Difference Between Indica & Sativa

[GreyMatterTripp]

Difference Between Indica & Sativa
When the question of the difference of indica and sativa and what highs and what growth patterns each plant possesses, as well as the question of 'what kind is MY nug', it is often not one that is answered in a black and white manner. Rather that the two strains have a very long history on the planet and are now mostly hybred together to have the best qualities of both while most still have dominant charictaristics of one landrace or another. Below is an excellent article that explains all of this in detail.

For those of you short on time here is the short and sweet version from a later post I made

To break it down simply Sativas grow closer to the equator favor warmer temps and longer growing cycles, give a 'up' or 'cerebral' high generally and the leaves are thin and long. Along with all of this these plants are long and tall getting over 18 feet in some varieties.

Indicas grow in the northern climates and more temperate zones where there is frost and more danger of mold, because of this pure indicas tend to be very hardy and frost and mold resistant. They also produce a 'down' or 'couchlock' stone generally. These plants are relatively short and can be as small as a couple of feet, they have wide, fat leaves and are usually very resiounus.
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The article explores in depth the history of the two breeds and their mixing

Source: http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4721.html
backissues -> CC60 -> Origins of the Species
by Robert Connell Clarke (13 Apr, 2006) From the Canabible with new photos from Jason King
Varieties of marijuana originating in India have been grown throughout the Caribbean and bordering coastal nations from Mexico to Brazil since 1834, when the British brought indentured Indian servants to their Caribbean colonies. Marijuana use did not become illegal in America until 1937, and large-scale commercial importation of hashish and marijuana into Europe and North America did not commence until the early 1960s.

Marijuana growing began in North America during the 1960s. At first, seeds cleaned from illicit shipments of marijuana were casually planted by curious smokers. Sinsemilla (Spanish for �seedless�) marijuana was almost unheard of. Nearly all domestically produced marijuana that lacked seeds was immature, and mature marijuana was fully seeded. Tropical varieties from Colombia and Thailand grown in North America rarely matured before frosts killed them. However, some of the tropical varieties regularly survived until maturity in coastal Florida, Southern California, and Hawaii, where the climate is warm and the growing season is long. Alternately, subtropical Mexican and Jamaican varieties often matured outdoors across the southern two-thirds of the United States. All of these early introductions were called �sativas,� a common name derived from the botanical name Cannabis sativa.

In the early 1970s, a handful of growers began to produce sinsemilla. Seedless plants are created by removing male plants from the fields, leaving only the unfertilized female plants to mature. Instead of setting seeds in the first receptive flowers, the female plants continue to produce copious additional flowers, covered by hundreds of thousands of resin glands. By the mid 1970s, sinsemilla was becoming the primary style of domestic marijuana production.

In 1976, a coffee-table book called Sinsemilla Marijuana Flowers, by Jim Richardson and Arik Woods revolutionized marijuana growing in North America. Not only did the authors accurately and sensitively portray the sinsemilla technique with their excellent text and lavish color photographs, they made the first attempt to describe the proper stages of floral maturity for an optimally potent and tasty harvest. Most importantly, this publication, just thirty years ago, suggested to growers that if marijuana can be grown without seeds, it follows that select female flowers can also be intentionally fertilized with select pollen to produce a few seeds of known parentage. This realization, in turn, gave birth to the expansion of conscious marijuana breeding and the myriad varieties portrayed in this article.

Early on, marijuana growers worked with any varieties they could procure in the search to find potent plants that would consistently mature before being killed by frosts. Since most imported marijuana was full of seeds, many landraces (traditional cultivars grown by indigenous peoples) were available to growers. Early-maturing northern Mexican varieties proved to be favorites as they consistently finished maturing at northerly latitudes. The earlymaturing North American sativa varieties of the early and mid-1970s (such as Polly and Eden Gold) resulted from hybrid crosses between Mexican or Jamaican landraces and more potent, but latermaturing Panamanian, Colombian, and Thai landraces. (In all hybrid crosses, the female seed parent is listed before the �x��the symbol indicating a cross�and the male pollen parent is listed after the �x.� If the sexual identity of the parents is unknown, a �/� symbol is used rather than the �x.�) Traditional cultivars gave modern growers a strong start having been favored and selected for potent landrace varieties for hundreds of years.

Most varieties in the 1970�s were adapted to outdoor growing, but others were specially developed for greenhouse or indoor, artificial light growing, where the season can be extended to allow latematuring cultivars to finish. Once varieties that would mature under the given conditions were perfected, pioneering marijuana breeders selected for high potency�high delta-1-THC content with low CBD content�followed by the aesthetic considerations of flavor, aroma, and color. (Delta-1-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the primary psychoactive compound in Cannabis. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is not psychoactive, but may alter the effects of THC.) Modifying adjectives, such as minty, floral, spicy, fruity, sweet, purple, golden, or red, were often attached to selected varieties, and thus domestic sinsemilla connoisseurship was born. Continued inbreeding of the original favorable hybrids resulted in some of the legendary sativas of the 1970s, such as Original Haze, Purple Haze, Polly, Eden Gold, Three Way, Maui Wowie, Kona Gold, Matanuska Thunderfuck, and Big Sur Holy Weed, which were almost always grown outdoors or in greenhouses. From 1975 until the end of the decade, marijuana breeders had great success continuing to develop connoisseur sativa cultivars. Sweeter, prettier flowers brought the grower great pride and even g reater prof it. Purple varieties gained popularity, largely following on the coattails of the extraordinary Purple Haze of Central California.

