Cannabis ( Cannabis sativa ) growers seek greater crop uniformity and yield; however, the use of vegetatively propagated plants has several drawbacks. There is increased interest in F1 hybrid seed, especially for flower production.
Plant growth and performance of inbred lines of the cultivars Wife (WF) and Wilhelmina (WH), produced from one to four rounds of selfing (S1 to S4 ), and three F1 hybrid lines (WF S1 × WH S1, WF S2 × WH S2, and WF S3 × WH S3 ) were evaluated. As selfing increased from S1 to S4, within-line plant variation did not change substantially for most measures for WF, but variation progressively decreased for plant height, total shoot length, and plant dry weight for WH. S4 plants of WH were uniformly diminutive and likely exhibited inbreeding depression. F1 hybrids between WF and WH were larger than WH plants for all measures because WH is photoperiod insensitive (auto-flowering) and dwarf.
Compared with WF self-lines, F1 WF × WH hybrid lines exhibited greater uniformity, plant dry weight, flower dry weight, and percent cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol. F1 WF × WH hybrid plants were able to achieve similar height and shoot growth to WF self-lines, even though they had a dwarf parent in WH. It is likely that heterosis is responsible for the growth enhancements observed in the F1 WF × WH hybrids. These findings indicate that F1 hybridization can produce uniform, stable, and high-yielding cannabis plants from seed.
McDonald, Michelle & Lubell, Jessica. (2024). F1 Hybrid Seed Can Enhance Cannabis Crop Uniformity and Yield. HortScience. 59. 1795-1799. DOI: 10.21273/HORTSCI18197-24.
Source: Research Gate