What is the chemical explanation for the Sativa/Indica dichtomy?

[KiefSweat]

my 2 "best" plants have also been the lowest testing.
But they have been so terpene rich. One knocked you out the other made you almost hallucinate, and neither tested over 10% thc.

 

[mukuku]

Thought for the day of a dancer mad:

in the 70's performance has killed the finest sativas for heavy indica barely psychedelic.

Now I think the internet and the pixels will overlap of half the average quality of herbal trade.

We want the beautiful head that gives good pictures all white and resinous to impress friends but what will happen to the poors sativas all skinny and ridiculous to yield rares trichomes but that send you in the cosmos?

video kill the radio star ...

 

[gloryoskie]

Thought for the day of a dancer mad:

What will happen to the poors sativas all skinny and ridiculous to yield rares trichomes but that send you in the cosmos?

Old bastards like me will always find a way to grow those old school sats. One at a time micro style, natch.

Keep the faith brother.

 

[Dysnomia]

Why can't we have them both? Exceptional trichome coverage AND the terpenoid cocktail behind the psychedelic effect (I'm pretty sure the lack of trichomes can be attributed to the poor storage and handling of the bud from the old days in most cases).

Actually we can and we do have it. Just have look around what is being offered - Ace Seeds for example brings a lot of worked classical sativas to the mix. And they look great, yield great, and judging by the smoke reports, smoke absolutely heavenly. You just have to flower them for an extra month or so compared to your average 'indica-leaning hybrid'. I'm sure there are numerous other breeders also offering worked classical sativa lines.

There is no need to over-glorify the oldschool. I'm sure it was great but what we had then, we can have now - it's just a matter of finding it and wanting to find it.


Regards,
Dysnomia

 

[G.O. Joe]

We consider this study a work in progress, and wish to add a larger number of popular strains from the recreational scene, as well as Cannabis varieties from official programmes to our database. Over time, we hope this will lead to a better understanding of the overlap between medicinal use of Cannabis, and the street culture around the same plant. It is our personal belief that, with such an approach, the endless number of popular cultivars could be reduced to perhaps two dozen chemically distinct chemical varieties, or chemovars.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=5274093&postcount=74
But they publish there just the chemical testing of Dutch White Widow, Amnesia, and Bedrocan BV's strains.

 

[señorsloth]

i thought i read from one of sam the skunk mans articles that indicas were made by man from sativas, hundreds of years ago by hashmakers, looking to get more resin per acre?

i don't know if i have that right, but at that point i kind of decided that in the end it's all mainly one plant, cannabis sativa...the differences are just variations on the original cannabis plants, and because large regions in the middle east grew exclusively wide leaved, bushy, heavy yielding, narcotic plants that produce lots of hash...both in fields and in the wild i would guess. they probably contrasted sharply with the thin bladed, lanky sativas that evolved in china and india, because those were mostly wild and not bred for commercial use...i figure back then to botonists or whatever it may seem like they are two different subspecies...

i have heard of sativas with wide leaves and indicas with skinny leaves, ive heard some people are trying to breed indicas with thinner leaves, so that light penetrates better and they yield more...if indicas really are only a few hundred years old and genetically the same as sativas i wouldn't really think indica is a very valid category, since these days it's a huge melting pot and the lines between them aren't as easy to see...

i think dogs are technically different than wolves, though still they are almost genetically identical, even beagles and chihuahuas...but i believe it took thousands of years of domesticating before they could be identified as separate genetically...i wouldn't think indica is quite as domesticated as chihuahuas are...i could be totally wrong though

 

[purple_man]

it's the wonder of creation and adaptation/evolution

blessss

 

[catman]

"Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why."
Bernard Baruch

..and everything was understood and simple... until Einstien proved that there is no such Newtonian force of gravity. A theory might explain what we see with our eyes, but the workings of our universe are vast and the capacity of our perceptions restrict what can be known.

Plant shapes and leaf shapes genotype are controlled by genetics, only the phenotypes are influenced by the environment.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but like with most arguments pertaining to nature vs nurture.. it turns out both play a role.

I've noticed the size and shape of plant leaves varies depending on the environment of their root zone and the atmosphere above ground. From what I understand, plants like cannabis have a communication system between the roots and the canopy. If the air temperature is too hot and dry, water will be drawn up from the roots and it will transpire out a leaf. While this happens, the plant is unable to take in CO2 so plants prefer to have water around in them in the air (humidity.) They prefer to take in the moist air directly in the leaf and then it can evaporate if the plant is too hot. The evaporate cooling effect is a physical phenomenon.

That could be a theory of why plants in tropical regions have a 'sativa' leaf. Tropical regions are loved by many other plants and thus why 'sativas' stretch more so that they aren't shaded by a neighbor. Indicas have been cultivated outdoors in rows where there is no competition.

What does the shape of the leaf have to do with the high? There probably is no rhyme or reason aside from the basics of genetics. New chemical compilations could mutate/evolve/diversify in a certain location and thus they'll share other genetic traits of plants in those regions. Different highs are correlated with plant shape, but that doesn't mean they are causally related. I've grown a strain of northern lights that totally numbs the body and mind; with very thin, 'sativa' looking leaves.

In summary, if the air is hot and humid, less surface area is needed for a plant to cool itself and in such environments elongation of the limbs is more fitting for survival. Indica strains grown in deserts don't have the selective pressure of competing with other plants, but their environment varies more and thus they have adapted. If they didn't adapt, they wouldn't be here for us to ask this question!