Durban PoisonBy 1980, commercial sinsemilla cultivation had become much more common. Professional growers developed sativa varieties that were both high yielding and early maturing, and police awareness of commercial cultivation increased, especially in the western United States. Small aircraft were routinely used to search for larger marijuana plantations located in remote terrain, and many small growers were turned in to the police by snoopy, alarmist neighbors. The authorities soon learned that marijuana matures in the autumn so a variety that could be brought out of the field and into the drying shed by early October avoided some of the problems that might arise with a variety that matured in late November. Faced with storage problems resulting from numerous seizures, the authorities often merely counted seized plants and burned the bulk of the confiscated crop immediately without weighing it. Prosecution was based on the number of plants counted. Just enough dried marijuana was saved for laboratory analysis to be used as evidence in court. Concurrent with increased sinsemilla production was an increased incidence of crops being stolen. The fewer large and early-maturing plants a cultivator could grow, while continuing to realize a sufficient yield and profit, the better the chances of avoiding detection by law enforcement or thieves.

When Cannabis responds positively to lots of water, sun, and nutrients, it produces huge plants, sometimes yielding up to five pounds (more than two kilograms) of dried flowers. The more they are fed and watered, the taller and bushier they become, even when heavily pruned. The larger the plant, the easier it is to spot from the air or over a fence. This situation kindled a desire in growers for plants with a short, broad stature and high flower yield. Before 1975, almost all sinsemilla was grown from sativa varieties. Correctly grown Colombian, Mexican, or Thai varieties averaged over eight feet (two and onehalf meters) tall when pruned or trellised, and could easily reach thirteen to sixteen feet (four to five meters) when grown unrestricted in full sun. As marijuana breeders continued to cross their shortest, earliest maturing, and highest-yielding sativa cultivars with each other and pruned frantically, they yearned for something new. Their salvation was manifested in a new and exotic foreign variety of marijuana called �indica.�

Skunk #1THE INTRODUCTION OF INDICA

Most modern European and Nor th American sinsemilla varieties are a blend of South Asian marijuana varieties called sativas that spread throughout South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and North and South America, and have been (since the 1970s) crossed with Central Asian and Middle Eastern hashish cultivars, commonly called �indicas,� a name based on the botanical name Cannabis indica. The most well-known indica varieties came from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Indica plants are characterized as short and bushy with broad, dark green leaves, which makes them somewhat harder to see from afar. They usually mature quite early, from late August to the end of September, often stand only three to six feet (one to two meters) at maturity, and produce copious resin-covered leaves and flowers. At least several dozen introductions of indica seeds from Afghanistan or Pakistan into North America were made during the middle to late 1970s. Afghani No. 1, Mazar-i-sharif, and Hindu Kush were some of the earliest indica introductions and are still available today. Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, many more indicas have made their way directly to Dutch seed companies from neighboring Pakistan. Indica added economically valuable traits to extant domestic marijuana varieties, but it was considered rough by many smokers, being originally intended for bulk hashish production, rather than fine sinsemilla. Marijuana breeders still needed the traditional sativas to make hybrids that were both potent and cerebral.

Marijuana breeders intentionally crossed early-maturing indica varieties with the sweet, but later maturing, sativa varieties to produce early-maturing hybrids. Soon the majority of growers began to try a few indica/sativa hybrids. By the early 1980s, the vast majority of commercially produced sinsemilla in North America had likely received some portion of its genetic composition from the indica gene pool, and it had become difficult to find the pre-indica, pure sativa varieties that had been so popular only a few years earlier. There are now very few pure sativas grown in North America and Europe, as they mature late outdoors and require extra time to mature indoors, resulting in higher costs and risks. Many of the indica/sativa hybrids were vigorous growers, matured earlier, yielded well, were very potent, and were easier to conceal due to their shorter stature. Skunk No. 1 (Colombian sativa/Afghan indica x Acapulco Gold Mexican sativa) is a good example of a hybrid expressing predominantly sativa traits, and Northern Lights (Afghan indica/Thai sativa) is a good example of a hybrid expressing predominantly indica traits.

CitrolIndica hybrids spread like wildfire. Although the influence of indica generally increased steadily throughout the mid-1980s (owing to its delayed introduction in many regions), its popularity in pioneering regions had begun to decline. Since Cannabis is wind-pollinated and sinsemilla is usually grown in enclosed gardens, accidental pollination often results in many seeds. Accidental seeds are far more common than intentionally produced seeds, and are rapidly and widely distributed in retail sinsemilla. Intentionally produced seeds are usually only passed along from one serious breeder to another or purchased from seed companies, and their distribution is more limited. Accidentally produced seeds containing varying proportions of the introduced indica gene pool were grown and randomly crossed again and again. Such random outcrossing produced a complex hybrid condition such that favorable traits were rarely consistently reproducible. Few of the offspring looked like their siblings, their gene pools having been formed from randomly collected genetic scraps handed down from their assorted predecessors. Over the next few years, the mixed gene pools reassorted, manifesting many undesirable as well as desirable characteristics.

Without careful selection and breeding, marijuana begins to turn weedy, and as natural selection takes over, varieties lose their vigor, taste, and potency. Accidental recombination of complex hybrids brought out some of the less desirable traits of indica that were previously suppressed. Reduced potency; a slow, flat, dreary high; and a skunky, acrid aroma and harsh taste quickly became associated with many indica/sativa hybrids. Also, indica�s dense, tightly packed floral clusters tend to trap moisture, encouraging gray mold, for which it has little native resistance. This often results in significant crop losses that were rarely a problem when only pure sativa varieties were grown. Indica/sativa hybrids are still what the average sinsemilla consumer purchases today. To the sinsemilla connoisseur, indica has not proven to be all it was cracked up to be. Although consumers and commercial growers of the late 1970s adopted indica enthusiastically, serious breeders of the 1980s began to view indica with more skepticism.

K2The average commercial or home grower, however, may express quite a different opinion. Indica�s hardy growth, rapid maturation, and tolerance to cold allowed sinsemilla to be grown outdoors in the northern United States, from Washington to Maine and across southern Canada. This revolutionized the marijuana market by making potent homegrown a reality for those living at northern latitudes, as well as widening the scope and intensity of sinsemilla cultivation. Production dispersed from the U.S. epicenters of the West Coast, Hawaii, and the Ozark mountains into at least twenty major producing states. Some sinsemilla is now grown outdoors in all fifty American states, across southern Canada, and throughout much of Europe. Indica/sativa hybrids have also proven to be well adapted to indoor cultivation. Compact indica/sativa hybrid varieties mature quickly, allowing three to four harvests per year, and yield an average of three to four ounces (one hundred grams) of dry flowers on plants only three feet tall. Sativa varieties are too stretchy and tall, take too long to mature, and the tops of the plants, near the lights, shade the bottom branches, preventing them from producing many flowers.

