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The hemp seed hub: A thread for those who seek seeds and infos on hemp

Only Ornamental

Spiritually inspired agnostic mad scientist
Veteran
I've seen that there are a few people (including myself) looking for hemp seeds. Because there is nothing on the bay or in the boutique and the only available variety in small quantities I found so far is Suomi from the VSB, I decided to start a special hemp seed thread.

I think it'll be nice to have a hub for folks seeking not only hemp seeds but also informations on hemp cultivars, feral or wild varieties, and notably a place where you can communicate that you actually have access to this and that strain and like to share/trade.

I intend to keep this first post updated and will include latter contributions from other users about hemp seeds and varieties.
So please, feel free to contribute!

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For those who like hemp for whatever reason but don't know which one to pick, I start with some infos on mainly but not exclusively European and Canadian hemp varieties.
The variety name is in bold, the admission country/-ies for registered varieties is in italic and for non-registered ones in regular letters as are general informations. Several varieties have been deleted from the European plant variety catalogue over the years but might still be approved in individual countries.


Dioecious hemp varieties:
- Alp King: Swiss heirloom variety used for fibres, intermediate flowering onset
- Antal: Czech Republic and Hungary, rather tall, late maturing fibre and CBD variety
- Armanca: Romania
- Asso: Italy, dioecious according to DutchHempCBD

