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How To Breed Cannabis Written by Cannabis Training University (CTU)

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Cannabis Training University (CTU) - All Rights Reserved

How To Breed Cannabis

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Contents

Part 1-Clones versus Seeds ................................................................................................................... 3

Differences between Clones & Seeds ................................................................................................... 6

Clones: ....................................................................................................................................................... 6

Seeds: ........................................................................................................................................................ 7

What is a Cannabis Breeder? .................................................................................................................... 7

Why Breed Your Own Cannabis Strains? .................................................................................................. 8

Part 2- A Basic and Easy Way to Breed Cannabis: ............................................................................... 10

Step 1- ..................................................................................................................................................... 10

Step 2- ..................................................................................................................................................... 10

Step 3- ..................................................................................................................................................... 11

Step 4- ..................................................................................................................................................... 12

Step 5- ..................................................................................................................................................... 13

Step 6- ..................................................................................................................................................... 14

Step 7- ..................................................................................................................................................... 15

Step 8- ..................................................................................................................................................... 16

Step 9- ..................................................................................................................................................... 17

Step 10- ................................................................................................................................................... 17

Some Helpful Tips ................................................................................................................................... 18

Second Method For Breeding Cannabis .................................................................................................. 21

Part 3- A Deeper Look at Cannabis Breeding ...................................................................................... 22

How To Breed a Hybrid Cannabis Strain ................................................................................................. 23

F1 & F2 Further Explained .................................................................................................................. 25

Cannabis Breeding Review ................................................................................................................. 26



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Part 1-Clones versus Seeds

Cannabis is produced in two different ways, either “asexual propagation”, or through

what is known as “sexual propagation”.

Asexual propagation of cannabis occurs when it is cloned, or cut from a mother plant and

then grown into a new plant with the same genetics as the parent plant.



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Most growers of cannabis today choose to start with clones and not seeds. This is because

clones are the exact genetic match of their female parent, and they tend to flower faster

then plants that begin from seeds.

Sexual propagation on the other hand is started from seeds.

When combining two different seeds from two parents, the end result will vary from seed

to seed since each will take different traits from each parent.

Many growers are interested in creating their own unique strain of cannabis, rather than

just taking a clone and growing what has already been grown before.

The unique characteristics of each cannabis plant are created as a result of the

chromosomes present in each cell which together are known as the “genotype” of that

individual plant.



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A genotype once it has been influenced by the environment creates characteristics that

are visible to the name eye, and we call these “phenotypes”.

By breeding cannabis, each grower has a chance to come up with their own strain, one

that has all the traits that they look for in their plants, such as a great smell, a desired

medical effect, a delicious taste, or a high potency.



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Differences between Clones & Seeds

Clones:

◉ Clones are always the same. They are cut from a mother and all have the same

genetics.

◉ Clones require no breeding knowledge. All that is required is taking a cutting from

a mother plant.

◉ Clones are susceptible to disease. Often times, if one clone gets sick, all the others

will as well.



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Seeds:

◉ It is possible to produce non-hybrid seeds by breeding female and male strains in

the flowering stage of growth.

◉ Seeds are different, and each one might take on its own genetic tendencies and

resistance to disease.

◉ Seeds are unique and give each breeder a chance to stake claim on their own strain

of cannabis.

◉ Seeds are much easier to transport and ship than clones.

What is a Cannabis Breeder? A cannabis breeder is someone who develops a line of plants by selecting two breeds and

using cross pollination techniques to create a new, unique strain.



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Why Breed Your Own Cannabis Strains?

A common question we hear is:

Why would you want to breed your very own strains of cannabis when there are

thousands of strains for sale online?

Here are some good reasons why cannabis breeding is worth doing:

1. Save money (some marijuana seeds can cost $200 or more for a pack of ten of them).

2. Avoid any potential problems with ordering, shipping and security risks when you order

cannabis seeds online.

