Cannabis Propagation I seed based

The process of creating new cannabis plants from seed or cutting is a critical step in both commercial production and home cultivation becuase it determines? what?

• Genetics

• Growth pattern 

• Yield potential

Of plant

Why is this important?

Because commercial production require high quality lanting materials in order to

• meet production targets

• Minimize insect/disease

• Maintain the quality of the end products

It is important for crops to be the same for next year!

When the Cannabis is a seed, it is→ Sexual and germinates. What is the embryo covered by? What is food storage in the form of? what is mostly in it?

• Embryo is coverd by a seed coat that protects it

• All seeds have some food storage, in that form of endospore

• There is mostly protein, fats, and sugar it the endospore

What seeds survive under shallow surfaces? How about deeper surfaces?

Tiny seeds

Larger seeds → gets more nutrients and won’t wabbl

Plants that have more seeds there is less?

Plants that produce more female flowers have more…?

There is less THC

More THC, phytochemicals

Small contol environments

Hundreds or plant/cycle

Commercials indoor facilities?

ten of thousand or more

Outdoor of seasonal greenhouse

Hundreds of thousand or even million plants or seeds

What are the Methods of propagation?

1. Propagation from seeds

2. Propagation from cutting (cloning) - vegetative stem cuttings

3. Grafting

4. Micropropagation using plant tissues

Each proagation method for cannabis has unique strengths and drawbacks, and the ideal systemd epends on the specific production context.

No Single propagation method suits all situations. Seed-based propagation is most common in what?

Hemp

Drug-type cannabis is usuallly propagated…

clonally

Seed-based propagation use many rise as varieties..

improveC

Clonal Propagation will remain key for…

Breeding

Propagation from Seeds?

1. Biology of Cannabis

2. Production of abundant seeds

3. Single plant (produces100-1000 seeds/sizes)

Propagation from seeds are Diecious or not?

Diecious - high degree of genetic and phenotypic diversity, which means you would need both a male and female plant to pollinate togerther, a single dioecious plant will never produce seeds on its own.

• They have genetic diversity because they cannot self-polinate, they are forced to cross-pollinate

Seed-based Propagation is the predominant method they offer what? to make them ideal for large-scale agricultural operations?

Offer genetic diversity and scalability

Seed-based propagation small scale  can lead to ok crops but Large scale, thousands of plants could..

Have some challenges

What is Maturation date, what type of harvesting do they use?

Selective harvesting, it adds cost and labor

Selective harvesting” means that instead of harvesting all the plants (or all parts of a crop) at once, growers carefully choose which plants—or even which parts of each plant—are ready to be harvested based on their maturity, quality, or desired traits.

What is the purpose of Outdoor prouction?

Extraction purpose, and variability is acceptable

harvest biomass (leaves, buds, stems) that will later be processed to extract cannabinoids like THC or CBD, and terpenes.

extraction-based production, this variation doesn’t matter much because:

• All the harvested material is mixed and processed together.

• The resulting extract is homogenized, so chemical differences average out.

Extraction process will be ..?

homogenize end-produc

Seeds are produced by?

pollinating a female plant with male - this is common in breeding, home grows, or when introducing new genetics

However, genetic variation among seedling can lead to inconsistent pant quality and cannabinoids profiles, whcih is a challenge for…?

Unifom production

1.1 Production of seed from open pollinated cultivars

Specific cultivar grown together - permitted to randomly pollinate 

• Harvested crop from parent plants will not be affected

• The seeds produced by those plants will be hybridized, meaning that if planted, the next gereration will have mixed characteristics from all the aprent cultivars

Why is the production of seed from a open pollinated cultivars suitable for hemp seed, but not medicinal/drug type cannabis?

Because it will produce a lot of diversity that is not unified. because genetic diversity doesn’t harm fiber or seed production.

What are the key requirements for open pollinations?

is to have Large populations sizes (difficult to maintain for drug/medicinal type due to regulation)

however some growers prefer to maintian high genetic verablity

What are the 3 main requirements for open pollinated cultivars?