- Balaton: Hungary, a 2019 CBD hemp variety, early and short
- Bergnaturhanf Ladir: Swiss heirloom variety from Ladir, Graubunden (east Swiss Alps), listed in the 'conservation of plant genetic resources' (Swiss National Database) as possibly to conserve variety, maintained by Pro Specie Rara. Robust, easy to grow plants of 2 metres hight, likely of mixed chemotype (THC content >2%).
- Bernabeo: new Italian fibre hemp variety currently only used as breeding line, some plants are CBG-rich and devoid of THC and CBD (likely due a homozygous B0 allele)
- Bernabeo: The 'Bredemann' varieties (e.g. Bredemann 18, Bredemann P, Bredemann Eletta) are famous German varieties selected from Central-Russian landraces by Bredemann at the Max Planck Institute. Bredemann became famous for his method using fibre determination in young males allowing for early selection of male breeding stocks.
- BundyGem: Australia, short and relatively early variety descendant from Canadian hemp and developed in the subtropics, rich in anthocyanins
- CanMa: Canada, seed hemp cross of a 'Finola' selection and an early 'ESTA-1', smaller very uniform size and medium maturing
- Carmagnola: Italy, Northern Italian landrace from the southern ecotype with possible Chinese BLH ancestry (optimal temperature in vegetative phase ~23°C), CBD rich (though originally of mixed chemotype -> THC content sometimes above EU limit), tall, late flowering onset, parent line of several other varieties. 'Carma' is a CBG prevalent selection of 'Carmagnola' containing a unique set of CBG and derivatives thereof.
- Carmen: Canada, small sized
- CFX-1, CFX-2 and CRS-1: Canada, rather short seed hemp varieties with medium to large sized seeds and early to medium maturing (105-110 days), cold tolerant
- Chamaeleon: Netherlands, medium sized with early flowering onset, yellow cotyledons and yellow stems
- Crag: Canada
- CS (Carmagnola Selezionata): Selection of 'Carmagnola'
- Dioica 88: France, tall fibre/straw variety with late flowering onset (the latest blooming and the only dioecious French variety)
- Eletta Campana: Italian cross of 'Carmagnola' x German cultivar ('Fibridia' or 'Bredemann'), tall and late flowering onset, THC 0.6% & CBD 0.8%
- ESTA-1: Canada, Ottawa valley seed hemp, flower onset at ~50 days, small (~150 -180 cm)
- Fibranova: Italy, depending on source either 'Bredemann Eletta' x 'Carmagnola' or a hybride of Turkish and German varieties with 'Carmagnola' (optimal temperature in vegetative phase ~23°C), CBD rich, tall and late flowering onset, purple stems
- Fibridia: Important hybrid of the same northern and southern ancestors used to create 'Fibrimon' only that it hadn't been crossed with 'Schurig' hemp
- Fibrimor: Italian cultivar
- Finola (FIN-314): Finland, a stabile cross originally made by Sam_Skunkman and Dr. J.C. Callaway by open pollination of two Russian landraces from Kirov @ 58°N (Northern type accessions k-313 and k-315 from the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry VIR) in 1995 (Callaway & Laakkonen). Nowadays, mainly grown in Finland and Canada. It starts flowering when 25 to 30 days old, is the smallest (~150 -180 cm) and earliest (~100 days) industrial hemp variety, has fine fibres and gives a large harvest of small seeds. THC/CBD content in late flowering may be above legal limits.
- Fleischmann hemp (F-hemp): A legendary Italian variety from the '20 to '50 based on 'Carmagnola' and parent line to many modern cultivars in Italy, Hungary and former Yugoslavia
- Havelländer (Havelländischer Hanf): Famous German heirloom-variety based on Russian hemp, short and early flowering/maturing with high seed and biomass yield but low fibre content
- Helvetica (several varieties): Swiss heirloom varieties, like many other heirlooms, the name/variety is neither registered nor protected. Medium THC and CBD content (occasionally above 1%, hence no EU/CH approval possible), rel. late flowering onset
- Kompolti: Hungary & Netherlands, selected in Hungary from 'Fleischmann Hemp' in the '50, THC 0.1% & CBD 1.5%, some specimens with medium THC-content (temporarily lost EU approval), very tall fibre variety with late flowering onset, parent line of several other varieties
- Kompolti sargaszárú: Hungary, a spontaneous chlorophyll-mutation with deep yellow stems and lime green leaves found in a cross between a Finnish and an Italian variety in 1939 and inbred to 'Kompolti' (BC3F3) by Iván Bócsa ('sarga szárú' translates to 'yellow-stemmed') in the '70
- Kuhnow (Kuhnowscher Hanf): Old East German heirloom variety based on Italian hemp, late maturing fibre type
- Livoniae: Latvia, tall seed variety with intermediate flowering onset, very low THC content
- LKCSD: Polish breeding line used in the creation of several Polish varieties. Likely a selection of 'Havelländer' or 'Schurig' hemp.
- Lovrin 110: Romania, THC 0.7% & CBD 1.3%, medium to very tall, intermediate flowering onset, selection of different types from the Bulgarian Silistra landrace 'Silistrenski' (a southern ecotype), suitable for essential oil production
- Moldovana: Romania, THC level slightly over 0.3% and large stem diameter with high bast content, average in everything else, excellent essential oil flavour
- Novosadska, Novosadska Plus, Novosadska konomplja: Serbia (the latter), late maturing varieties from former Yugoslavia, improved selections of 'Fleischmann Hemp'
- Petera: Canada, large seeds, tall (3 - 3.5 meter), late maturing
- Ramo: German variety, intermediate flowering onset, low cannabinoid content
- Rastslaviska (Rastislavicke): Czechoslovakian heirloom variety or landrace of the southern ecotype, tall growth and late flowering onset, THC 0.2% & CBD 1.8%
- Red Petiole: Italy, has red petioles and a very low THC content due to irradiation with radioactive cobalt
- Schurig (Schurigsche Hanf): Famous German heirloom-variety cultivated around Markee. Either a selection from Central-Russian variety or a hybrid of Northern and Southern ecotypes with a small portion of subdioecious individuals. Schurig's hemp gave rise to the first true monoecious hemp variety 'Fibrimon' (see section 'monoecious varieties').
- Silvana (SV.200): Romania
- Suomi: A hemp variety marketed by the Vancouver Seed Bank, likely to be 'Finola'
- Superfibra: Italian cultivar, tall and late flowering onset
- Tiborszállási: Hungary & Italy, Hungarian landrace of the southern ecotype (optimal temperature in vegetative phase ~19°C), medium tall with mid-late flowering onset, parent line of several other varieties
- X59 (hemp nut): Canada, early, shorter Canadian grain variety. Developed by the Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industy, 'X59' arose from crossing the female line, 'in 50', collected from the Udmurt Republic, Russian Federation in 2000, with the male line, 'in 29', collected in the Voronezh region of the Russian Federation in 1999. The initial cross was made in isolated plots in 2001 in Leningrad Province (cited from HERE).
- Yunma 1 to 6: China, according to the manufacturer Yunnan Industrial Hemp Inc. 'Yunma 1' is the first legal Chinese fibre and seed hemp variety. These Southern Chinese plants are adapted to 23-30°N, grow tall and fibre maturation is late, seed maturation very late (110 and 190 days, respectively), THC concentration is according to EU standards. It is said to be a mix between 50% dioecious and 50% polyoecious plants. N°2 to N°4 are true dioecious; for more infos see link above.
- Walliser Queen: Swiss heirloom variety, very early maturing, used for grain and fibre production, possibly of mixed chemotype (THC ~1%)