3. If you create a lot of your own seeds they can be sold for money in areas of the world

where it is permitted by law.

4. You can create strains of cannabis that have the traits that you most like, as far as taste,

smell, potency, or medicinal effect.



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Cannabis seeds strains are grown and crossbred in order to create new cannabis breeds

with different characteristics.

The most important characteristics manipulated through crossbreeding are:

Bud to leaf ratio, effect, yield, taste, size of the plant, and how well they will acclimate to

western growing conditions.



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Part 2- A Basic and Easy Way to Breed Cannabis:

The following is an easy way to breed cannabis and is suitable for beginner breeders.

Step 1- Purchase the best non-feminized cannabis seeds you can from one of the strains you most

enjoy.

Step 2- Place your seeds in a wet paper towel and put them in a dark drawer until they sprout.



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Step 3-

Put the newly sprouted seeds into a cup with soil, a rock wool cube, or a peat pellet and

place them under lights for 18-24 hours per day until they root. (compact fluorescent

lights work well for this stage)



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Step 4- Switch the lights to 12 hours on and 12 hours off when the plants are ready for it. Within

two weeks you’ll see some plants developing as males and some developing as female.

You can identify a male plant by using the pre-flowers that develop where the leaf stems

join the main stem (internode). Male plants will start to develop what look like tiny little

balls and are distinguishable from females by the absence of small white hairs which are

known as “pistils”.

Another way to distinguish between the sexes is by simply looking at the plants. Male

marijuana plants tend to be taller than females, with a greater amount of irregular

branching and less leaves and internodes than females have.

Keep in mind that it only takes one male plant to pollinate many female plants in a garden.



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Step 5- Choose the most desirable males that have exhibited some strong genetics, such as a

strong stem or fast and vigorous growth, and place them in a separate 12-hour of light

grow room so they cannot contaminate the female plants.

(Tip* Some breeders choose their male plants based on the strength of smell that occurs

after rubbing the stem with a finger. If it has a strong and pungent smell it may be a good

male to choose).



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Step 6- Put some black poly-plastic (black polyethylene sheeting) underneath the male plants so

it is easier to see the yellow, powdery pollen when it falls.



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Step 7- Grab a plastic container with a wide mouth into the room and place it under the ripe

male.Tap the pollen sacs so the pollen drops off them and falls down into the container.

Keep tapping into as much pollen as possible falls off the plant or plants.

With some careful planning, your female flowers can be ready to pollinate at the same

time the male flowers are ready to produce pollen.

Male flowers in general tend to produce pollen slightly before the time when female

flowers become ripe enough to be pollinated.



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Step 8- Take a small paintbrush and dip it into the container with the pollen in it.

Lightly apply pollen to all the surfaces of the female buds and hairs.

We recommend taking a look at your female plants and choose ones that have strong and

healthy lower branches for pollination.

Tip

(Use labels that you can write on to keep track of what plant is what combination of what

strains)



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Step 9- Make sure to change your clothes and take a shower after handling pollen because pollen

easily travels on hair, skin and clothes.

Step 10- Turn off any fans in the grow room for at least one hour after pollination to avoid

accidentally spreading the pollen to plants that you do not want pollinated.

That’s it!

If you have had a successful pollination, soon after you will see seeds swelling up in your

buds and depending on the strain you’re breeding, the seeds will be ripe 4-6 weeks after

pollination.



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Some Helpful Tips Allow the buds to fully develop until harvest before removing the seeds.

Let the seeds stay on the plant until they become a dark color.

Seeds are not mature until they darken in color.



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It is advisable to wait until the calyxes begin to open and seeds will easily fall out.

If the seeds are tan or light green let them sit until they are darker in color before

removing them from the plant.



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Use small tweezers to gently remove the seeds from the plant.

Remove any green material and leaf from the seeds.

Let the seeds dry for a week or two in a dark, clean area with moderate temperature

and low humidity.

Store the seeds in a sealed glass jar and place the jar in a refrigerator.

