Today, there are many cannabis strains available that all serve different purposes, and have various aromas and effects.
People have been cultivating weed for thousands of years, and now, growers have a great deal of control over the breeding processes to refine the plant in order to suit the demands of consumers.
Tastes and trends are always changing, so breeders are having to constantly adapt to consumer interests and become more creative with their growing processes.
Cannabis breeding
The cannabis plant is either female or male, which is very rare in the plant kingdom. That’s because cannabis is dioecious – only around 6% of all plants have this particular characteristic.
The difference is that only female cannabis plants produce the buds and seeds we’re all familiar with.
Male plants have pollen sacs which open out and release pollen into the air once the plants have matured.
The particles then land on a nearby female plant to pollinate it.
As the pollinated female plant matures, it grows seeds which carry genetics from both the male and female plants.
Those seeds then grow into buds and form a new strain of cannabis with a combination of the two parent plants’ traits.
It’s possible for cannabis breeding to happen naturally without the need for human interaction. A male plant can grow in the same vicinity as a female plant, and once the male pollen is released, the wind will carry it over to a female.
When the female plant starts to die, the seeds will fall to the ground, resulting in the growth of cannabis plants with the new strain.
The role of a breeder
While cannabis can breed out in the wild, it’s also bred intentionally in commercial or homegrown surroundings.
First off, breeders will decide between two male and female cannabis strains and compare the various traits such as aroma, flavour, effects, ease of growing, potency, cannabinoid amount, and a number of other elements.
A breeder will usually place a male plant in a closed room with a bunch of females, which is called a breeding chamber and is designed to retain all of the pollen, ensuring the chances of a successful pollination.
Outdoor pollination is also possible, but the plants have to be kept close together, and there can’t be several different strains releasing pollen.
Again, once the female plant is pollinated and matures, it will release seeds that are collected and grown into new plants with a crossbreed of genes from the parents.
Phenotypes
The new seeds that grow on the female cannabis plant are simply known as phenotypes, and dozens of them can be produced at a time.
The phenotypes will derive the various traits of their parents which affect the size of the plant, its colour, the scent, and its effects.
Each phenotype will also have a completely unique combination of inherited traits.
Another element that changes within the phenotypes is their name. For example, one of the most famous (and most potent!) cannabis strains, Chiquita Banana, gets its new name from its parent strains – OG Kush and Banana.