The introduction of indica also had a more subtle, and possibly longer-lasting, effect on sinsemilla breeding. Purple coloration had become a sign of quality and potency in late-maturing sativa cultivars like Purple Haze. The consumer�s thirst for exotic purple sinsemilla created the short-lived �Purple Craze� of the early 1980s. Growers discovered that indica varieties would often turn purple if they were left out through a frost. For a year or two, many growers were able to get more money for purple flowers, but early-maturing indica varieties, when left in the field through a frost, lost much of their potency. This abruptly ended the Purple Craze, and enlightened marijuana breeders realized that many traits prove to be desirable only in certain varieties under certain conditions. The conscientious breeder should be extremely selective when experimenting with new introductions.

TURNING THE INDICA TIDE

In their search for high-quality genetic stock, connoisseur sinsemilla breeders have returned to some of their original pure sativa varieties. By crossing them into the now highly inbred indica/sativa hybrid varieties, breeders can enhance the hybrid�s flavor and boost its potency. Breeders are continually searching for new sources of exotic seeds. Pure unhybridized indica varieties are still highly prized breeding material, and new indica introductions are occasionally received from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sativa varieties from South Africa have recently gained favor with outdoor growers, a s they mature early but don�t suffer from many of the aesthetic drawbacks of indica. Pure South African varieties, originating far south of the equator, often mature in August, but are shorter in stature, moderately potent, and relatively high yielding. Hybrid crosses between indicas and classic indica/sativa hybrid varieties such as Skunk No. 1 are usually vigorous and early maturing and may express the desirable sativa and indica traits of high potency, fine fragrance, and high yield.

Prior to 1980, a few breeders also worked with weedy sativa varieties from Central Europe. Most Western growers call these varieties �ruderalis.� These weedy varieties begin maturing in July or early August, which hastens the maturity of outdoor hybrid marijuana varieties. Unfortunately, they are almost entirely devoid of THC and are high in CBD. Potency suffers in hybrid offspring, and subsequent selections must be made to restore high levels of psychoactivity. However, the biggest problem with weedy varieties and their hybrids is that they are not determinate. A single plant will continue to produce new flowers until it is harvested, rather than all of its flowers maturing before harvest, so its full potential is never realized. Ruderalis hybrids will likely prove of great value only to outdoor growers at near polar latitudes where little else will grow.

Big BudNorth American breeders also used other exotic imports to impart particular flavors to the smoke or to enhance the potency of hybrids. Landrace varieties from Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kashmir, Korea, Nepal, Africa, and other far-flung locations were occasionally used for these purposes. Since commercial shipments of marijuana did not often originate from these regions, usually the seeds were collected in small numbers and were relatively rare compared to seeds from the major marijuana-producing regions such as Colombia, Mexico, Jamaica, and Thailand. Presently, it is nearly impossible to import seeds from new, potent, imported varieties. They rarely can be collected as there are very few locations remaining where indigenous farmers maintain traditional high-potency landraces. Basically, we are stuck with what we have in circulation, like it or not, and breeders must make the best of what they have.

A few strong branches of the North American marijuana family tree were transplanted to the Netherlands, and the remaining scions continued to flourish and evolve, leading to the tremendous diversity of marijuana varieties grown in North America and Europe today. Resulting from the openness of marijuana seed sales in the Netherlands, Dutch seed companies provide an easily documented model of the sinsemilla breeding that has continued simultaneously in North America. The Dutch seed companies described much of the heritage behind their varieties in their early catalogs. The following information comes directly from published seed catalogs and is supplemented with personal comments from breeders and seed company owners.

G13DUTCH SEED COMPANIES

During the early 1980s, several marijuana seed companies appeared in the Netherlands, where cultivation of Cannabis for seed production and the sale of seeds were tolerated. Political pressure on marijuana growers in North America forced the thrust of progress in sinsemilla breeding to the Netherlands, where the political climate was much less threatening. For North American and European growers, this meant continued availability of exotic high-quality marijuana seeds.

Almost all of the Dutch varieties contain germ plasm from one or more of the founding genetic building blocks brought from North America. Cultivars such as Original Haze, Hindu Kush, Afghani No. 1, and Skunk No. 1 were established in California before their seeds were taken to the Netherlands in the early 1980s. As these cultivars were relatively stable seed varieties, breeders had a greater chance of selecting a favorable male plant as a pollen source for breeding. Cultivars such as Northern Lights, Big Bud, Hash Plant, and G-13 went to the Netherlands from the Pacific Northwest as rooted female cuttings. There were never males of these varieties, and, therefore, commercial seeds were all made by crosses with a male of a different variety such as Skunk No. 1, or more rarely by masculinizing a female cutting to produce pollen for self-pollinating.

Durban PoisonWhen connoisseurs of North American sinsemilla comment that �All the Dutch varieties seem the same,� this should come as no surprise, since Dutch varieties share so much of their heritage. Of the nearly 150 varieties offered for sale by Dutch seed companies in 2000, 80 percent of them contain germ plasm that first came to the Netherlands prior to 1985. Most of the seed companies have continued to reshuffle the heavily stacked deck of original North American germ plasm, and since the 1980s few companies have introduced anything new. The perpetuation of monotony has been punctuated, only infrequently, by new introductions from North America or traditional marijuana- producing nations. Most seed companies have simply recombined founding cultivars from which breeders selected star clones to represent their seed companies in competitions. What goes around, comes around!

