Most people know that cannabis comes in different varieties, often called strains. While it’s fine for casual consumers to know the varieties so they can get the right products when visiting dispensaries, growers need to be a little more knowledgeable. This article will offer a beginner’s guide to choosing and growing strains the right way. We would like to inform that cannabis or strains are used for medical and health purpose nowadays due to its healing properties. It should not consumed for recreational purpose as it can cause health related issues, such as addiction, cancer and so on. Easemybrain.com does not promote or appreciate the use of cannabis for recreation.
What Are Marijuana Strains?
Even people who know what their favorite strains are often don’t understand what differentiates them from other varieties of marijuana, so it’s worth offering a brief definition. Generally speaking, marijuana strains are varieties of cannabis that have specific genetics that conform to a particular indica, sativa, or hybrid line. Each strain has a different selection of cannabinoids, terpenes, and other chemical components, which means all of them have slightly different effects and, more relevant here, growing requirements.
Growing Requirements for Sativa Strains
Sativa strains are known to produce a more cerebral experience than indicas and to induce energy instead of or in addition to relaxation, which might be suitable for treating some type of medical conditions including pain and anxiety. They originated in Central Asia before spreading to other hot, dry climates in Africa and Central America. These early origins still influence the plants’ growing requirements today.
Sativas tend to grow tall and slender with long, thin, light green leaves. Sometimes reaching 10 feet in height, they can produce multiple pounds of buds if given enough room and time to grow. Sativa plants typically require longer growing seasons than indicas and need more light and higher temperatures to thrive.
Growing Requirements for Indica Strains
Indica strains produce a body high that’s great for medical marijuana patients looking for pain relief and extreme medical conditions. Indigenous to the areas now known as India, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, these plants developed mechanisms for surviving in harsher climates.
Indicas grow bushier and shorter, with wider, dark green leaves capable of soaking up all available light. They have shorter growing seasons, flowering quickly and producing denser buds than their sativa cousins. Thanks to their early history, indicas also tend to be hardier and thus easier to grow, although their compact form does make these plants more susceptible to mold.
Growing Requirements for Hybrids
Hybrid strains contain genetics from both indica and sativa plants. Some are very well balanced when it comes to both effects and growing habits, while others tend strongly towards one end of the spectrum or the other. These days, most strains are hybrids. It’s best to research growing conditions individually, although the generalizations described above apply equally well to indica-dominant and sativa-dominant hybrid strains.
How to Choose the Right Strains
Choosing the right strains requires putting in some leg work. As a general rule, indicas and hybrids are easier to grow, which makes them appropriate for beginners. However, every strain is a little different, so experienced growers know that they have to research each one’s growing requirements and tendencies before choosing seeds to buy.
The Importance of Buying From a Reputable Supplier
As a final note, the only way growers can be sure their seeds will grow into plants with the qualities they want is to buy from a reputable source like an online seed bank that obtains its products from well-respected cannabis breeders. Otherwise, there’s no way to know if the seeds will be true to type.