- Yes, the studies are very old, I made mention of that.
- I do not feel this means they lack significance for growers in the 21st century; these studies represent some of the first study ever done of the kind. Of course there will be flaws and misstatements, and plenty that we now know that they didn’t nearly 90 years ago.
- My post was not concerning observations upon the sex determination system in Cannabis, it was to give old and unknown information about simple (organic) methodology, techniques using photoperiod and temperature, that can be used to force plants to intersex (and theoretically create all female F1, F2, and so on, seed populations).
- I find it quite interesting that certain scientists had figured out how to create all female seed lines of Cannabis in the early 1900s, but I hear plenty of BS in Cannabis communities about how certain individuals invented XYZ techniques to make female seeds. Schaffner as far as we can tell did it too, did it first, and kept it organic; All I’m saying is god bless that man, ok
?- I feel this information is quite relevant to the thread, and is a proven technique using simple environmental manipulations to force males and females alike to bear intersex inflorescenes.
- The technique works whether the individuals are male or female or generally bear intersex flowers or not; if I read correctly usually upwards of 90% of dioecious plants will bear intersex flowers via the technique.
- The technique is not necessarily breeding towards intersex, but using environmental stress factors to force plants to intersex. The gene that will pass on the sexual phenotype is within the gametes of an individual which are highly mutable; whether a plant intersexes or not is no guarantee that you will pass on intersex genes or not (but using individuals that intersex regardless of extreme environmental stress for breeding will breed towards intersex individuals because we know the genes are there, there will be an extremely high likelihood of passing on the trait), again given the data any population up to 90% of the individuals can intersex (using this particular stress technique) but typically only bear flowers of one sex under normal light regimens.
- In turn, you could use this method to select out individuals which will intersex (which study shows will comprise up to 90% of any particular Cannabis population) and work towards a strong regimen of trying to breed out the intersex trait in your cultivar.
- With the techniques given in the paper, you could take males, alter the photoperiod and drop the temperature, and force them to bear female flowers which could then be smoke tested for potency qualities. There are zero chemicals involved in forcing intersex, so only what you put in is what you will get out in this experiment.
- There are no additional costs to the grower; you just have to alter your particular environment as described and run your experiment to see if it works.
- Remember, this technique isn’t changing the genes of an individual, or the genes it will pass on. It will either pass on intersex genes or not (and seems this study shows that in any given population, 90% of the individuals will have the ability to intersex ;-)!). Are these studies numbers accurate? I will work under the assumption that they are, given the data and lack of evidence to the contrary (and anecdotally, I find this true in general for Cannabis populations and an individuals’ ability to intersex).
- Also the gametes of an individual are highly susceptible to mutations, so you could breed out intersex traits but always have a random mutation along the way, especially if inbreeding a cultivar for a long time. But even out-breeding will have the same drawback in the acquisition of new genes and thus intersexing phenotypes, so you are kind of fucked either way
.-FYI Cannabis is dioecious, I don’t know where you hear that most hemp lines are monoecious, as far as I know, this is not the case. Drug and hemp Cannabis IS Cannabis sativa.
- If any particular Cannabis cultivar is monoecious, it is because that particular phenotype has been selected for either artificially or naturally.
- This technique isn’t using “naturally” intersexing individuals at all; it is forcing a non-intersex individual, either a pistillate or staminate plant, to bear staminate or pistillate inflorescenes respectively. The data given shows in any given population you will find that upwards of 90% of the individuals can be forced to bear flowers of both sexes. Your conclusion is spurious.
- There is nothing about breeding towards intersex individuals, you are breeding with females (or males) you have forced to intersex. I don’t know how you come to your conclusion.
- Alternatively as previously stated, you could force a population to intersex and select out all the individuals (the 90%) that do intersex, and breed with the 10% of the population that seems to not intersex under these particularly stressful environmental conditions. But remember that will not guarantee an intersex-free population, but it is one technique to breed towards this goal and ensure a high proportion of individuals that cannot intersex under any condition
All the more reason for RRS programs. (Yes, I publicly bait people into debates Tom)