But where would we be today without the common building blocks of our common varieties? Many varieties have been tried throughout the years, and the persistence of the original founding germ plasm to this day is testimony to its desirability. If more potent, better tasting, and more productive varieties had been introduced, growers would certainly favor them today. In fact, seed companies generally introduce a new variety by simply crossing a new introduction with an established Dutch variety, itself built upon the initial founding varieties, and give the resulting plant a new name. As only a handful of North American varieties were used to make �Dutch� sinsemilla varieties, they are usually potent and commercially lucrative, but often boring!

Sensi Seeds Hashplant, grown in Maui jungle.The founding blocks of germ plasm used in most Dutch sinsemilla cultivars are described below by seed company, cultivar name, date of introduction, origin, and genetic heritage.

Among the earliest Dutch varieties were Holland�s Hope and Amstel Gold, which were introduced in the early 1980s and are still available today. Although these predominantly indica cultivars are not very potent, they mature much earlier than most varieties, as they were bred to grow outdoors in the Netherlands. Both were bred from selections of imported Afghan hashish landraces. The following eight cultivars were brought to the Netherlands from California as named seed varieties and were released by Cultivator�s Choice seed company bet ween 1980 and 1983. They were relatively consistent when inbred or crossed and now make up part of more than two-thirds of the varieties offered by Dutch seed companies. Many of the Cultivator�s Choice varieties have been faithfully maintained since their introductions and are presently offered by the Flying Dutchman seed company.

� Skunk No. 1 kick started the high-quality Dutch homegrown scene. Even today, nearly half of the varieties sold by Dutch seed companies have Skunk No. 1 in their background. Skunk No. 1 was first introduced in the Netherlands in the late 1970s, and immediately revolutionized Dutch marijuana growing. The Dutch, basically a hashish-smoking culture, attempted to grow marijuana both outdoors and in greenhouses throughout the 1970s. Mostly, their efforts met with little popular success and Nederwiet, literally �low weed,� was considered a joke among serious smokers. Skunk No. 1 changed everything. Under Dutch greenhouse conditions, Skunk No. 1 regularly matured and consistently produced high yields of potent buds, even when crops were grown from seed. Skunk No. 1 was originally a three-way hybrid combination between a Colombian/Afghan hybrid and an imported Mexican Acapulco Gold plant. This combination was inbred in California for several generations until the stable combination known as Skunk No. 1 resulted. Although indica makes up a quarter of Skunk No. 1 and contributes to its branchiness and compact bud structure, Skunk No. 1 is primarily a sweet-smelling sativa hybrid rather than an acrid-smelling indica, so the name �Skunk� is actually somewhat misleading. Despite its general uniformity, there are several different bud forms in Skunk No. 1, ranging from red, hairy buds with small bracts to large bracts with copious resin glands.

� The Original Haze is a late-maturing variety from Central California and was almost always grown in greenhouses, allowing it to finish in December or January. Original Haze was always connoisseur stash, and even in the 1970s it sold for as much as $200 an ounce. Original Haze is a pure sativa stabilized hybrid arising from crossing all of the best females with a male of a different imported sativa variety each year. Starting with Colombian/ Mexican hybrids grown from seeds from the first crop, a South Indian male plant was used as a pollen source the second year, and a Thai male plant was used the third year. Depending on which year Haze seeds were collected, they resembled either Colombian, South Indian, or Thai plants. Original Haze varies in taste from citrus Thai notes through the gamut of sativa highlights to the deep spicy purple Colombian flavor most common in Dutch Haze cultivars. Although Haze has been available in the Netherlands since the early 1980s, it gained wide popularity only in the mid 1990s. Increasing levels of connoisseurship led to higher prices for exotic and flavorful (but later maturing and more costly to produce) Haze hybrids in preference to the redundant plethora of Dutch Skunk/Northern Lights type buds. Original Haze presently makes up part of about 15 percent of varieties available in the Netherlands, and its frequency is steadily increasing.

Aussie Haze monster� Both Afghani No. 1 and Hindu Kush are pure indica landraces from Afghanistan. Initially selected for dense buds and copious resin, they are true-to-type Afghan primo hashish varieties.

� Early California is a very early maturing indica/sativa hybrid introduced in the early 1980s from California. It is relatively true breeding and stable.

� California Orange is another California indica/sativa hybrid well known for its distinctive orange color and flavor.

� Hawaiian Indica is a strongly indica, indica/sativa hybrid that has been used in several Dutch hybrids. Its primary traits are very large bracts and copious resin production.

� Early Girl is a well-known commercial California seed variety from the late 1970s. It is generally leafy and of moderate potency, but consistently matures early. It was included in a number of the early Dutch hybrids. The following five cultivars were brought to the Netherlands from the Pacific Northwest as female cuttings and were introduced by the Sinsemilla Seed Company in the early 1980s. The Sinsemilla Seed Company is now known as the Sensi Seed Bank and continues to offer many hybrids bred from these original North American varieties. As there were no males of these female clones, they were always crossed with another variety in order to make seeds.

� Northern Lights was well established as a Pacific Northwest indoor seed variety by 1978 and arrived in the Netherlands as four sister clones. Northern Lights lines eventually came to incorporate Skunk No. 1 and Haze varieties around 1980. Northern Lights was mostly used as a crossing partner to provide the furry resin look often associated with potent varieties. However, Northern Lights also tends to have very small resin heads, both in comparison to the length of the gland stalks and in relation to other sinsemilla varieties. Northern Lights is found in at least 10 percent of Dutch varieties.

� Big Bud was established in the Pacific Northwest as a commercial indoor clone and was brought to the Netherlands in the mid-1980s. It is predominantly an indicatype indica/sativa hybrid and has very large, if at times leafy, buds.

� Hash Plant is a Lebanese/Thai hybrid. It was originally offered by the Super Sativa Seed Club, but the Sinsemilla Seed Company cutting was brought from North America. It is a very strongly indica hybrid variety.

� G-13 is a clone allegedly spirited away from the U.S. government pot farm in Mississippi. It is also a very strong, nearly pure indica variety.

