Cannabis Horticulture Fundamentals

Cannabis is dioecious as opposed to monecious (meaning the species has distinct female and male plants) which means that an individual plant can have both male and female flowers. To start a breeding programme you'll need both male and female plants. Separating men and females from the start and keeping them separate throughout the programme is critical to avoid undesired contamination by pollen from male plants that you have not chosen to cross. Only visible growth and development features can be expressed by male plants. The genetic basis of all other bud features is concealed and they are not expressed for selection. You may choose pollen sac size and density but the evidence on how these qualities transfer to female flower size and density is still ambiguous. When harvesting cannabis it's preferable to do it in sections rather than chopping the entire plant down. The buds on the higher branches of your plants are usually the first to mature. If this is the case pruning off the top half of your plant will benefit you by enabling more sunlight to reach the lower branches helping them to survive for a longer period of time.