Only ornamental cultivars:
- Panorama (the world's only ornamental hemp cultivar): A Lebanese strain selectively bread by Dr. Iván Bócsa in the '80. Here some nice infos with a picture of him and two 'Panorama' on book page 311 (PDF page 28) on Hort.Purdue.edu or an interview with him on Hempfood.com. 'Panorama' is of the mixed chemotype with medium low total cannabinoid content.
- Ermes: Ermes is actually a monoecious fibre hemp variety which may obtain EU approval in the near future. Its ornamental quality comes from the webbed leaf trait known in Italy as 'pinnatifidofilla'. 'Ermes' is an inbred line obtained from one single 'Fibranova' male plant (obtained by irradiation with radioactive cobalt) and CAN-19 aka SiMonA (a subdioecious variety from southern Italy). FYI The webbed leaf and single leaf traits are known from Italian varieties since the early 19th century but the trait in 'Ermes' is recessive and hence serves as visual marker for purity of the variety.
- Fibror 79: Relatively new yellow stemmed variety. Haven't found anything else on it so I simply stick it to the ornamentals, at least for now.
- Schöne vom Albis: Swiss landrace, currently maintained by 'Knospe' certified 'Gutsbetrieb Houen' on the slopes of the Albis. Seeds are sold, due legal reasons, for private use as ornamental plant. Intermediate size and maturity and well suited for Swiss climate. Flowers and seeds are available in several shops. See linked pictures in post 407 and 408.

Unisex hybrids and dioecious x monoecious crosses (female predominant varieties):
Unisex cultivars are produced by pollenising a dioecious mother plant with the pollen of a monoecious father. Due to stray pollen, the F1 generation consists of over 90% females, 3-5% monoecious plants with mainly female flowers and only 2-3% true males. Several of the French varieties are the F2, back-crosses of such F1's to the monoecious father line resulting in approximately 50% true females and 50% monoecious plants. A nice lecture on this subject, Kompolti varieties, and the invention of UNIKO-B can be found on Hempfood.com: Interview with Dr. Iván Bócsa and also the Journal of the International Hemp Association Vol. 2 No. 2, 1995.
As a side note: The number added to the French F* hemp varieties (e.g. Fédora, Félina etc.) corresponds to the time to maturity, all are female predominant with <1% male plants. The same holds true for Epsilon and Santhica but not for Russian varieties (e.g. USO).
- Alyssa: Canada, female predominant variety with 85-90% females, flower onset at ~60 days, small (~150 -180 cm).

- KCA Borana: Hungary, F1 unisex, F2 morstly dioecious, 2018 CBD hemp variety
- Cannakomp: Hungary, F1 unisex, F2 morstly dioecious
- Carmaleonte: Italy, new 2016 fast retting, yellow stemmed variety, a cross between Carmono and Compolti sargaszárú
- Fédora 17, 19 and 74 (the numbers refer to flowering onset): France, 'Fédora 17' was the last variety to lose approval in Switzerland (1. June 2014), a medium sized variety with 50% females and 50% monoecious plants. 'Fédora 19' [('JUS-9' x 'Fibrimon 21') F1 x 'Fibrimon 21'] is taller, has a relatively early flowering onset, up to 1.2% CBD, but a poor essential oil quality. 'Fédora 74' has an intermediate flowering onset.
- Fédrina 74: Female predominant French variety, tall with late flowering onset, ~1.5% CBD, ('Fibridia' x 'Fibrimon 24') F1 x 'Fibrimon 24'
- Félina 32, 34: France, varieties with 50% females and 50% monoecious plants, originally medium THC and CBD content but now only up to 1.6% CBD, medium sized with intermediate flowering onset. 'Félina 34' = ('Kompolti' x 'Fibrimon 24') x 'Fibrimon 24' has a low optimal temperature in vegetative phase ~13°C and shows a short flower induction (or photoperiode induced) phase making it 'autoflowering' in Southern Europe, suitable for seed and essential oil production.
- Fibriko and Fibriko TC: Hungarian variety, similar to 'Kompolti hybrid TC' but with the yellow stemmed variety 'Kompoltki Sargaszaru', phenotypically dioecious, and not yellow stemmed as this is a recessive trait (F2 should result in 25% offspring with yellow stems)
- Futura 75, 77, and 83: France, female predominant French varieties, 'Futura 75' is medium tall, has a relatively high optimal temperature in vegetative phase of ~20°C and an intermediate flowering onset. 'Futura 77' [('Fibridia' x 'Fibrimon 24') F1 x 'Fibrimon 24'] grows tall with a late flowering onset and up to 1.6% CBD
- Hohenthürmer Gleichzeitig Reifender: German variety, the first female predominant variety obtained by selective breeding with a few spontaneously occurring monoecious plants in a landrace from the upper Waag valley, Slovakia. Likely hybridised with 'Schurig' and 'Kuhnow' hemp varieties.

