Varieties of cannabis – The age old question when it comes to Cannabis!

Let’s start by looking at the differences between the varieties of cannabis – Indica, Sativa & Hybrids:

INDICA

• High: Relaxing, Body hitting
• Strength: Higher amounts of THC found in Indica strains
• Plant Characteristics: Usually shorter & fuller plants which tend to be a bit bushier with thicker leaves
• Grow Time: Most will fall into the 8-10 week time period and will be shorter than a straight Sativa (e.g Amnesia Haze) but with more and more hybrid strains available it may not be all that different.

SATIVA

• High: Uplifting, Head high
• Strength: Strength can vary on Sativa plants but most would range in the medium-strong category.
• Plant Characteristics: Taller & skinnier plants with thinner and more separated leaves.
• Grow Time: Sativa plants take longer – if you are going for a pure Sativa it will be 12 weeks or longer.

HYBRIDS

Now with hybrids, it’s not quite as clear cut as with the original Indica or Sativa strains. With more strains being crossed it is harder to give an all-around judgment of hybrids today.

What happens mixing varieties of cannabis

When you take an Indica plant & a Sativa plant and cross them you can get lots of different phenotypes this is what makes detailing the characteristics of the hybrids quite difficult.

Once you have a plant that you have crossed with another; if you were to seed that plant and then grow 10 of those seeds you could come back with 10 different phenotypes.

While at the same time you might just come back with 2 – the possibilities are endless!

How you can tell

With this being the case, crossing a Sativa & Indica may end up with 5 plants that have characteristics of the Sativa plant while the others show stronger characteristics of the Indica plant.

While not all phenotypes are the same you should be able to find certain characteristics of each plant.

An example of this is a grow conducted by one of our sponsored growers using DNA Genetics 24K (Kosher Kush x Tangie).

In the recorded grow all 6 seeds came from the same pack & were germinated and planted at the same time.

The outcome

3 of the plants had a real zesty fruity taste to them (Tangie) and the other 3 had more of a gassy kush taste (Kosher Kush). Although a completely different taste for each set of 3 the potency of each of them was consistent.

From the look, it was hard to tell the difference between the phenos but as soon as you got a whiff or a taste the difference was clear as day!

There are loads of different phenotypes in each strain of cannabis. Although some may taste or smell the same they can still be totally different.

Keep an eye and a nose out to see if you can see the differences in your next grow!

WARNING GERMINATION OF CANNABIS SEED IS ILLEGAL IN MOST COUNTRIES.

​Please note: You have to be at least 18 years old to order cannabis seed from A B Seedy.

​By section 6 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 it is an offence to cultivate any plant of the genus Cannabis in the United Kingdom without a license from the Secretary of State. Anyone committing an offence contrary to this section may be imprisoned or fined, or both. Please note therefore that germination of cannabis seeds without an appropriate license is illegal in the United Kingdom.

​A B Seedy does not encourage anyone to break the law in their country.