The Cannabis Breeder's Bible (27 page)

This Afghani with its penetrating Indica aroma is one of the better yielders in the Sensi collection. It has a very pleasant and smooth taste. Photograph by Sensi Seeds.

Shiva Shanti II is a 3-way hybrid which consists mostly an Afghani strain that Sensi call Garlic Bud because of its characteristic aroma. Photograph by Sensi Seeds.

Spot the difference. Variations in a population can sometimes be stunning. This purple trait came out of nowhere.

Displaying their related genetic attributes, stable and uniform in growth, two sister plants in tandem alike in their perfections and flaws.

A 1K HID is used to light a 4 × 4 breeding space. A 3.5 × 3.5 is more suited to a 600W, a 400W for 3 × 3 and less than this is for the 250W range.

Yet more professional breeding against which to measure one’s own goals. This is a mass of resin-full trichomes with a cannabis plant growing out of them! – Ha ha. The strain is called Nebula. Very popular. Photograph by Paradise Seeds.

This female was pollinated 16 days ago and yet the calyxes are swollen with seed production. Photograph by Paradise Seeds.

Of course as a breeder who manufactures seeds you should be on the right side of the law when you do this. Make sure that you check with your country’s laws before setting up a seed breeding business so that you know your rights and clearly understand the business risks associated with such a venture. Getting good legal advice is always recommended.

Here are some things to bring up in your discussions with a seed bank you’re thinking of working with. Negotiating with seed banks is always important.

• Ask the seed bank to collect the bulk seeds from you. You do not have to do this in person. Simply have a drop point near where you live. Most seed banks have enough cash flow to arrange pick-up and delivery themselves.

• Ask to be paid half in advance and half when your strain has been sold. If you are a new breeder on the scene you will probably not be able to make a deal like this but ask for it anyway (you are providing the product, remember). If you give away a generous amount to the seed bank for free then that trust might be able to get you more money up front for your seeds. Seed banks mostly pay breeders a commission after the seeds are sold, but some well known and good breeders get money up front for their produce. You should aim for money up front because it is more secure and gives you a more immediate cash flow to continue your breeding projects.

• Find out about any applicable sales tax. Always pay your taxes on seed sales in some shape or form. Seed bank owners will be able to advise you on this.

• As part of your deal with the seed bank, request that they enter your strain in competitions.

• Reserve the proper rights to photos that you have taken of your plant. Seed banks do sell picture rights to companies that print these pictures up on lighters, books, roach books/filter packs, pipes, rolling papers and all sorts of other cannabis-related merchandising.

• Create a logo for your image. You have the right to use a logo with your strain. Most logos contain the breeder’s name or nickname.

• Ask about what publications the seed bank advertises in.

• Ask to be shown copies of any media (like catalogues) that has your strain in it.

• Negotiate to be sure there is language in the contract that specifies what steps you or the seed bank must take to terminate your business relationship at any time.

15

GENDER AND SEX-INHERITED TRAITS

QUESTIONS ABOUT CANNABIS GENDER

Probably one of the most hotly contested subjects in the cannabis breeding world is that of cannabis gender and the relationship between the genotype for sex and final expression of that ‘set’ gender in the phenotype. We know that the predetermination of the plant’s sex can be linked directly to the genes in the embryo of the seed, but the environment also plays an important part in the way the plant’s gender is finally expressed. In this chapter we will try to explain the relation between gender genes and their phenotypic expression.

FEMINIZED SEEDS AND PLANT GENDER

We have already looked at feminized seeds in chapter 2, Basic Breeding. Feminized seeds have proven that sex in not just an inherited trait. During the feminized seed process an XX female is selected and stressed to make seeds that will only produce female plants and sometimes hermaphrodites. Still, a tiny percentage of male plants may appear in the feminized offspring. The reason for this is that the environment and growing conditions appear to influence the feminized plant’s sex. In fact standard seeds are also influenced by the environment and growing factors alongside their genotype for sex.

This is a very important concept to grasp: a set genotype can have a different phenotype because of environmental conditions.

We have already stated that in breeding projects you must take growing factors into consideration when you judge genotypes in a test cross. Your recessive homozygous genotypes might in fact be dominant homozygous and the environment has effected the actual final presentation of the genotype in its phenotype.

There appears to be a strong connection between the hermaphrodite trait and male plants. Female plants tend to develop in optimal growing conditions while male and hermaphrodite plants occur in less optimal conditions. This is not 100% accurate but it does seem to be the case. Let’s look at the conditions that can cause more males to form than females.

Standard Seeds, Feminized Seeds and Producing More Females

Most growers believe that the cannabis seed is genetically predisposed to its sexual orientation as soon as fertilization of the ovule takes place. This means that if you acquire a solitary female plant and produce seeds from her, the offspring will naturally produce males and females because of their genetic predisposition to do so.

Imagine if you will that a gender recognition analysis could be performed on the seeds. We would be more than able to remove the males from the females even before we start propagation. Such a device would allow breeders to create packs of all female seeds without having to feminize the parent plants. This theory has flaws, however.

Feminized seeds are very expensive. Seed banks charge almost twice the price for feminized seeds. Their sellers claim to provide the grower with all female seeds. But in fact growers experience variable results with feminized seeds. They find females, hermaphrodites and males in the feminized seed population. Some growers may not find any males, but along with the females some hermaphrodites. Most good growers will only see females. So what is it that is causing growers to see different plant genders from feminized seeds? Why is it that good growers see females and others growers see males and hermaphrodites? The answer lies in the term
“good growers”
.