� Ruderalis seed was collected from weedy roadside plants in Hungary by the Sinsemilla Seed Company and used for breeding in an attempt to develop earlymaturing varieties. Although hybrids with Skunk No. 1 and other North American cultivars began to flower very early, they also expressed their weedy background, never stopped flowering, and matured unevenly.

Aussie Haze monsterTHE NAME GAME

Tracing the varieties used by the seminal six Dutch seed companies is relatively straightforward. Seed catalogs usually tell the customer what landrace or North American varieties were used to create the seeds, and the founding germ plasm was often shared by several seed companies. With the appearance of more than ten new seed companies during the early 1990s, the situation became more complex. Seed catalogs often changed the names of the varieties used in breeding or omitted the pedigree information altogether. Competition between seed companies heated up, fueled largely by High Times magazine�s annual Cannabis Cup. The new companies were associated with some of the original companies and often incorporated the traditional varieties into their own cultivars, while also introducing new varieties that were quickly adopted by rival companies. Several seed companies appeared for only a year or two, and many others began to resell seeds produced by the major companies. It is easy to buy another company�s seeds and change the variety name, making it appear to be a new and different variety. Some companies mistakenly sold seeds resulting from crossing two hybrid plants, resulting in great variability, with few, if any, of the offspring resembling either parental combination. The most common and successful way for seed companies to create new varieties was to simply cross a good female plant from an existing variety with a Skunk No. 1 male. In general, the 1990s were characterized more by a reshuffling of the original deck of varieties than by new introductions of landrace or North American varieties.

Unfortunately, some early Dutch breeders made very poor selections from the initial seeds they were given. The most common bad selection was for copious red hairs instead of for large bracts. Red hairs are a sign that female flowers are present, but they are not in themselves psychoactive. A preponderance of red hairs indicates many, but tiny, flowers with little surface area for psychoactive resin glands to develop. Second, selection for dense buds having a good retail appearance led to the proliferation of nested bracts that feel hard when squeezed, but once again lack sufficient surface area to develop copious resin glands. The third common erroneous selection was for fuzzy-looking resin glands with long sparkly stalks, but small resin heads. All three of these unfavorable traits occasionally reappear in modern Dutch varieties and should be avoided.

Sometimes crosses have been released as new varieties, with a lot of introductory hype about something new and exotic before being tested by growers. When the new crosses are actually grown, they often prove to be substandard. These so-called �varieties� usually disappear quickly because growers give them bad ratings. Most of the consistently popular cultivars have been around for several years, and many are still available today.

Fortunately, some of the more recent introductions from North America are markedly different from the previously available Dutch varieties. The T. H. Seeds Company, formerly known as the C.I.A. or the K.G.B., introduced several North American varieties in the mid-1990s. The most interesting of these is S.A.G.E., which is a Haze-based variety from the coastal mountains of Big Sur, California. S.A.G.E. stands for �Sativa Afghanica Genetic Equilibrium,� which is an appropriate explanation of the genetic background of many stabilized indica/sativa hybrids. Bubblegum is a well-known seed variety from Indiana that came to Amsterdam via New England in the early 1990s. Akorn, Heavy Duty Fruity, Mendocino Madness, and Stinky Pinky are all indica/sativa hybrids introduced as female cuttings.

Most recently, a series of wellknown outdoor cultivars from the Pacific Northwest has been introduced by Dutch Passion and Sagarmatha seed companies. They come from a single breeder and are called Flo, Blueberry, and Blue Velvet.

Brazilian landrace accessions apparently weigh heavily in many of the selections from the K. C. Brains seed company and in White Widow offered by the Greenhouse. The White Widow series may also have come as seeds to the Netherlands from the southeastern United States. Often a seed buyer cannot determine a variety�s heritage because the lineage is concealed or unknown. At harvest time, what matters most is whether the cultivar was appropriate for the grower and growing conditions, rather than simply its supposed heritage or fancy name. Many of these excellent new varieties hold great promise for the future as breeders continue to fine-tune them for indoor, artificial light growing.
__________________

[kNewc]

I want to speak for everyone when I say that this is tooo long. I'm way to stoned to read a book, please summerize....thank you

[GreyMatterTripp]

Originally Posted by kNewc

I want to speak for everyone when I say that this is tooo long. I'm way to stoned to read a book, please summerize....thank you

Please don't speak for everyone in my community if you speak out of laziness and ignorance. Skim through if you desire, it was my wish to share the article in its entirety for those members with a grade 12+ reading level. Happy Tokin' Friend .

[GreyMatterTripp]

To break it down simply Sativas grow closer to the equator favor warmer temps and longer growing cycles, give a 'up' or 'cerebral' high generally and the leaves are thin and long. Along with all of this these plants are long and tall getting over 18 feet in some varieties.

Indicas grow in the northern climates and more temperate zones where there is frost and more danger of mold, because of this pure indicas tend to be very hardy and frost and mold resistant. They also produce a 'down' or 'couchlock' stone generally. These plants are relatively short and can be as small as a couple of feet, they have wide, fat leaves and are usually very resiounus.

The article explores in depth the history of the two breeds and their mixing.

[kindbud319]

I read the hole thing. It was very informitive but now my head hurts

[thefarside420]

i had the basic idea of which gave you which type of high but now i feel much more informed. Thanks +rep

[stonah2]

yepp and im going to have to be the first to say Sativa>Indica IMO.

[GreyMatterTripp]

Originally Posted by kindbud319

I read the hole thing. It was very informitive but now my head hurts

lol, yeah it is a lot of info.

Originally Posted by thefarside420

i had the basic idea of which gave you which type of high but now i feel much more informed. Thanks +rep

Thanks for the rep, and I thought that this would be a helpful article for people. I'm glad it helped.

Originally Posted by stonah2

yepp and im going to have to be the first to say Sativa>Indica IMO.

I like a mix, sativa in the day indica at night personally .

Thanks for your responses and taking time to read it friends.

