What is Hybrid Marijuana?

Having a lot of cannabis strains to choose from can be pretty confusing especially for those new in the cannabis cultivation industry. One may even ask what type of cannabis will work on their garden gave a specific set of growing condition. If you have done your research you might find yourself asking what’s a hybrid marijuana strain?

Experienced cultivators will tell you that using a hybrid marijuana strain is actually one of the best choices you can make in your cannabis cultivation journey. We will give you more information about a hybrid marijuana strain, its possible uses and the potential impacts it can give your cannabis garden.

What’s a Hybrid Marijuana Strain?

With the advanced technology we have, it has been possible to mix two different marijuana strains into one, making the same species yet becoming quite distinct from the parent plant.

The several marijuana strains that we have today are the product of several decades of crossbreeding old and new genetics into hybrid strains. If you’re asking what’s a hybrid cannabis strain? Well, the answer to that is they are a mix of the other 2 main classes of cannabis which can be indica or sativa.

Hybrids often give a more balanced combination of the impacts of indica and the sativa varieties. Just like in consuming alcohol, using different strains of marijuana will give off different effects to you. And knowing what type of marijuana you are consuming will help you achieve in figuring out what type of effect you might want to feel.

Due to the fact that hybrid strains are a mix of sativa and indica plants, it can provide both mind and body effects. Most of the strains available in the market are already considered as hybrids because of the global breeding program that also includes cannabis plants.

Sativa-Dominant Hybrid or Indica-Dominant Hybrid

The hybrid strains are typically labeled as sativa-dominant or indica-dominant, this depicts the characteristics that are dominantly expressed by the offspring plant. An indica-dominant strain will affect your body more and give a more sedating effect. While the sativa-dominant strain will give a more energizing and uplifting impact.

A hybrid strain will balance out these effects which makes them a great choice for breeders. If they want to emphasize a certain strain, they need to continue with the breeding process until that attribute has been stabilized.

Who can use Hybrid Marijuana Strains?

Everyone involved in cannabis cultivation will enjoy hybrid strains although discovering the effects and traits can be in the form of trial and error. Hybrid strains are also highly recommended for beginners who want to know how cannabis will make them feel.

Hybrids strains are also an excellent choice for those patients who are medically dependent on cannabis. They can use the hybrid strains on a regular basis and it will provide a more balanced effect that they can tolerate all throughout the day.

Hybrid Strain Origins

1. Indica x Indica: 2 different indica strains have been bred together
2. Sativa x Sativa: 2 different sativa strains have been bred together
3. Indica x Sativa: This will produce an indica-dominant cannabis plant but it will still express sativa characteristics
4. Sativa x Indica: This will produce a sativa-dominant cannabis plant but it will still express indica characteristics.

Breeding Hybrid Strains

Breeding a cannabis plant utilized the same process just like any other plant breeding. In hybrids strains, however, the breeders will have to use the process of selective breeding while in a controlled environment. Selective breeding means that the breeder will have to pick a female plant and male pollen to produce a specific trait or set of characteristics.

The seeds that have been germinated using selective breeding will become the first generation of hybrid plants. The cannabis plants that express the desired traits will be bred again. The breeders will also cube the strain, this is a process wherein a child of the hybrid is going to be bred with a parent strain until the attributes have bee stabilized.

Using Seed Strains to produce a Hybrid

Not all hybrid strain is going to be created equally as they will require different amounts of time and work. Here are some of the seed strains you can use to develop your own hybrid marijuana strains.

Clone-Only Strain

This type of strain has been grown into a plant and it has certain characteristics that the growers like. The cannabis grower has the option to make genetically identical clones of the plant and distribute them.

Having a clone is the only way to ensure that the exact genetic make-up of the plant is preserved. But keep in mind that when you’re growing your own hybrid strains, certain growing conditions will still affect your final product.

Stable Seed Strain

In the process of using stable seed strains, a breeder will select both male and female plants and breed them over and over again until the specific attributes have become stabilized. Once the characteristics have become stabilized, every time the final seed is planted it will grow to have the same set of attributes.

However, certain factors can still affect the quality of the seeds the plant may grow into. It can still experience genetic variation and the breeder might have to repeat the process of breeding.

Unstable Seed Strain

If you buy your marijuana seeds from a reputable seed shop, you will never encounter unstable strains. While these are known to produce cannabis yield a lot quicker than the stable seeds, it can be too risky to use this.

Using unstable seed strain gives you a 50-50 chance of getting the characteristics that you need. You might encounter plants that have more attributes that you have no use of or plants that can’t be sold in the market.

It is highly advisable to purchase your seed strains from a reputable seed bank that way you have the assurance that you are getting good quality seeds that will give an even greater quality of yield.