Have you ever wondered how cannabis genetics seed companies work? The continued proliferation of cannabis legalization across the globe is underscoring the importance of cannabis genetics and artificial selection.

Growers and companies who are serious about giving weed smokers a wide choice of top-quality cannabis strains have one thing in mind. They are investing huge amounts of time, money, and attention to delivering cannabis consumers exactly what they want.

This has to be seen as a win-win situation. Those behind the growing scene are advancing their knowledge like never before. As for those on the smoking side of life, they are reaping the rewards of quality smoking gear that simply was not available in the distant past.

Let’s understand what cannabis genetics seed companies actually are before getting into what this rapidly expanding market is all about:

Cannabis Genetics Means…

To define the characteristics of a cannabis plant. This genetic material is known as the plant’s DNA and is found in the plant’s cells. It carries the growth information of the plant. These genetics determine such things as which cannabinoids a certain plant will be rich in, the size it can grow to, and it relates to all other important aspects of cannabis.

The bottom line: Good quality, stable cannabis genetics are absolutely key when it comes to growing high-quality cannabis. This is why cannabis genetics seed companies are so important today.

The Creation of a New & Rapidly Expanding Market

Along with the continued decriminalization of Cannabis across the globe comes an exciting and rapidly expanding consumer goods market.

Cannabis is no longer seen as something users simply smoke to get high. There is an exponential growth in product diversity. That includes concentrated cannabis forms such as oils and soft gel pills along with shatter and vape pen cartridges.

This has made the quality and genetic makeup of each cannabis strain even more important. These initiatives are being driven by cannabis connoisseurs as well as medical users who require specific strains to produce unique remedial effects.

What this means is that growers and cannabis genetics seed companies alike are striving to improve their base product. From there they are continuing cultivation to find the optimal cannabis plant species for specific user needs.

Cannabis Genetics Goes Hand-In-Glove With Artificial Selection

Driven by the need to provide product variety, an increasing number of researchers and cannabis cultivators are now actively pursuing methods to create and grow uniquely-tailored strains. This is being carried out through the artificial selection process.

Artificial selection is certainly not a new initiative. It has been a common practice in farming down the centuries. Farmers routinely select the best plants with superior genetics after each crop rotation to improve breeding and produce better results at the following harvest.

When considering the cannabis space, the art of artificial selection and marker-assisted breeding has given cultivators the knowledge to optimize new crops in such ways as:

• Size, Color, Aroma, Density, and Texture of each future yield.

The diversity of cannabis strains that are currently known to researchers and cultivators has created an exciting new field within the industry. It is allowing them to create and optimize strains to meet a whole raft of user-specific needs.

How Cannabis Genetics Seed Companies Ensure Consistency

If cannabis genetics seed companies are to be successful it must ensure consistency of product. While there are a whole host of ways that this needs achieving there are some key process factors to the steps involved:

Giving access to more refined, stable & uniform seeds

Every cannabis seed is unique in its own right and can produce the life of a new cannabis plant. In nature, cannabis has grown and reproduced perfectly for centuries without human intervention.

However, serious seed banks are on a dedicated mission to harness and cross individual traits of different cannabis plants. As this is achieved it provides growers access to more refined, stable, and uniform seeds.

In addition to this, reliable and stable genetics go a long way to ensure a healthy crop that leads to quality harvests. It also offers the opportunity to continually breed evermore refined cannabis strains.

Before looking at some common quality control measures that cannabis genetics seed companies put in place let’s understand…

What seed vigor is and why it is so important

The vigor of any seed refers to how effectively it will sprout as well as how healthy the seedling it produces will be. Here are two ends of the vigor scale:

Seeds with high vigor: These sprout easily and rapidly. They produce strong seedlings that have healthy roots along with plenty of growing power.

Seeds with low vigor: The term ‘Etiolation’ is used here. It means the seed will have long, weak stems, and slow, often stagnant growth.

Measuring seed vigor is vital. In fact, it has long been a crucial practice in agriculture. This is because through such measurements farmers can continually create plants that rapidly establish uniform, robust seedlings. From there they become strong yielders.

It should be said that due to the historical illegal nature of cannabis, the industry is playing catchup in respect of seed vigor measurements. However, go ahead companies are now doing their very best to bridge that gap. It’s essential that cannabis genetics seed companies bridge that gap.

Strict quality control measures are an absolute must

As with other quality companies in any industry, cannabis genetics seed companies need to have strict quality control measures in place. These measures are required to ensure seed viability.

Depending upon the cannabis genetics seed companies in question will depend upon the quality control measures they have in place. Having said that, the vast majority will focus on the following four areas:

• Germination rates of their seed batches. This reflects how many seeds effectively germinate.
• Individual batch germination timelines. This measures how long it takes for the seeds in question to germinate.
• Seedlings’ strength and their resilience to diseases and pests.
• Plant uniformity once they rise from the seedling phase.

There is a real goal behind these quality control measures. That is to give cannabis genetics seed companies the ability to produce and provide seeds that are genetically stable, free from pests and any seed-borne diseases, and to discover those that show exceptional growing vigor.

It again needs to be stated that companies in the cannabis genetics seed arena are behind others in the mainstream agricultural market. This is due to the long and unwarranted history of cannabis criminalization. That being said, great strides are being made to level this playing field.

A Bright Future for Cannabis Genetics Companies & Consumers

The explosion in cannabis-related products to meet both consumer and medical needs means there is a bright future for companies that are serious about genetics. The positive knock-on effect of higher quality for cannabis consumers cannot be understated. That is regardless of whether cannabis is used for leisure or medical purposes.

The greater the progress that cannabis genetics seed companies reach, the wider the overall choice will become for consumers. That must be seen as very good news all around.

If you have enjoyed this article and are keen to understand more about all things related to cannabis please feel free to click here.