If you want to grow your own marijuana, there are many hundreds of strains to choose from. To pick the right type, you've got to consider what it is you want to achieve. Are you merely interested in harvesting a large yield, or do you want to grow a particular strain for a particular psychoactive or medicinal effect, or perhaps one with a particular flavour? Do you want to grow outdoors or indoors? Will you check the plants every day or only a couple of times a week? These and many other questions determine which type of strain(s) are most suitable for your purpose.
Regular or feminized seeds
First of all, you can choose between regular seeds and feminized seeds. The regular seeds are cheaper but will produce some male plants, which you have to remove (kill) before they fertilize the female plants. If you don't check up on your plants every day, don't take regular seeds, because one male plant can ruin your entire crop.
Don't forget that when you buy a package of 10 regular seeds, 5 of them may be male, but if you're very unlucky you may also end up with 10 male plants! This percentage of males/females has nothing to do with quality.
If you buy feminized seeds, all plants will be female. This means you have less to worry about.
Seedbanks
Nowadays, numerous seedbanks offer a tremendous variety of cannabis seeds. But which seed bank to choose? At Azarius, we aim to sell only seeds from breeders and seedbanks that offer seeds of high quality.
With the first coffeeshops opening in Amsterdam in the 70's, it would take another ten years for the first Amsterdam-based seedbanks to be officially founded. It was companies such as Sensi Seeds (est. 1985) that actively began developing and upgrading cannabis strains and selling their acclaimed cannabis seeds.
During the early and mid-2000's, the lenient cannabis laws in Spain mark the beginning of an increase of breeders and varieties emerging from this South European country. In only a few years time, seedbanks such as DinaFem and Sweet Seeds managed to draw a solid fanbase by offering excellent genetics with friendly prices.
Autoflowering / Ruderalis
Normal cannabis plants only start flowering when the days get shorter, or the grower turns off the lights for longer periods of time. Of course, when the lights are turned off, the growth process of the plants is also slowed down.
Aside from the Indica and Sativa types, there is also the Ruderalis, which is much smaller but automatically starts flowering when it has reached maturity. Even when the grower leaves the lights on for 18 hours a day, they completely mature from seed to bud in less than 90 days.
The yields of autoflowering types (like the Lowryder) is smaller, but because they can be harvested in a shorter period, and they don't take up as much space, growers can still obtain quite a high yield, several times per season.
The autoflowering dwarfs are also an excellent choice if you want to grow a plant on your balcony or engage in guerilla growing. They are also very suitable for the Sea of Green method.
Sativa
The Sativa type grows very tall and stalk-like, generally with much narrower leaves, which are often of a lighter colour. It generally needs more light than the Indica. It takes longer to mature and up to 16 weeks to flower. Strains described as "haze" are predominantly Sativa, like Neville’s Haze or Super Silver Haze.
Compared to the Indica, it is higher in THC and lower in CBD. This gives a more "high" or energized effect, which is especially suitable for creative and social activities, or to combat mild depressions.
The Sativa is very suitable for outdoor growing and other methods for which size is not an issue, like for example the Screen Of Green method.
Some examples of Sativa strains:
Arjan's Ultra Haze #1, feminized
Arjan's Haze #3, feminized
Sativa mix (Greenhouse) feminized
Collection pack Sativa (Paradise Seeds)
Indica
The Indica type has wider leaves and tends to be shorter and bushier. They grow fast and flower quickly. For this reason, they generally give a larger yield. Strains described as "skunk" are predominantly Indica.
Compared to the Sativa it is higher in CBD and lower in THC. This gives a more "stoned" or drowsy effect, which is especially suitable for insomnia, anxiety and muscular tension or spasms.
The Indica is suitable for both indoor and outdoor growing, as well as the Sea Of Green method.
Examples of predominantly Indica strains:
Skunk #11 (Dutch Passion)
Ortega Indica (Dutch Passion) feminized
Collection pack Indica (Paradise Seeds)
Indica mix E (Greenhouse) feminized
Hybrids
Hybrids are cross-bred strains, containing a combination of Sativa, Indica genes. Growers combine strains to produce a new strain with unique qualities, with either the needs of the grower or the consumer in mind or both of course.
Usually either the Indica gene dominates (Big Bud, Sensi Star etc.) or the Sativa gene dominates (Jack Herer etc.). On our website, we generally give an indication which one dominates.