Do not purchase feminized seeds if you want to breed.

Grow out the new seeds as soon as possible to test their strength and characteristics.

(although stored seeds can remain usable 1-5 years after harvest under optimal

conditions)



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Second Method For Breeding Cannabis Another common method is to use brown paper bags for storing the pollen.

Place the paper bag on a branch on the male plant and collect the pollen in it.

Move the bag to a branch on the female plant and shake the bag until all the pollen falls

onto the female.



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Part 3- A Deeper Look at Cannabis Breeding

In the cell middle of a cannabis plant there are 10 couples of chromosomes which will

determine whether a plant will end up male or female.

If the cannabis plant has two X-chromosomes it will end up a female, and if it has an X

and Y-chromosome it will become a male.

Upon fertilization the sex of the plant will be determined.

The chromosomes of the female will connect with the chromosomes of the male.

In this way 10 couples of chromosomes are created.

On each of these chromosomes a certain number of genes are created.

The two chromosomes that form a couple have genes on the same places.

A gene on a locus consists of what is known as a “property”.



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These properties determine how the plant will grow, smell, look and bloom.

How To Breed a Hybrid Cannabis Strain Hybrid strains are created by crossing two cannabis plants that are not related.

These newly created plants are known as “F1”.

When F1 plants are backcrossed to the mother then their offspring is usually referred to

as “F2”.

-To ensure the most amount of seeds, it is recommended to fertilize the females when

the buds are entirely formed and the hairs are white in color.



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◉ Place a paper bag over one branch of the male cannabis plant.

◉ Once enough of the pollen is in the sack, place the bag over a branch on the female

plant and shake the bag so the pollen falls on the female.

◉ A single branch done this way can create many seeds, even hundreds of them.

◉ Within two weeks you will see that the development of the seeds has begun, and

in 4 to 6 weeks the seeds will be nice and ripe for the picking.

Here is a diagram that shows how genes are passed down from parents to their offspring.

It is the same in humans, other animals, and cannabis plants.



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F1 & F2 Further Explained

“F1” means that the seeds or plants have two true-breeding parents.

When crossing of F1 hybrid strains is done, it will produce plants whose characteristics

won’t be the same as the original true-breeding parents, though they may share some of

the same traits.

The Plant quality diminishes because the variation in genes is extended and making it

harder to foresee characteristics.

The process is endless.

For example, F2s can be bred with other F2s creating F3s, which will in turn create strains

with an even greater loss of quality.

Breeders sometimes keep crossing strains and trying over and over for many years until

they think they have gotten the exact and best possible seeds out of their work.



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Cannabis Breeding Review

In order to breed cannabis it requires pollinating a female cannabis plant with male

pollen.

This process happens spontaneously in nature.

But indoors, in order to create new strains of cannabis, it involves selective breeding in a

controlled environment.

When cannabis is grown strictly for its psychoactive or medicinal properties, male plants

are separated from females as to avoid the females growing seeds instead of only growing

buds.



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Pollen produced by the male is caught and stored in paper bags or plastic containers until

it is needed to use for fertilizing the female.

When a male cannabis plant of one strain pollenates a female cannabis plant of another

strain, the seeds will end up what are known as “F1 hybrids” of the male and female

parents.

These offspring will not be identical to their parents.

They will however have characteristics of both parents.

With repeated breeding the results in certain characteristics will appear with greater

regularity.

“Cubing” is a term given to a common technique used to stabilize a cannabis variety.



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For example, a cannabis breeder in search of specific traits in the hybrid offspring, such

as greater resin production, will breed hybrid plants that most exemplify these

characteristics with a parent plant.

The exact same traits are desired in the new inbred offspring, which are then again bred

with the original parent cannabis plant.

This process is referred to as “cubing” because it is often repeated across three, or

possibly even more generations before the variety's genetics are as stable as the breeder

wants.

Cannabis Training University (CTU)

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