- KC Bonusz: Hungary, F1 unisex, F2 mostly dioecious, 2014 CBD hemp variety
- KC Virtus: Hungary, F1 unisex, F2 mostly dioecious, CBD hemp variety
- Kompolti hybrid TC: Hungary, F1 of the Chinese 'Kinai unisex' (dioecious 'Kinai Ketlaki' x monoecious 'Kinai Egylaki') x 'Kompolti' developped in the '80, phenotypically dioecious, late flowering onset, high quality essential oil
- Lipko: Hungary, variety with 50% females and 50% monoecious plants, rel. late flowering onset
- Secuieni 1 and Secuieni Jubileu: Romania, 'Fibrimon' hybrides, 'Sucuieni Jubileu' is a 'Secuieni 1' selection. Female predominant with ~5% male plants, suitable for essential oil production. Unlike the latter, the former is not in the EU catalogue due to slightly elevated THC content (~0.5%). Early-medium flowering onset, hight, fibre and seed yields are medium, bast content is high.
- Tisza: Hungary, F1 unisex, F2 mostly dioecious
- UNIKO-B: Hungary, tall fibre variety developed in the '60 with rel. late flowering onset, the F1 hybride ('Kompolti' x 'Fibrimon 21') consists of nearly only females (unisex, see below) and is used to produce exceptionally high yields of sowing seeds for the commercialised F2 fibre hemp generation (~30% male plants). BTW Unisexual and to a lesser extent monoecious cultivars aren't stable and result in an increasing mix of different phenotypical 'sexes' after a few generations.

Dioecious varieties from Russia and Ukraine include the dioecious southern ecotypes (e.g. Ukraine) 'Kuban' (a 'Tiborszállási' hybrid with low cannabinoid content) and 'Zenica' (aka 'Shenitsa') and the Central Russian ecotype 'Ermakovskaya Mestnaya' (likely a Siberian landrace), all other current cultivars are monoecious hybrids of central and southern hemp varieties and often begin with 'USO-', 'YUSO-' or 'JSO-' followed by a number. Notably, the Sovjet Union grew several landraces in different climate zones between 32 and 60 °N, mostly in South and Central Ukraine and 'ruderalis' type hemp around Saint Petersburg/Leningrad. With the introduction of monoecious varieties in the '60s of last century, new hybrid breeding with 'Bernburgskaya Odnodomnaya' ('Bernburger Einhäusige', that's where the O in 'USO-/YUSO-/JSO-' comes from), showing a 2-3 times higher fibre content, took over. Due to strict laws since the '80s, only a few monoecious varieties with very low THC content are cultivated in Ukraine but some old dioecious varieties are still maintained for research and breeding projects. These 'modern' varieties are extremely low in THC or even completely cannabinoid free and include the monoecious varieties 'Dneprovskaya Odnodomnaya 6 and 14', 'USO-14', 'USO-16', 'USO-31', 'Zolotonoshskaya 11, 13, and 15', 'Glukhovskaja 33 and 46', 'Dneprovskaya monoecious 14', as well as 'USO-42' and 'USO-45' (no cannabinoids and no essential oil due to lacking glandular trichomes). See also Canadian hemp section.

This brings me to monoecious varieties. Although having certain advantages in terms of fibre quality, harvesting, and breeding, I still don't like them. Noteworthy, new French and German cultivars are usually monoecious and extremely low in THC with a good proportion of THC-free individuals (e.g. 'Santhica' and 'Epsilon' varieties); they might be crosses of USO-31 (quod est demonstrandum)...
Nonetheless, here's a small compilation of monoecious, possibly monoecious or eventually female predominant varieties (* = I don't know which of the three) mostly with EU and/or Canadian approval (if approved, country code in italic). Problem is, many female predominant varieties are listed as monoecious even though they are for example F1 hybrids of dioecious females x monoecious 'males'; a drug type cannabis grower would say that they are 'feminised' using a 'hermie' as pollen donor :D .
First of all, Reinhold von Sengbusch was the one who, in the 1940s, bred the first true monoecious variety 'Fibrimon' by successifely culling males, a process called 'femeln'. He started his work for the Max Planck Institute in Markee near Berlin but the later breeding was done in the French Pyrenees by M. Nicot. This hybrid of northern and southern ecotypes (others speak of a Central Russian variety) is commonly regarded as a French variety. 'Fibrimon' is based on 'Schurig' hemp and seems to be the parent to all monoecious varieties allegedly including the famous 'Bernburger Einhäusige', a heirloom variety bred around the same time at the Akademie der Landwirtschaftwissenschaften in Bernburg, Germany. As a side note, 'Fasamo' is a modern hybrid between 'Schurig' and 'Bernburger Einhäusige'. Just a few years before the breeding of 'Fibrimon', Walther Hoffmann bred the 'Hohenthürmer Gleichzeitig Reifender', the first female predominant variety having roughly 90% females and the rest monoecious plants and males. It never became as popular as the 'Bernburger Einhäusige' and disappeared together with most other heirloom varieties when 'Fibrimon' became and remained popular.

