Cannabis is either pure strain or a hybrid strain. Typically the species are indica and satvia. Cannabis hybrid strains are developed to satisfy specific properties or to establish the strain in the market. The individual growers are normally the ones that name the strain; the name usually reflects the property of the plant which can be color, smell as well as taste and the original origin of the strain.
Breeding cannabis hybrid strains is no different than breeding any hybrid plant strain; the breeder pollinates the female plant with pollen from the male plant. Although this process can happen naturally many new strains are created intentionally, in this case selective breeding is carried out under controlled conditions. The resulting seeds from the female are F1 hybrids of the pair, these seeds are different from both parents; they have characteristics taken from both the male and female.
A technique which is commonly employed to stabilize the hybrid strain is called ‘curbing.” The plant breeder seeks specific characteristics of the hybrid and breeds the chosen hybrid with the parent plant. This process is often repeated three or four times back and forth between generations before a new strain is considered stable.
Cannabis can be propagated two different ways; sexually and asexually. The result of sexual propagation is seeds. Sexual propagation requires the combining of genetic material from two plants; the male and the female, because of this it is expected that the results will be somewhat varied and that the offspring will differ. When propagation is done asexually which involves cloning, propagation, root division, etc the result will be an identical replica of the parent plant. Asexual propagation assures that the genetic makeup of the parent plant will be preserved, sexual propagation results in cannabis hybrid strains.
Hybrid strains of cannabis are favorites of growers because of the high THC levels as well as the different characteristics that can be bred into the plant. Breeders will take indica specie which is known for its high CBD level and breed it with the best satvia specie which is known for high THC levels, the result is a very strong hybrid.
It can take the breeder many generations of cross breeding before the desired features are developed. A common advantage of cannabis hybrid strains is in their size and the length of time it takes them to be ready for harvesting.