Happy Tokin'

[GreyMatterTripp]

I see these, 'how can I tell if its indica or sativa' questions on the thread every day so thats why I decided to post this. Its very informative and complete.

[Uookaa]

Some more information you may find useful.

Sorry for you lazy readers, guess you just won't learn much today.

Marijuana grown in the United States is usually one of two main types: indica or sativa. Indica plants originated in the Hindu-Kush valleys in central Asia, which is located between the 25-35 latitudes. The weather there is changeable. One year there may be drought, the next it might be cloudy, wet, rainy or sunny. For the population to survive, the plant group needs to have individuals which survive and thrive under different conditions. Thus, in any season, no matter what the weather, some plants will do well and some will do poorly.

Indica was probably developed by hash users for resin content, not for flower smoking. The resin was removed from the plant. An indication of indica's development is the seeds, which remain enclosed and stick to the resin. Since they are very hrd to disconnect from the plant, they require human help. Wild plants readily drop seeds once they mature.


Plants from the same line from equatorial areas are usually fairly uniform. These include Colombians and central Africans. Plants from higher latitudes of the same line sometimes have very different characteristics. These include Southern Africans, Northern Mexicans, and indicas. The plants look different from each other and have different maturities and potency. The ratio of THC (the ingredient which is psychoactive) to CBD (its precursor, which often leaves the smoker feeling disoriented, sleepy, drugged or confused) also varies.


High latitude sativas have the same general characteristics: they tend to mature early, have compact short branches and wide, short leaves which are dark green, sometimes tinged purple.


Indica buds are usually tight, heavy, wide and thick rather than long. They smell "stinky", "skunky", or "pungent" and their smoke is thick - a small toke can induce coughing. The best indicas have a relaxing "social high" which allow one to sense and feel the environment but do not lead to thinking about or analyzing the experience.


Cannabis sativa plants are found throughout the world. Potent varieties such as Colombian, Panamanian, Mexican, Nigerian, Congolese, Indian and Thai are found in equatorial zones. These plants require a long time to mature and ordinarily grow in areas where they have a long season. They are usually very potent, containing large quanities of THC and virtually no CBD. They have long, medium-thick buds when they are grown in full equatorial sun, but under artificial light or even under the temperate sun, the buds tend to run (not fill out completely). The buds usually smell sweet or tangy and the smoke is smooth, sometimes deceptively so.


The THC to CBD ratio of sativa plants gets lower as the plants are found further from the equator. Jamaican and Central Mexican varieties are found at the 15-20th latitudes. At the 30th latitude, varieties such as Southern African and Northern Mexican are variable and may contain equal amounts of THC and CBD, giving the smoker and buzzy, confusing high. These plants are used mostly for hybridizing. Plants found above the 30th latitude usually have low levels of THC, with high levels of CBD and are considered hemp.


If indica and sativa varieties are considered opposite ends of a spectrum, most plants fall in between the spectrum. Because of marijuana and hemp's long symbiotic relationship with humans, seeds are constantly procured or traded so that virtually all populations have been mixed with foreign plants at one time or another.


Even in traditional marijuana-growing countries, the marijuana is often the result of several cross lines. Jamaican ganja, for example, is probably the result of crosses between hemp, which the English cultivated for rope, and Indian ganja, which arrived with the Indian immigrants who came to the country. The term for marijuana in Jamaic in ganja, the same as in India. The traditional Jamaican term for the best weed is Kali, named for the Indian killer goddess.

here is some info from mj botany.

a) Colombia - (0 to 10 north latitude)

Colombian Cannabis originally could be divided into two basic strains: one from the low-altitude humid coastal areas along the Atlantic near Panama, and the other from the more arid mountain areas inland from Santa Marta. More recently, new areas of cultivation in the interior plateau of southern central Colombia and the highland valleys stretching southward from the Atlantic coast have become the primary areas of commercial export Cannabis cultivation. Until recent years high quality Cannabis was available through the black market from both coastal and highland Colombia. Cannabis was introduced to Colombia just over 100 years ago, and its cultivation is deeply rooted in tradition. Cultivation techniques often involve transplanting of selected seedlings and other individual attention. The production of "la mona amarilla" or gold buds is achieved by girdling or removing a strip of bark from the main stem of a nearly mature plant, thereby restricting the flow of water, nutrients, and plant products. Over several days the leaves dry up and fall off as the flowers slowly die and turn yellow. This produces the highly prized "Colombian gold" so prevalent in the early to middle 1970s (Partridge 1973). Trade names such as "punta roja" (red tips [pistils] ), "Cali Hills," "choco," "lowland," "Santa Marta gold," and "purple" give us some idea of the color of older varieties and the location of cultivation.

In response to an incredible demand by America for Cannabis, and the fairly effective control of Mexican Cannabis importation and cultivation through tightening border security and the use of Paraquat, Colombian farmers have geared up their operations. Most of the marijuana smoked in America is imported from Colombia. This also means that the largest number of seeds available for domes tic cultivation also originate in Colombia. Cannabis agri-business has squeezed out all but a few small areas where labor-intensive cultivation of high quality drug Cannabis such as "Ia mona amarilla" can continue. The fine marijuana of Colombia was often seedless, but commercial grades are nearly always well seeded. As a rule today, the more remote highland areas are the centers of commercial agriculture and few of the small farmers remain. It is thought that some highland farmers must still grow fine Cannabis, and occasional connoisseur crops surface. The older seeds from the legendary Colombian strains are now highly prized by breeders. In the heyday of "Colombian gold" this fine cerebral marijuana was grown high in the mountains. Humid lowland marijuana was characterized by stringy, brown, fibrous floral clusters of sedative narcotic high. Now highland marijuana has become the commercial product and is characterized by leafy brown floral clusters and sedative effect. Many of the unfavorable characteristics of imported Colombian Cannabis result from hurried commercial agricultural techniques combined with poor curing and storage. Colombian seeds still contain genes favoring vigorous growth and high THC production. Colombian strains also contain high levels of CBD and CBN, which could account for sedative highs and result from poor curing and storage techniques. Domestic Colombian strains usually lack CBD and CBN. The commercial Cannabis market has brought about the eradication of some local strains by hybridizing with commercial strains.