Anka (CA, tall, medium/late flowering), Bialobrzeskie (AT, CZ, PL, high quality essential oil, THC sometimes above EU limit) and Beniko (AT, NL, PL, poor essential oil quality) (first and second Polish monoecious variety, respectively, both hybrids of 'Fibrimon' and southern ecotypes, tall under optimal conditions and with intermediate flowering onset), Canda* (CA), Carmono (IT), Codimono (IT), Dacia Secuieni (RO), Delores* (CA), Delta-Ilosa* (ES, seed variety), Delta-405* (ES, seed variety), Deni* (CA), varieties no longer in the EU catalogue Denise (RO) and Diana (RO), Dneprovskaya Odnodomnaya 6 and 14 (UA), Epsilon 68 (FR, small-medium sized, mid-/late flowering), Ermes (IT), Ermo* (IT, total cannabinoid content <0.05%), Fasamo (DE, medium tall, early flowering hybrid of central and northern ecotypes, thin stalks), Férimon (DE, FR, medium and intermediate flowering onset, rich in oleic acid), Fibrimon and its selections Fibrimon 21, 24, and 56 (parent lines of most French female predominant F1 hybrids), Fibrol* (HU, oil seed variety), Fibror 79 (F, new 2016 variety),Glesia (UA), Gliana (UA), Irene (RO), Ivory* (NL, fast retting), Joey* (CA), Jutta (CA, tall, late flowering), KC Dóra (HU), KC Zuzana (HU
, bred in 2013 for cannabinoids), Marcello* (NL), Markant* (NL, fast retting), Monoica* (CZ, HU), Ratza* (RO), Santhica 23 (contains mainly CBG), 27, and 70 (FR), Silesia (CA, third Polish monoecious variety, tall with intermediate flowering onset), Szarvasi* (HU), Tygra (PL), UC-RGM* (CA), Wielkopolskie (PL), Wojko (PL), YUSO-14, 16 and 31 (USO-14, -16, and -31, very early seed hemp varieties for colder climates (USO-31: NL)), Yvonne* (CA, tall, late flowering), Zenit (RO), Zolotonoshskaya 11, 13, and 15 (USO-11 a 'Fibrimon' hybride, -13, and -15, UA, tall varieties)
And here the remaining EU registered varieties where I haven't found as good as no information on the internet: Carma (IT, a prevalent CBG variety containing mainly the cannabigerol-derivatives carmagerol and sesqui-CBG as well as cannabivomone), Earlina 8 FC (F, new 2018 variety, fast ripeninng, very small and very low in THC),
Glecia, Glyana, Grace (by GW Phama, UK), Grandi (CA, new 2015 variety), Henola, Katani (CA, new 2015 variety), MGC 1003, 1006, and 1013, Orion 33, Picolo (CA, new 2015 variety), Rajan (PL), Succesiv (RO, new 2017 variety), Villanova (IT, new 2017 variety)

Several of the (partially) monoecious varieties are crosses with strains selected in Germany (e.g. 'Schurigs', later called 'Havelländer', and 'Bernburger Einhäusige') though the original monoecious 'mutation' originated in Russia...


Legend:
- CBD rich means around 2-3% and medium would be around 1%. Notably, it's % of dried whole aerial parts, leaves and stems included!
- Early, intermediate and late flowering onset means flowering starts at approximatively 50-60, 70-80 and 90-100 days, respectively (if I didn't mix up something).
- The countries are the countries of origin (the original germ plasm in these varieties, as often, comes in part from somewhere else) and/or the countries of main cultivation or cultivar maintenance. Notably, these varieties are well adapted to the indicated countries climate! The main germplasms within the list above originate from France, Italy, Hungary, and Russia/Ukraine. Many are stable hybrids selected from crosses with strains developed around WWII for example in Germany.

