The potential of F1 hybrid seeds

To the untrained eye, cannabis seeds all look more or less the same. To cultivators and breeders, however, there's a massive difference between seeds worth sprouting and those that are best used as bird feed. Of course, great seeds require solid genetics, which are the result of excellent breeding. With the launch of its F1 hybrids, European seed bank Royal Queen Seeds claims to have bred some of the world's best seeds.

Unlike the seeds you'd traditionally get from a seed bank, collective, or breeder, F1 hybrid seeds are the result of an intensive breeding process that can take several years. First of all, it requires the establishment of inbred lines (IBLs). IBLs are seed lines that have been inbred for several generations in order to attain homozygous genetics, which, in turn, produce plants with stable traits. The process of creating a single IBL alone can take several years and requires a deep understanding of genetics.

Once breeders have at least two IBLs, they can now cross these plants to create F1 seeds—i.e. the first generation of offspring from two genetically distinct varieties. When done properly, F1 seeds don't just inherit the traits of their parents; they also develop heterosis (or "hybrid vigor"), a natural enhancement of their genetics that makes plants more vigorous and stronger than their genetic predecessors.

F1s aren't new to agriculture—many F1 crops exist today and have been helping farmers reliably produce good yields of fruit and veg for decades. However, F1 hybrids are new to the commercial cannabis market. Until now, the vast majority of cannabis seeds on the market didn't qualify as F1s because the lines that produced them were not inbred enough to enhance their homozygosity. That's why, for example, a 10-pack of OG Kush seeds from the same batch and breeder can still produce vastly different plants.

With the launch of their line of F1 hybrid seeds, Royal Queen Seeds is giving both home growers and commercial cultivators access to seeds that produce genetically stable plants every time. This translates to a more streamlined growing process, as cannabis growers can now cultivate tens, hundreds, or even thousands of plants with the same stature, flowering time, potency, and aroma, as well as much higher yields than those produced by regular cannabis seeds and strains.