Colombian strains appear as relatively highly branched conical plants with a long upright central stem, horizontal limbs and relatively short internodes. The leaves are characterized by highly serrated slender leaflets (7-11) in a nearly complete to overlapping circular array of varying shades of medium green. Colombian strains usually flower late in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and may fail to mature flowers in colder climates. These strains favor the long equatorial growing seasons and often seem insensitive to the rapidly decreasing daylength during autumn in temperate latitudes. Because of the horizontal branching pattern of Colombian strains and their long growth cycle, pistillate plants tend to produce many flowering clusters along the entire length of the stem back to the central stalk. The small flowers tend to produce small, round, dark, mottled, and brown seeds. Imported and domestic Colombian Cannabis often tend to be more sedative in psychoactivity than other strains. This may be caused by the synergistic effect of THC with higher levels of CBD or CBN. Poor curing techniques on the part of Colombian farmers, such as sun drying in huge piles resembling com post heaps, may form CBN as a degradation product of THC. Colombian strains tend to make excellent hybrids with more rapidly maturing strains such as those from Central and North America.


b) Congo - (5 north to 5 south latitude)


Most seeds are collected from shipments of commercial grade seeded floral clusters appearing in Europe.
d) India Centra1 Southern - Kerala, Mysore, and Madras regions (10 to 20 north latitude)


Ganja (or flowering Cannabis tops) has been grown in India for hundreds of years. These strains are usually grown in a seedless fashion and are cured, dried, and smoked as marijuana instead of being converted to hashish as in many Central Asian areas. This makes them of considerable interest to domestic Cannabis cultivators wishing to reap the benefits of years of selective breeding for fine ganja by Indian farmers. Many Europeans and Americans now live in these areas of India and ganja strains are finding their way into domestic American Cannabis crops.


Ganja strains are often tall and broad with a central stalk up to 12 feet tall and spreading highly-branched limbs. The leaves are medium green and made up of 7 to 11 leaf lets of moderate size and serration arranged in a circular array. The frond-like limbs of ganja strains result from extensive compound branching so that by the time floral clusters form they grow from tertiary or quaternary limbs. This promotes a high yield of floral clusters which in ganja strains tend to be small, slender, and curved. Seeds are usually small and dark. Many spicy aromas and tastes occur in Indian ganja strains and they are extremely resinous and psychoactive. Medicinal Cannabis of the late 1800s and early 1900s was usually Indian ganja.


e) Jamaica - (18 north latitude)


Jamaican strains were not uncommon in the late 1960s and early 1970s but they are much rarer today. Both green and brown varieties are grown in Jamaica. The top-of-the-line seedless smoke is known as the "lamb's bread" and is rarely seen outside Jamaica. Most purported Jamaican strains appear stringy and brown much like low land or commercial Colombian strains. Jamaica's close proximity to Colombia and its position along the routes of marijuana smuggling from Colombia to Florida make it likely that Colombian varieties now predominate in Jamaica even if these varieties were not responsible for the original Jamaican strains. Jamaican strains resemble Colombian strains in leaf shape, seed type and general morphology but they tend to be a little taller, thinner, and lighter green. Jamaican strains produce a psychoactive effect of a particularly clear and cerebral nature, unlike many Colombian strains. Some strains may also have come to Jamaica from the Caribbean coast of Mexico, and this may account for the introduction of cerebral green strains.


f) Kenya - Kisumu (5 north to 5 south latitude)


Strains from this area have thin leaves and vary in color from light to dark green. They are characterized by cerebral psychoactivity and sweet taste. Hermaphrodites are common.

h) Malawi, Africa - (10 to 15 south latitude)


Malawi is a small country in eastern central Africa bordering Lake Nyasa. Over the past few years Cannabis from Malawi has appeared wrapped in bark and rolled tightly, approximately four ounces at a time. The nearly seedless flowers are spicy in taste and powerfully psycho active. Enthusiastic American and European Cannabis cultivators immediately planted the new strain and it has be come incorporated into several domestic hybrid strains. They appear as a dark green, large plant of medium height and strong limb growth. The leaves are dark green with coarsely serrated, large, slender leaflets arranged in a narrow, drooping, hand-like array. The leaves usually lack serrations on the distal (tip portion) 20% of each leaflet. The mature floral clusters are sometimes airy, resulting from long internodes, and are made up of large calyxes and relatively few leaves. The large calyxes are very sweet and resinous, as well as extremely psychoactive. Seeds are large, shortened, flattened, and ovoid in shape with a dark grey or reddish brown, mottled perianth or seed coat. The caruncle or point of attachment at the base of the seed is uncommonly deep and usually is surrounded by a sharp edged lip. Some individuals turn a very light yellow green in the flowering clusters as they mature under exposed conditions. Although they mature relatively late, they do seem to have met with acceptance in Great Britain and North America as drug strains. Seeds of many strains appear in small batches of low-quality African marijuana easily available in Amsterdam and other European cities. Phenotypes vary considerably, however, many are similar in appearance to strains from Thailand.


i) Mexico - (15 to 27 north latitude)


Mexico had long been the major source of marijuana smoked in America until recent years. Efforts by the border patrols to stop the flow of Mexican marijuana into the United States were only minimally effective and many varieties of high quality Mexican drug Cannabis were continually available. Many of the hybrid strains grown domestic ally today originated in the mountains of Mexico. In recent years, however, the Mexican government (with monetary backing by the United States) began an intensive pro gram to eradicate Cannabis through the aerial spraying of herbicides such as Paraquat. Their program was effective, and high quality Mexican Cannabis is now rarely available. It is ironic that the NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) is using domestic Mexican Cannabis strains grown in Mississippi as the pharmaceutical research product for chemotherapy and glaucoma patients. In the prime of Mexican marijuana cultivation from the early 1960s to the middle 1970s, strains or "brands" of Cannabis were usually affixed with the name of the state or area where they were grown. Hence names like "Chiapan," "Guerreran," "Nayarit," "Michoacan," "Oaxacan," and "Sinaloan" have geo graphic origins behind their common names and mean something to this very day. All of these areas are Pacific coastal states extending in order from Sinaloa in the north at 27; through Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacan, Guerrero, and Oaxaca; to Chiapas in the south at 15 - All of these states stretch from the coast into the mountains where Cannabis is grown.


