The Medical Cannabis Guidebook. Mel Thomas
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Название: The Medical Cannabis Guidebook
Автор: Mel Thomas
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Эзотерика
isbn: 9781937866020
isbn:
There are three distinct cannabis drug varieties grown specifically for their compounds, a complex fusion of approximately 60 different cannabinoids and over 400 active components, principally THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol).3 These are:
This landrace originates from equatorial regions and its plants can reach heights in excess of 15 feet (4.5 meters). They produce thin, spiky leaves and massive colas (where the flowers or buds grow together tightly) that are not very dense. Pure cannabis sativa strains are not generally used for indoor cultivation due to their size and maturation time. Cannabis sativa can take up four to eight times the space of a compact cannabis indica variety. There are now many hybrid varieties available for grow room cultivation, where the harvested flowers benefit from a high calyx-to-leaf ratio (meaning there are less leaves to trim from the finished buds).
A sativa-dominant female hybrid plant.
This landrace originates from the mountainous regions of Central Asia. Local strains were collected from Kashmir, Pakistan, Northern India and Nepal during the early 1960s and these native plants became the gene pool for many of today’s varieties. They are characteristically stocky and hardy plants that produce broad, maple-like leaves and rarely reach heights in excess of 7 feet (2 meters) outdoors, producing heavy, tight flowers that are high in psychoactive content. Cannabis indica or indica-dominant hybrid plants are ideal for grow rooms and smaller medical cultivation set ups.
An indica-dominant female hybrid plant.
Auto-flowering varieties like this Lowryder by The Joint Doctor contain ruderalis genetics which means they do not require a "dark period" to induce flowering. They are the easiest varieties to cultivate. This particular plant was grown by Jeff in Spain.
This is a debated third landrace of cannabis found in Russia, Poland and other Eastern European countries. Schultes classified cannabis as having three species–sativa, indica, and ruderalis– based on the formation of the seedpods. There is still some debate as to whether there is justification for this third category. The features of Cannabis ruderalis plants are large seeds and weedy plants around 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall that produce lower levels of THC than C. sativa or C. indica. However, it is a hardy plant that flowers early, in most cases regardless of the photoperiod. This auto-flowering gene has been bred into the strains of auto-flowers. Ruderalis flowers tend to be sparse and do not produce the same yields as other varieties, but it is a reasonable plant to use for medicinal cultivation as some strains can be high in CBD.
Auto-flowering plants are crossbreeds between cannabis ruderalis (which gives them the automatic flowering trait) and cannabis indica and/or cannabis sativa strains. These plants are not dependent on the light cycle to induce flowering; instead, the process triggers automatically when the particular strain is ready. This is generally a few weeks after planting, with a further five to seven weeks until harvest. The origins of auto-flowering cannabis plants are the subject of much debate, but one theory is that ruderalis genetics were introduced from a hybrid-cross of Mexican sativa and Russian ruderalis plants. Another theory is that the early genetics came from a Finnish hemp strain called Finola. Due to the lack of vegetative period, auto-flowerers produce smaller plants with a slightly lower THC content as a result of the cannabis ruderalis genetics, but they are hardy plants that are well suited to both indoor and outdoor cultivation.
Reproduction in cannabis plants takes place when the male (staminate) pollen is united with the female (pistilate) cells. The stamen is simply the biological name given to the male plant’s reproductive parts and the pistil is the name given to the female counterparts. Medicinal cannabis is principally grown for its flowering tops (also referred to as buds) and it is only the female plant that produces these. The male flower’s sole purpose is to fertilize the female plants. Once the flowers open they disperse pollen, after which the plant dies back. As seeded buds are less desirable to medical and recreational consumers, knowledgeable cultivators identify any males in the crop and remove them, or cultivate crops of known females taken as cuttings from mother plants.
Mature flower nearing harvest.
Dried, trimmed and cured bud.
Of the 400 or more chemical compounds found in cannabis plants, the four main ones are delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC), cannabidiol (CBD), delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabinol (CBN).4 Apart from cannabidiol, these compounds are all psychoactive, the most potent being delta-9-THC. Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan have discovered the chemical pathway that Cannabis sativa uses to create cannabinoids. Adjunct professor of biology Jon Page described the pathway as an unusual one that has never before been seen in plants, involving a specialized version of one enzyme called hexanoyl-CoA synthetase, and another enzyme called olivetolic acid cyclase (OAC).5 The professor states: “What cannabis has done is take a rare fatty acid with a simple, six-carbon chain and use it as a building block to make something chemically complex and pharmacologically active.”
Breeding and genetics define whether a cannabis strain is fiber hemp or has high cannabinoid content. СКАЧАТЬ