If plants have seeds, and cannabis is a plant, then there should be cannabis seeds in medical marijuana products. Right?
Up until the 1970s, all cannabis growers used cannabis seeds, and all cannabis products had seeds in them. Then, growers realized that cannabis doesn’t need to be fertilized to reproduce, and that seedless strains actually had a greater psychoactive effect.
Fast forward 50 years, and many cannabis growers now produce solely seedless strains. But, how does seedless cannabis reproduce, and why does it give a stronger high? Let’s investigate why medical marijuana is seedless, and what happened to cannabis seeds.
No More Cannabis Seeds: Growing Sinsemilla
It turns out, cannabis doesn’t need its seeds to be fertilized. Most plants have male or female reproductive parts: males produce pollen, females produce seeds and fruit. Female cannabis strains can still reproduce without being fertilized – they just end up reproducing near-identical copies of themselves.
These seedless cannabis strains are known as sinsemilla – Spanish for “without seeds.” These seedless plants produce much bigger flowers and yield more potent cannabinoids, making cannabis seeds a thing of the past for many growers.
Why is Medical Marijuana Seedless?
Cannabis strains with seeds produce far less of the cannabinoids THC and CBD. When a female cannabis plant is fertilized, it diverts resources towards growing seeds, and the flower from which cannabis products are made will stop growing. As a result, fertilized cannabis plants produce less cannabinoids.
These seeds are also hard to remove from cannabis products. Decades ago, people had to smoke cannabis with these seeds mixed in the flowers, resulting in a rather uncomfortable experience. The added time and labor to remove these seeds is costly for cannabis growers, and since seedless strains yield higher cannabinoids, it makes sense to grow sinsemilla instead.
Risks of Growing Sinsemilla
Of course, growing sinsemilla comes with certain risks which are best handled by medical growers and dispensaries. The biggest risk is that the cannabis plant accidentally becomes fertilized. Pollen is hard to control, as it can travel for miles in the wind, so females in uncontrolled outdoors environments will likely produce seeds at some point.
Additionally, certain sinsemilla plants can have a THC level of over 20%, so growers should be careful that their products are carefully measured and controlled, as many medical cannabis users require a more delicate balance of THC to CBD.
Why Waveseer Grows Sinsemilla
Because we can grow our products in controlled environments, the benefits of sinsemilla far outweigh the costs. Our products vary widely in THC and CBD content, thanks to our ability to produce flowers with high amounts of cannabinoids and tailor each product to your specific needs. See for yourself at one of our licensed partners or dispensaries!