Germination and seed size.

biclord

New member
Hi all, question for shanti and neville.

First, what is your prefered germination method?

Second, can sativa and indica strains be identified by seed size? I recently bought a pack of dreamtime and these baby's are tiny! A few were the size of a grain of sand, nearly.

Does this mean these seeds will be sativa dominant? and do larger seeds tend to be indica leaning?

I look foward to your response. -thx!
 
can sativa and indica strains be identified by seed size?
Not really. I've seen huge sativa seeds in Nepal and tiny Afghani, but generally the reverse is true. But I like extremes. I played with HPxNL1 (HP1) and focussed for a while on seed size. I got some amazing seeds. Huge black mottled, puffed up seeds with plenty of meat. I reckon that roasted in hemp oil and salted, they would have made a tasty nutritional snack. Unfortunately bud structure and yield was the initial price to pay. The potency of the weed was still good though. In the end though I dumped the line. You've got to remain focussed. Snack seed might cost one or two dollars a kilo. Better to produce food for the soul.
N.
 
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Not really. I've seen huge sativa seeds in Nepal and tiny Afghani, but generally the reverse is true. But I like extremes. I played with HPxNL1 (HP1) and focussed for a while on seed size. I got some amazing seeds. Huge black mottled, puffed up seeds with plenty of meat. I reckon that roasted in hemp oil and salted, they would have made a tasty nutritional snack. Unfortunately bud structure and yield was the initial price to pay. The potency of the weed was still good though. In the end though I dumped the line. You've got to remain focussed. Snack seed might cost one or two dollars a kilo. Better to produce food for the soul.
N.

Interesting.

would you say seed size has any correlation to potency, generally speaking?

I.E. bigger the seed = the more potent the smoke?

if so, which genetic lines are the exception?
 
you know they say hemp seeds are the most balanced nutrition on the planet.. if you were a drift at sea and had only one food on hand to surive they say hemp seeds would do the best job... as well as peanut butter. and ice cream, deep fried mars bars, POGOS...turducken.... and ship dip...
ops I got of track...
 
Interesting.

would you say seed size has any correlation to potency, generally speaking?

I.E. bigger the seed = the more potent the smoke?

if so, which genetic lines are the exception?

Genetic its all about the genetics not the size of the seed but what is with in the seed.
 
While we are talking about seeds. Do the breeders out there notice a connection between "tiger stripes" and hybrids. I remember(?) alot of the pure strains with solid colored seeds. Why do you get seeds with "tiger stripes" when you cross IBL's?

Sincerely,
MaryWanna CannabisSeed
(im naming my first girl this :))
 
"tiger stripes and solid coloured seeds."
I used to love the seeds with heavy mottling or stripes. It looked almost like a warning. The trouble is, all that pigment is in a thin sheath coating the seed. Drying and threshing the seed causes it to flake off, often leaving the seed a golden brown colour. So in the end, you can judge a seed by it's colour.
N.
 
I used to love the seeds with heavy mottling or stripes. It looked almost like a warning. The trouble is, all that pigment is in a thin sheath coating the seed. Drying and threshing the seed causes it to flake off, often leaving the seed a golden brown colour. So in the end, you can judge a seed by it's colour.
N.

wow nev , ive never seen that , ive even stolen seeds from my dad back in the early 80's that he had storred in a container for quite a few years , and to this day ive never ever seen a seed flake off anything (old or new)

ive crushed seeds in my early teen years (thinking i could smoke em when desperate) and still never seen any "flake"
 
I actually like Shanti's medium sized polished haze hybrid seeds with no mottling or stripes. I have a few seeds that look like that from Kanga. I suspect (I hope) they are Oaxacan x NLHaze, as I have three on the go:). Maybe my aversion to mottling and stripes is because all of the Skunk seeds I've had look like that. I also have some very large dark seeds that are a Thai/Afghan cross, as well as some MM cross seeds that are all very large and light coloured. The Oaxacan highland seeds are very small and dark with a little mottling. Ahh variety is the...
 
ive crushed seeds in my early teen years (thinking i could smoke em when desperate) and still never seen any "flake"
Find a seed with mottling and rub it between your fingers. You can also scratch a seed with a knife and get it to flake. Try it and tell us what happens.
N.
 
yep Nevil is correct.
the tiger stripes or mottling will come off when rubbed,its like another thin membrane that dries and cracks off,leaving a solid dark colored seed.

S
I
 
i have a new experiment now :p

ill prolly wait for the weekend then go after some of my seeds

we DO learn something new every day dont we :cool:
 
Hey Nevil thanks for answering so quickly.

Do tiger stripes or that extra membrane have some purpose? Is it a form of additional insurance when a plant crosses out of it's genome? Most of my earlier mexican and Jamaiacan bagseed was solid grey, brown, rust, or black. By 89-91 most seeds were tiger striped from Mexico and Jamaiacan commercial shipments that I saw.

I never paid enough attention to notice if certain colors would ususally come from the certain areas(maybe some colors appear because of soil conditions?).

This Place Makes Me SOOOO Happy!,

KB 8)_~~
 
Find a seed with mottling and rub it between your fingers. You can also scratch a seed with a knife and get it to flake. Try it and tell us what happens.
N.

Nev, if is needed I will make couple shots of flake seeds, from 2010 and much much older.
You are right like usual, all that is just coloured shell on the seed.
 
Nevil, in a related few questions about germination, did you find any correlation between speed of germination and vigor/quality of the seed plant/clones? Did you have slower-to-sprout seedlings from a single genepool that were consistently higher or lower quality than the rest?

Also, when you were searching for the fastest male in a batch of seed, did you start counting when the seed goes in the ground, or when the sprout discarded the seed shell, or showed the first set or serrated leaves? Or did you judge it based on performance of clones instead of seed plants?

Thanks,
ESS
 
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Camouflage.
N.

Man it didn't work too well to not be seen by my mom back in the 80's when she grabbed a large chunk of my seed collection...wait a second most of those seeds were rust and grey and black. NO CAMOUFLAGE!!! I think you are onto something here. :)

If you are being serious (I'm not sure if you are it sounds like a funny answer, I pictured a seed all strapped up and booted up ready for a mission :)) does it hide them from birds or something?

I guess if I was a seed I would not want to wind up getting forcefully ejected at high altitude from that end of the plane, and might try to evolve a defense against the threat of anal germination as well.

KB 8)_~
 
does it hide them from birds or something?
Try an experiment. Take 100 mottled or striped seeds outside and throw the up in the air so as they land in the dirt. See how many you can find. Birds will have the same problem.
Camouflage.
N.
 
Nevil, in a related few questions about germination, did you find any correlation between speed of germination and vigor/quality of the seed
The plant first puts its energy into producing the seed embryo. Then it puts it's energy into shell production. White seeds are often viable but have undeveloped shells. These tend to germ first. The hard shelled seeds are better equipped to last.
N.
 
hey nevil whats your preferred germination method?

i just put mine in a shot glass and then direct sow....problem is that when i try to plant bagseed alot of them dont germ in the shot glass and they wont germ if i directly sow them either.
 
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