Link-o-rama and literature:
Sorry for eventually broken links, some change too often to keep them updated ;( .
English: https://www.hempfood.com/IHA/iha02207.html, https://www.ipes.info/WPS/WPS_No_38.pdf, www.gov.mb.ca, www.hc-sc.gc.ca, https://druglibrary.org/olsen/hemp/IHA/jiha4111.html, https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/8415/1/prade_t_111102.pdf, https://www.rexresearch.com, Europ J Agronomy 28 Hempfarm.com, Plant variety database, sciencedirect.com, Northcoasthemp, IHempfarms, Agronomy & crop physiology of fibre hemp, Community Plant Variety Office, International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, https://www.inspection.gc.ca/english...0008459e.shtml
German: Hanf/2021_Sortenliste.pdf, https://sundoc.bibliothek.uni-halle....7H205/prom.pdf, https://sundoc.bibliothek.uni-halle....2H056/prom.pdf, gemeinsamer Sortenkatalog der EU, https://www.bdn.ch
Multilingual: Chanvre-Info.ch


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THCV/CBDV rich varieties:

According to Staginnus et al. (publication HERE), the EU approved variety 'Szarvasi' is of Asian origin, dioecious, and contains 1-2% THC and also THCV... unfortunately, I could not get more informations regarding this variety.

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Here some infos and resources about US feral hemp (the progeny of the legendary Kentucky hemp varieties):

Beginning 1900, the small, Christmas tree like US fibre hemp was primarily of European origin but was successively crossed with mainly Chinese varieties to obtain huge plants with minor branching. Therefore, the resulting Kentucky hemp varieties were blends from all over the world. From what I've found on the net, 'Kymington', 'Chington' and 'Tochimington' were the three best performing varieties. 'Chington' is a Chinese strain whereas the 'Tochimington' contains Japanese genes. The 'Kymington' seems to be a mix of different US lines... But, as stated by Lyster H. Dewey (link below), the favourable traits for fibre production diminished after ~10 generations (= 10 years) and the varieties needed to be crossed again with tropical strains. With the prohibition era and due to errors and bad luck, most (if not all) of these original varieties got extinct and are lost forever. What remains of them is feral hemp, known as ditch weed, growing wild at several places mainly in the Midwest. Obviously, today's US feral hemp is a wild mix of different selectively bred lines from the years ~1920 to ~1940 acclimatised for over 70 years to the local climate and containing to some degree or another genetic influences of modern varieties (industrial hemp or drug type cannabis).

Great reading is this article about the 'Fiber Wars' by David West (seems to be THE person for US fibre hemp history): Globalhemp.com
And an article about the origin of some famous US varieties: Hempology.org
The most important breeding, selecting and crossing experiments were performed at what's known as 'Arlington Farm'. The lovely thing about that is its location: It was where the pentagon now stands
biggrin.gif
. Found that here (and also elsewhere): Washingtonpost.com
You may also read this book (.pdf) by Lyster H. Dewey (who worked at Arlington Farm and to whom we owe a good part of the knowledge on Kentucky hemp): Votehemp.com
Current (by 2013) state of law in the USA on hemp cultivation 'Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity', Report for Congress: FAS.org

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Some considerations on crossing fibre/seed hemp with 'drug type' cannabis (literature is the same as above):

- Many hemp varieties ('Carmagnola', Chilean, 'Felina 34', 'Fibranova', 'Futura 77', Kentucky, 'Kompolti', 'Tiborszállási') have a switch-point photoperiode (maximum day length for flower induction) of ~14 h. Notably, hemp reacts also to temperature causing for example 'Felina 34' to flower seemingly spontaneously in Southern Europe.

- Breeding for high THC content in fibre/seed hemp seems more promising when crossing a THC rich cannabis female with a hemp male than vice versa. Remember, hemp is defined as A) low in overall THC+CBD content (usually <<5%) and B) a ratio of THC:CBD much smaller than 1 (sometimes ~1). Old cultivars and landraces with 2-5% THC+CBD and a ratio of 1 already in certain plants of a given population have been banned by most countries! The THC:CBD ratio is genetically determined by co-dominant alleles BT and BD but cannabinoid amount seems cytosol or mitochondria bound and hence is inherited mainly by the female part. An F1 of hemp (female) x cannabis (male) usually results in a THC:CBD ratio of 1 and a cannabinoid content either as low as in the hemp or at best intermediate but with few deviations between siblings (CBD may be higher due to a heterosis effect: Genetics.org). The favourable cross the other way round may depending on the hemp variety result in a ratio of 1 or of THC only and a cannabinoid content with higher deviations between siblings attaining 'drug' level for some individuals. With this cross, the F2 (first sibling cross) will result in an even higher deviation with a realistic chance of finding a plant or two of the BT/BT type (theoretically 25% of the plants) with a high THC:CBD ratio and also high total amount (depending on 'luck'). A lower content could also be observed and may be due to loss of the heterosis effect (Uni Halle, Dissertations online). Obviously, one can increase the chance by crossing the F1 back to the cannabis parent and test the THC and CBD content not only of the crosses but also of the F1s (even with a simple method like TLC).