1. Population size - maintain genetic diversity + stable traits

2. Maintain genetic purity in the resulting see - real challenge, Isolation distances to protect population’s genetic identity

3. Land use history - consideration of past crop rotations and pest issues that might affect growth.

What does population size do?

Maintain genetic diversity within cultivars/landraces

Insufficient plant population cause what?

Causes genetic erosion, important traits could be lost

Population size  is not established by tentatively, several hundreds of ..

plants

Maintain genetic purity in the resulting seed- real challenge. What is required?

• 1. Isolation Requirements for Industrial Hemp

  • No cannabis plants within 100 meters of the hemp seed production field.

  • Plant density limit: No more than 10 cannabis plants per hectare (Ha) nearby.

  • These conditions help reduce the risk of foreign pollen reaching the seed crop and changing its genetics.

  2. Registered Seed Production (CSQA Standards)

  • According to Cannabis Safety and Quality Certification (CSQA) guidelines, registered seed production should have a much larger isolation distance — about 4,800 meters (4.8 km).

  • This greater distance provides maximum protection against cross-pollination, ensuring the resulting seeds maintain their genetic identity and purity.

Land use history?

Used for see production and ot for hemp seed in the last 3 years registered see and 3 years for certified seed.

What are the two ways to produce seeds?

• Open Polllination

• Controlled pollination

What is open pollination?

Simpler, and less costly, but the genetic outcomes are unpredictable

What is Controlled pollination?

More complex and expensive, but it allows breeders to precisely control parentage and desired traits

What are the two types of Controlled pollination?

• Crossing two distinct seed-based population

• Selective pollination for F1 Hybrid Seed production

Controlled pollination allows precise breeding by managing which plants cross. The first approach maximizes genetic diversity for breeding purposes, while the second produces uniform F1 hybrids ideal for consistent crop performance.

Crossing Two Distinct Seed-Based Populations?

Method that aims to create a genetic mis that includes the full diversity of both parent populations.

What are the steps to Crossing two distinct seed-based population?

• Choose one male and one female population to cross.

• Germinate seedlings and identify plant sex early—either by:

  • Molecular markers (genetic tests), or

  • Morphological traits (visible features at a later growth stage).

• Select plants by sex:

  • Discard female plants from the male parental line.

  • Discard male plants from the female parental line.

• Grow the remaining males and females together so that females are pollinated randomly by males.

• The resulting seeds represent a cross between two cultivars, combining the full genetic variation of both.

• This technique is mainly used in breeding programs, but not commonly for routine propagation.

What is Selective Pollination for F1 Hybrid Seed Production?

This approach produces F1 hybrid seeds, which are more genetically uniform than those from population crosses

What are the steps to Selective pollination for F1 Hybrid Seed production?

1. Similar to the first method, but parental lines (male and female) are first selected from a seedling population and then clonally propagated.

   • This ensures all seed-producing plants have the same mother and father.

2. The genetic and phenotypic variation of the seeds depends on how heterozygous (genetically diverse) the parent lines are.

3. Overall genetic diversity is lower than in the first method, resulting in more uniform offspring — a desirable trait for commercial hybrid seed production.

Production of Feminized Seed

How feminized seeds are produced, particularly in dioecious plants

What are dioecious plants?

Species that have separate male and female individuals

In diecious plants only one sex is important, and prouces the desired product, such as cannabinoids, fruits, or seeds. Which for Cannabis?

Female

Why are male plants undesirable, why do we avoid them??

Because they do not produce the valuable product and can pollinate females, reducing quality, labor intensive and yield

Growers aim to eliminate male plants and produce only female offspring using feminized seeds

Why are feminized seeds needed? What do Male plants contribute to?

Female plants produce higher yields of valueable compounds like cannabinoisl

Only pollen and lower productivity

To remove males it is?

labor intensive and expensive, creating feminized seeds saves time and cost

What are the steps to produce Feminized seeds

1. Select healthy female plants.

2. Induce male flower formation on these female plants using chemical or environmental treatments (stressors).

   • This process turns a normal female into a hermaphroditic female (a female that produces both male and female flowers).

3. The male flowers formed on this plant look and function like true male flowers — they produce viable pollen — but genetically remain female.

