Cannabis Seeds: What’s the Best?
Cannabis Seeds: What’s the Best?
Here at the Seed Cellar, we’re often asked: “What’s the best?” A tricky question, as the “best” can mean something different to everyone. When shopping for your seeds, it’s important to think about what you want from your harvest, not what everyone else wants. Here are a couple examples of characteristics to look for: Flavor and Flowering Time. Certain flavor profiles can be tastier than other and some plants take a while longer to ripen; Both important aspects of the cannabis plant. In this blog post, we’re going to focus on attributes that make cannabis plants their “best”.
Characteristics
Cannabis plants have more to offer beyond the typical preference of Indica, Sativa, and Hybrids. While those are the perfect starting point, we have a few more attributes to think about when making your seed selection.
Flowering Time
Depending on your location and the weather that you experience, this will be one of the more important characteristics to think about. Most seeds will offer a 8-9 week flowering time period, but some strains can be longer or shorter of a wait time. Many breeders offer varieties with a quicker than usual flowering time called “Early Versions“, making some strains more accessible for those in colder, wetter climates.
For those looking for a harvest before frost sets in, we recommend looking around the 8-9 week or shorter flowering times. This allows plants enough time to ripen to the desired effects. While our friends in warm, dry climates, or indoor gardeners, can choose longer flowering times. Their climates allow plants the opportunity to finish without fear of frost or overly wet conditions affecting the flower.
If you’re looking for a larger garden this year, varying flowering times can assist in making harvest season simpler. This gives people the chance to harvest and trim in sections, making the workload lighter and more spread out. We’ve heard great things about this method in our shop from customers!
Terpene Profile
Terpenes make plants unique and special, including cannabis. What is a terpene? These are the naturally occurring compounds that are responsible for flavor, aroma, and even colors in some plants. People can be sensitive to different terpenes, so we recommend starting a journal to log any likes or dislikes once plants are harvested.
Here is a list of popular terpenes and their associated flavor profiles:
- Myrcene – Hops, Mint, Cloves, Lemongrass
- Pinene – Pine, Cedarwood, Rosemary, Sage
- Linalool – Lavender, Mint, Laurels, Lilies
- Beta-Caryophyllene – Black Peppercorns, Cloves, Cinnamon, Oregano
- Limonene – Lime, Lemon, Grapefruit, Orange
- Nerolidol – Jasmine, Tea Tree, Lemongrass
- Terpinolene – Tea Tree, Lilac, Apple, Cumin, Pine
- Geraniol – Rose Oil, Lemongrass, Lemons
The Flavor Aspect:
Each strain holds their own flavor profile in accordance to their terpenes compound. Out of the many flavors we offer at the Seed Cellar, customers typically gravitate towards skunky, fruity, sweet, or hash-like flavors. A lot of old school, experienced gardeners are looking for nostalgic flavors from the 70’s, which can be harder to narrow down due to modernized breeding. Newer gardeners tend to look for more fruity, sweeter flavor profiles as that’s what is popular in dispensaries. All of these preferences range based on the individual, just because a strain is a best seller or fan favorite, doesn’t make it “the best”.
Plant Appearance
This characteristic is a bit more simpler, how do you like your plant to look? Color and bud density are two of the more commonly inquired characteristics at the Seed Cellar.
Cannabis plants can be bred to look certain ways once at full maturity. Many gardeners enjoy using these different characteristics to bring more color and variation in the garden, other than just green. Many shoppers will choose a purple, resinous, or frosty looking plant, for example.
Dense buds can be perfect for some growers, while others find them harder to grow outdoors in some areas. Being able to judge air flow is crucial for your plant in knowing if access moisture will be a problem. This is one of the reasons we provide photos of as many strains as we can, it’s important to know what to expect, especially for our outdoor gardeners.
Potential Average
Did you know not everyone is looking for the highest TetraHydroCannabinol? This is why our shop offers a wide variety of potential options for our customers to choose from. Best sellers can range depending on our customers needs, which may not be the same needs you’re trying to meet.
So, Cannabis Seeds: What’s the Best?
Truly, the best is all based on preference and desired outcome of your harvest. Just know, there is no seed that is the best, worst, wrong or right. Growing cannabis is all based on opinions and personal expectations! So, have fun and keep finding what works for YOU.