- Breeding for high CBD in fibre/seed hemp is similar to the above mentioned high THC strategy. Again, cannabinoid amount (THC and CBD) is inherited by the female plant whereas CBD and THC chemotypes are sex independent and the strategy remains principally the same.

- Noteworthy for those who want to cross Canadian hemp; the three main cultivars in Canada are 'Crag' (dioecious), 'USO-14' and 'USO-31' (both monoecious Russian cultivars) and made up 90-95 % of total Canadian hemp crop (though 'Finola' was gaining in importance and by 2018, a marked increase in breeding companies, licenced farmers, and new varieties such as monocious 'Altair' or dioecious 'Grandi' and 'Katani' which started to change the market). Only these three varieties are exempt from regular THC testing because of there extremely low THC content (generation after generation below 0.1 % for the whole population tested so far). Therefore, for those who like to cross-breed an unknown Canadian industrial hemp with drug type cannabis, chances are high that the offspring will be extremely low in THC even in the F2 and F3 generations (without back-crossing to the drug type) not to mention eventual troubles with hermaphroditism. At least in case of 'USO-31' the former is due to the homozygous 0 allele o/o preventing any cannabinoid synthesis and strongly suppressing it in heterozygous form (CSATC.org), although there are patent claims on 'isolating the B0 allele from USO-31'. Because 'USO-31' produces not even the precursor CBG strongly supports the '0 allele' hypothesis (D. Pacifico et al.).

- Crosses with Italian and Hungarian varieties seems favourable when opting for high THC and/or CBD in the crosses because most contain either 'Carmagnola' or 'Kompolti'. These two varieties have already elevated levels of CBD (around 2-3% with some individuals even higher). Although, these two varieties are amongst the best fibre strains; they are tall, barely branched, flower late and finish late and prefer the climate of southern Europe.

- Crosses with seed hemp and northern varieties have the advantage that these cultivars are often smaller, flower and finish earlier and notably have a better ratio of flowers to leaves than pure fibre strains. On the contrary, they are often adapted to northern European or Canadian climate and may not do as well indoors (remains to be proven LoL). They also have medium sized to large seeds which doesn't disturb in sinsemilla weed ;) .

- Crosses with the French 'Santhica 23', 'Santhica 27', 'Santhica 70', and 'Epsilon 68' may be tricky if one tries to maintain or introduce a certain level of THC or CBD into the cross because 'Santhicas' and some 'Epsilon 68' individuals contain nearly none of both: Allegedly, 'Santhica' was selected from a single CBG rich plant and is homozygous for the B0 allele which codes for a non-functional CBD synthase. This shunts of any THC or CBD production and results in the accumulation of CBG (~1% according to literature). By the way, the B0 allele is recessive but heterozygous individuals also exhibit a reduced THC and/or CBD synthesis (de Meijer & Hammond). It seems likely that the 'Epsilon' varieties have the same o/o allele as 'USO-31' (mentioned in the Canadian hemp section) because no elevated CBG levels were found in 'Epsilon 68'. The breeding line 'Barnabeo' on the other hand has individuals which likely carry the B0 allele and hence shows an elevated CBG content (D. Pacifico et al.). Another female predominant variety is 'Carma' and contains basically only CBG.

- For those who want to breed hemp with cannabis for the auto-flowering trait, keep in mind that this trait (i.e. flowering depending on age and not photoperiod) is usually recessive. An F1 will not be auto-flowering and only 25% of an F2 (sibling cross) will show that behaviour and there is no obvious way to cheat chances. It looks like if there were no approved cultivars (besides wild C. cf. ruderalis) with that trait; all the agricultural varieties seem to be just early flowering (maybe flower induction due to size like in the 'super-auto' strains?). AFAIK, early flowering is either a multi-genetic trait and the precise inheritance unknown but can be improved successively by selective breeding (as has been done with 'Finola') or can even be dominant (strangely 100% of the F1 and F2 show early flowering: Uni Halle, Dissertations online). Obviously, one can increase the chance by crossing the F1 back to the hemp parent.

