A Simple Guide To Choosing The Right Strain For You, Based On How You Grow

The most important question before buying cannabis seeds is how they’re going to be grown. It’s not a one-size-fits-all process and choosing the right seeds for you means understanding what’s important to you in those genetics.

I understand that you’re probably just looking to find the best strain without doing a whole bunch of reading and that it’s easy to feel confused when deep-diving into the nuances of genetics. That’s why we created this guide, which makes the process of picking your next growth an intuitive one.

There are a thousand ways to slice it, but by defining the type of grower you immediately narrow down the types of strains that will work best. Each of these growers is probably looking for something different.

Craft Cultivators

Craft cultivators are growers who are often less focused on high THC test results and large yields. For them, it’s about the art. They will often seek out exotic strains and pay close attention to provenance and lineage. Craft cultivators will also often use organic living soil as their medium of choice, because of how it promotes the most natural expressions of the plant. Craft growers may also prefer regular seeds and have the option of retaining males for breeding.

Medical Growers

Growers who primarily cultivate for medicinal purposes will often focus more on the chemotype traits of the plant (the terpenes, cannabinoids, and how they interact with the human body). They often look for CBD strains or those with a more balanced approach to CBD and THC ratios. Yield is often a focal point, as many medicinal growers use their harvest to make edibles.

Hobby Growers

The thing about hobby growers is that they can be a part of all of the above classifications. However, for this example, hobby growers are those who want to save money by growing their own, and they often don’t care about what strain or lineage they buy – it’s more just achieving a smokeable end product for themselves. Most hobby growers are looking for feminized seeds.

Stealth Growers

Even with personal cultivation being decriminalized in South Africa, some growers may still need to keep their cultivation under wraps. The life of a stealth grower is all about being discrete – and the focus is often on autoflowers or fast-flowering varieties that reduce the risks while maximizing the output.

Outdoor Growers

Outdoor growers need to be very selective over what strains they grow. Those with high mold resistance, sexual stability, big yielders, and terpene-rich plants are often the focus here. The last thing you want after a long season of growing is to find a hermaphrodite that you’ll end up removing from the garden. Outdoor growers also look for different benefits depending on where they live, for example in the Cape it’s common to put mold and mildew resistance ahead of other traits because of the humid autumn air.

Craft Cultivator

As a craft cultivator, you favour rich terpenes, and authentic lineage and probably don’t mind doing a pheno hunt to find that one special plant. Chances are you don’t want to grow white-label seeds that are better catered to beginner growers.

Medicinal Cultivator

Since you’re growing for medicinal purposes, you may want more than just THC or CBD, you may be looking for high THCv or CBG for instance. High THC still has excellent medicinal value, especially for symptoms like pain and nausea – so one shouldn’t just look for high CBD. Instead, look for high rates of both THC and CBD, including lesser-known cannabinoids with medicinal value.

Hobby Grower

As a hobby grower, you may identify with other types of cultivators, but chances are you’re not particularly interested in pheno hunts or specific lineages. You like to keep things simple and find an effective way to get high. Don’t worry – we’ve got you.

Stealth Grower

As a craft cultivator, you favour rich terpenes, and authentic lineage and probably don’t mind doing a pheno hunt to find that one special plant. Chances are you don’t want to grow white-label seeds that are better catered to beginner growers.

Outdoor Grower

With outdoor growing, having the wrong genetics can be detrimental. High intersex rates can have you pulling out your plants before they finish, and strains prone to mold and mildew can cause heart-breaking losses of flower at the end of the season. This is where your choice in genetics matters the most.

It should be understood that these recommendations can’t be guaranteed to produce the results one is looking for. Phenotype variance means each seed is unique and while certain strains are more likely to give one particular result, it can never be guaranteed and there is an element of luck involved.

But following some of this basic advice will absolutely give you better results than simply buying a strain because you like the name.