4. The pollen from these flowers is then used to self-pollinate the same plant or another female plant.

   • Because both parents are genetically female, the resulting seeds are feminized (almost 100% female offspring).

More detailed explaination of Hermaphroditic female plant creation.

1. Start with a normal female plant:
   In dioecious species (plants that have separate males and females), a female plant only produces female flowers, which can make seeds or the desired product (like buds in cannabis).

2. Apply a treatment:
   Scientists or growers apply chemicals (like silver thiosulfate or gibberellic acid) or environmental stress (such as changes in light, temperature, or water).

   • These treatments disrupt the plant’s natural hormone balance, especially hormones like ethylene, which normally help maintain female traits.

3. Result — male flower development:
   Because of this disruption, the female plant starts producing male flowers in addition to its normal female ones.

   • These male flowers look and function like those from a true male plant — they produce pollen.

4. The plant is now called a “hermaphroditic female”:

   • “Hermaphroditic” means it has both male and female reproductive organs.

   • However, even though it has male flowers, genetically it is still female, since it originated from a female plant.

What chemicals are used to induce Male Flowers?

Several plant growth regulators and stress agents can trigger the development of male flowers on female plants:

• Gibberellic acid (GA₃)

• Ethylene inhibitors

• 2-aminoethoxyvinyl glycine (AVG)

• Silver nitrate (AgNO₃)

• Silver thiosulfate (STS)

What do these chemicials/substances interfere with to promote femaleness?

These substances interfere with ethylene, a hormone that promotes femaleness, thereby encouraging male flower formation on female plants.

What are the benefits of Feminized Seeds?

• Ensures almost all offspring are female, maximizing yield.

• Reduces labor and cost since growers don’t have to identify and remove males.

• Useful for creating inbred lines or hybrid seeds in breeding programs, as it allows controlled self-pollination of elite female lines.

What are the limitations of Feminization?

• Inbreeding depression - occur if plants are repeatedly self-polllinated

  • Inbred lines - occur

What is inbreeding depression?

Loss of vigor, fertilit, or fitness caused by repeated crossing of genetically similar individuals.

Inbred line?

A plant population that has been self-pollinated over many generations, making it genetically uniform homozygous

1.4 Harvesting, storing and cultivation of seed

Cannabis seed are a type of achene. What is an achene?

Small, dry, one-seeded fruit that does not open on its own when mature. Because of this, the seed remain enclosed in a hard outer shell, protecting it during handling and storage - meaning it’s indehiscent

When does a Cannabis see mature?

4-6weeks after pollination

Harvesting should be based on… not just time (calendar date)

developmental signs

Mature seeds are usually what color and sometimes have what patterns?

Gray-brown in color

Sometimes is with mottled patterns (spots or streaks).

Note, some genotypes may not show mottling even when …

fully mature

Moisture content at harvest is?

10-30%, which is too high for long-term storage and can lead to spoilage or reduced germination

For safe long-term storage, seed moisture must be reduced to below?

9%

Proper drying preserves seed viability (ability to sprout) and prevents…or…

mold or decay.

Hemp and drug type cannabis seeds must be stored at?

11% moisture and 20°C (room temperature) → lose all germination ability within 18 months.

What are the ideal storage conditions?

11% moisture and 20°C (room temperature) → lose all germination ability within 18 months.

Low temperature + low moisture = long-term vigor and survival.

What are the key factors to Seed Germination?

• Pre-soaking

• Seed priming

• Growth medium

Pre-soaking?

• Can increase germination rate but is not necessary.

• If overdone, it may damage the radicle (the emerging root).

Seed Priming?

• A controlled pre-germination treatment where seeds are partially hydrated to activate metabolism without full sprouting.

• Helps speed up and synchronize germination.

Growth medium should have a good balance of what?

Should have a good balance of:

• Water-holding capacity (to keep seeds moist)

• Drainage (to prevent waterlogging)

• Air-filled porosity (for oxygen access to the roots).

Under good conditions seed germination takes about…

Domesticate cannabis seeds germinate easily when provided proper conditions

One week