Strains from Michoacan, Guerrero, and Oaxaca were the most common and a few comments may be ventured about each and about Mexican strains in general.


Mexican strains are thought of as tall, upright plants of moderate to large size with light to dark green, large leaves. The leaves are made up of long, medium width, moderately serrated leaflets arranged in a circular array. The plants mature relatively early in comparison to strains from Colombia or Thailand and produce many long floral clusters with a high calyx-to-leaf ratio and highly cerebral psychoactivity. Michoacan strains tend to have very slender leaves and a very high calyx-to-leaf ratio as do Guerreran strains, but Oaxacan strains tend to be broader-leafed, often with leafier floral clusters. Oaxacan strains are generally the largest and grow vigorously, while Michoacan strains are smaller and more delicate. Guerreran strains are often short and develop long, upright lower limbs. Seeds from most Mexican strains are fairly large, ovoid, and slightly flattened with a light colored grey or brown, unmottled perianth. Smaller, darker, more mottled seeds have appeared in Mexican marijuana during recent years. This may indicate that hybridization is taking place in Mexico, possibly with introduced seed from the largest seed source in the world, Colombia. No commercial seeded Cannabis crops are free from hybridization and great variation may occur in the offspring. More recently, large amounts of hybrid domestic seed have been introduced into Mexico. It is not uncommon to find Thai and Afghani phenotypes in recent shipments of Cannabis from Mexico.

k) Nepal - (26 to 30 north latitude)


Most Cannabis in Nepal occurs in wild stands high in the Himalayan foothills (up to 3,200 meters [10,000 feet]). Little Cannabis is cultivated, and it is from select wild plants that most Nepalese hashish and marijuana originate. Nepalese plants are usually tall and thin with long, slightly branched limbs. The long, thin flowering tops are very aromatic and reminiscent of the finest fresh "temple ball" and "finger" hashish hand-rubbed from wild plants. Resin production is abundant and psychoactivity is high Few Nepalese strains have appeared in domestic Cannabis crops but they do seem to make strong hybrids with strains from domestic sources and Thailand.
m) South Africa - (22 to 35 south latitude)


Dagga of South Africa is highly acclaimed. Most seeds have been collected from marijuana shipments in Europe. Some are very early-maturing (September in northern latitudes) and sweet smelling. The stretched light green floral clusters and sweet aroma are comparable to Thai strains.


n) Southeast Asia - Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam (10 to 20 north latitude)


Since American troops first returned from the war in Vietnam, the Cambodian, Laotian, Thai, and Vietnamese strains have been regarded as some of the very finest in the world. Currently most Southeast Asian Cannabis is produced in northern and eastern Thailand. Until recent times, Cannabis farming has been a cottage industry of the northern mountain areas and each family grew a small garden. The pride of a farmer in his crop was reflected in the high quality and seedless nature of each carefully wrapped Thai stick. Due largely to the craving of Americans for exotic marijuana, Cannabis cultivation has become a big business in Thailand and many farmers are growing large fields of lower quality Cannabis in the eastern lowlands. It is suspected that other Cannabis strains, brought to Thailand to replenish local strains and begin large plantations, may have hybridized with original Thai strains and altered the resultant genetics. Also, wild stands of Cannabis may now be cut and dried for export.


Strains from Thailand are characterized by tall meandering growth of the main stalk and limbs and fairly extensive branching. The leaves are often very large with 9 to 11 long, slender, coarsely serrated leaflets arranged in a drooping hand like array. The Thai refer to them as "alligator tails" and the name is certainly appropriate.


Most Thai strains are very late-maturing and subject to hermaphrodism. It is not understood whether strains from Thailand turn hermaphrodite as a reaction to the extremes of northern temperate weather or if they have a genetically controlled tendency towards hermaphrodism. To the dismay of many cultivators and researchers, Thai strains mature late, flower slowly, and ripen unevenly. Retarded floral development and apparent disregard for changes in photoperiod and weather may have given rise to the story that Cannabis plants in Thailand live and bear flowers for years. Despite these shortcomings, Thai strains are very psychoactive and many hybrid crosses have been made with rapidly maturing strains, such as Mexican and Hindu Kush, in a successful attempt to create early-maturing hybrids of high psychoactivity and characteristic Thai sweet, citrus taste. The calyxes of Thai strains are very large, as are the seeds and other anatomical features, leading to the misconception that strains may be polyploid. No natural polyploidy has been discovered in any strains of Cannabis though no one has ever taken the time to look thoroughly. The seeds are very large, ovoid, slightly flattened, and light brown or tan in color. The perianth is never mottled or striped except at the base. Greenhouses prove to be the best way to mature stubborn Thai strains in temperate climes.

Originally posted by motaco on icmag.

[SEMS1]

great post GMT!

[GreyMatterTripp]

Very, very nice Uuoka, I thank you for your contribution to the thread. I'd +rep ya but it says I've given out too much rep.

[GreyMatterTripp]

Originally Posted by SEMS1

great post GMT!

Thank you my brotha from down unda.

[rvbball]

This is a great guide for all the blades still unsure of Sativa vs Indica.
It's a little long, but it's packed with a ton of awesome info about cannabis. Good stuff GMT

I just need to get me some of that Durban Poison they keep showing in the pics now

[Uookaa]

Originally Posted by GreyMatterTripp

Very, very nice Uuoka, I thank you for your contribution to the thread. I'd +rep ya but it says I've given out too much rep.

Of course, man. Even if only 3 people read it, at least it's there.