Regular- one of the largest advantages to using regular seeds is the ability to find a female or a male. Well that's basically the definition of a regular seed! They can be both male and female. I talk to a lot of growers here in Canada (where I am from) that are startup new genetics so having a strong male to take pollen from is becoming more and more common.
It is also said to give more stable female genetics (low to no rate of hermaphroditism)
When using a regular seed; however, a negative to having a regular seed for young growers, really any grower, would be having a male that goes unchecked to pollinate your whole crop! These seeds are photosensitive meaning they need a change in light cycle to produce flowers giving you the ability to flower when you want!
Feminized - pro- using feminized seeds gives you 99% female seeds, I leave that last 1 % as the cons being sometimes you will get hermaphrodite seeds 1/100 times you use them. You may never get hermaphrodites but you should always be checking once in a while just to make sure. This is also the safest way to ensure you don’t get a male in the mix. They can be sneaky! That is one mistake that will surely ruin a crop.
Auto flower-This one is a very loaded topic nowadays. I have had the fortune of working with a lot of the top auto flower companies that the world has to offer seeing their genetics is really a testament to the hard work and determination of genetic selection breeding.
Autos contain ruderalis. ****These plants were discovered in the wild, ****usually at a higher altitude in the northern regions of countries such as Afghanistan. With groups like seed hunters we are getting more and more genetics from all over the world.
‘Autos’ means, they have a set " life cycle " in the sense that they will start to flower at a set point in their life cycle usually being between 21 and 28 days from seed. There are a LOT of heated debates on the subject of what is better auto flower vs. a photo sensitive seed. My opinion is there's no real way to say any way is better, BUT what I can tell you from close personal experience is they have the ability to be just as potent as a photo sensitive strain.
Any plants done right starting with great genetics are definitely going to be something that you want in your garden, it doesn't matter what that seed may be if you don't give the respect to your plants, give them the nutrients they need, it doesn't matter what kind of seed… it is not going to do well. Period.
I've noticed auto flowers getting more and more exciting in the sense that I can high stress train something 3 or 4 times and the plant will bounce back within 2 days! Auto flowers really do depend on good genetics, that's one thing you cannot skip selecting auto, you need good genes.
I believe some of the top companies for auto are: 420fastbuds, Dutch Passion and Sweet Seeds (Diablo would also add Dank Donkey).
Early / fast flower genetics- This is the newest edition to the cannabis world. It combines a feminized photo sensitive seed crossed with auto flower genetics.
This allows the grower to choose when they want to induce flower by switching from a 18 on 6 off cycle to a 12 on 12 off light regiment. The auto flower genetic sticks around and is able to shorten flower time. We worked with one fast flower strain that could produce some high THC buds (20%^) with a flower time of under 40 days. That’s hard to beat.
Ultimately as a grower you need to decide, and you may start with one and switch, like anything with growing there is going to be some trial and error…and well…that’s part of the frustration and the fun!
