. You’ll be able to enjoy dramatic flowering in 60 days, dazzling your garden with a festival of colours and aromas, while purple tones will begin to appear in swollen buds that are loaded with resin from the fourth week.

Autoflowering cannabis seeds

Autoflowering seeds produce plants that start the flowering at a specific age, regardless of the hours of light that they’re exposed to. It is the selective cross of these seeds with ruderalis varieties that provides them with their autoflowering character. Ruderalis cannabis strains originate from Central Russia and can flower at a specific time without the influence of the photoperiod. Cannabis has almost always been grown according to planting times, as it is a seasonal plant that regulates its vegetative growth based on the photoperiod, meaning that the number of hours of light that it receives has a great influence on the start of the flowering phase. But this amazing trait now offers the chance to grow outside of the conventional seasons, so growers can decide to harvest on the date of their choosing. Autoflowering strains are especially useful in latitudes where summers are short and days are very long, in some cases with over 20 hours of daylight.

Regular cannabis seeds

All the crosses that can currently be found on the market originate from pure regular strains. The main genetic lines have been maintained thanks to the traditional fertilisation of a male plant on a female plant, which is a technique that guarantees the natural transfer of hereditary information. The production of pollen in male plants doesn’t require any hormonal regulation. This means that it can be carried out without the stress produced by the manipulation needed for sex reversal in the production of feminised seeds. This lack of stress leads to generations with a lower rate of embryo deformity, which translates into a lower number of defective plants.

CBD-rich cannabis seeds

CBD is one of the cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant. The discovery of CBD’s properties brought with it a barrage of potential therapeutic applications for which it could be recommended. This led to the emergence of strains with high levels of this substance.

The therapeutic potential of cannabis is largely owed to cannabidiol or CBD. This is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid with anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, neuroprotective, and tranquillising functions. In short, a great tool to have in your first-aid kit.

Nowadays, there is much scientific evidence that demonstrates the medical benefits of cannabidiol. More recently, there’s been a special emphasis put on CBD’s ability to modulate the immune system, with its possible application in the treatment of allergies and autoimmune disorders such as Crohn’s disease, Multiple sclerosis, or Rheumatoid arthritis.

High content in Cannabigerol

CBG Auto

The mother of all cannabinoids is Cannabigerol; it was there before all of us. Its properties are still the under study by science and, as if that were not enough, it is rich and sweet like nothing else. THC? As if it didn't exist.  

Once the type of seed that best fits the user’s needs has been chosen, the next task involves the selection of the right strain. The key factors that need to be considered for this include the type of grow, the weather conditions, and also personal taste.

For example, if you’re going to grow outdoors in a region with heavy rainfall in winter, then it’s best to choose strains which are ready for harvest in September. This way, the flowers can be cut before they can be affected by the fungi that can appear when there is excess humidity. In this case, it’d be better to choose indica varieties as their flowering times are shorter than those of the sativa strains.

If your outdoor grow is located on a balcony or terrace in a city, then you’ll have to take other factors into account, since you’ll probably need a strain that doesn’t grow too much in order to remain more discreet. The best option in this case is an autoflowering variety, as their size is much smaller and they’re not affected by light pollution. This means that they’ll start flowering when it’s time, regardless of whether there’s a lamppost nearby.

These factors are not as crucial when choosing a cannabis strain for indoor growing. Even though indicas are normally easier to grow indoors because their short flowering time reduces the risk of pests, sativas often offer a wider range of flavours.

Last but not least, the CBD:THC ratio and the effects that the grower is looking for, are also good enough reasons to lean towards one strain rather than another.