Maybe you want a high THC auto-flowering cross? Chances are at a mathematical 12.5% of getting an auto-flowering plant with a high THC:CBD ratio when crossing drug type cannabis x hemp siblings (i.e. F2) and are a good deal lower for high THC percentage (as this isn't determined by a single allele). Again, test the F1 parents and not only the F2 offspring for THC and CBD amount (what counts at the F1 level is high THC plus CBD and not only THC alone)! If you back-cross to one or the other parental line you risk to lose one or the other wanted trait. Therefore, a sibling cross or selfing seems more favourable to me.

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Where to buy seeds legally?

- First of all, look at the European 'COMMON CATALOGUE OF VARIETIES OF AGRICULTURAL PLANT SPECIES' (HERE). At the end of the document, you'll find all European agricultural agencies responsible for agricultural hemp seed 'handling'. Although, you can't buy just a few seeds (usually bags of 25 kg for € ~250) and may require a permission.
- Browse through gene banks, for example the IPK Gatersleben, the national gene bank of Germany, has over 50 different hemp varieties from around the globe, some landraces, others standard monoecious cultivars and so on. Upon simple registration (SMTA required!) they provide small samples of mostly any crop for free (certainly to universities and institutes, but seemingly also to private persons). Genbank.at, the Austrian centre, has a small list of hemp accessions, whereas Agroscope, the Swiss centre, doesn't list any hemp cultivars but has a huge list of other agricultural plants. Should you happen to be in Saint Petersburg, contact Sergey V. Grigoryev, curator responsible for hemp at the VIR. Better call (+79215573878) than mail (ser.grig@mail.ru) him ;) . He is very friendly and will certainly give you some samples but unfortunately he can't ship them to you and more importantly, they had considerable budgetary cutbacks. Of the 500 listed hemp accessions only a too small part is still actively maintained ex situ and possible to share. Nonetheless, they hold the worlds largest hemp seed catalogue. All European Seed banks (not only for hemp) are re-grouped on THIS site, note that Ukraine corresponds to the VIR, Germany to the IPK, and that Hungary and Romania have huge collections too (though I'm not aware of their willingness to share seeds). The Netherlands have a national hemp and cannabis seed collection hosted at the Wageningen University; unlike most other seeds, Cannabis accessions aren't publicly listed but can be obtained on demand (should you qualify customer, they charge € 450.- per sample).
- For small quantities, have a look at your local or online garden centre. Swiss folks can find some varieties for example @ Samen-Mauser.ch (2014: Fedora), @ Saemereien.ch (2014: Low-THC fibre hemp and Fedora), @ SwissHempShop.com (2014: Carmagnola, Finola, 'Speedy' and 'SwissMix'), or @ ProSpecieRara.ch for benefactors only (Bergnaturhanf Ladir). People from Austria have the possibility to purchase plants @ FloweryField (2014: Beniko, Delta-Llosa, Felina 32, Fibranova, Red Petiole, and Santhica 27).
- Visit a health-food shop. Many such stores in Finland have hemp seeds on offer. This is likely the least expensive version for smaller quantities of Finola. I ordered there and am very happy!
- If you have a Chinatown nearby, go there for a stroll. Many shops sell Chinese hemp seeds. These are very tall, tropical varieties which will not finish in time in Europe, Canada or Mid/Northern USA. Furthermore, these varieties are often not selected for low THC and/or CBD chemotype; be aware that such a plant could pose a legal issue not only by being a non-approved variety but also for eventually too high THC concentrations!!

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Other hemp related ICMag threads

- Breeding with wild hemp
- Ruderalis picked from the wild five days ago...
- wild in Bulgaria acres of ruderalis
- Dutch pilot experiment: LEGALLY growing organic female hemp flowers high in CBD
- Wild Ruderalis from Austria
- Mongolian ruderalis (english) and Mongolia ruderalis (polish)
- Sativa landrace from Astrakhan, Russia
 
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Only Ornamental

Spiritually inspired agnostic mad scientist
Veteran
My wish list: Finola, Kentucky hemp, Helvetica

My wish list: Finola, Kentucky hemp, Helvetica

As it was me to start this thread, here's my hemp seed wish list:
- 'Finola' aka FIN-314: Only a few seeds and not the 25 kg which may be purchased from www.finola.fi for € 250.- (EDIT: fond it, grow it, enjoy it :D )
- Feral Kentucky hemp: It should be purple or otherwise highly ornamental, great smell/taste with a high essential oil content, small and Christmas tree like growing, early flowering and maturing, strictly dioecious. Best would be if it didn't came from an area where industrial hemp is cultivated nearby to avoid crossings with that one.
- 'Helvetica', ' Bergnaturhanf Ladir' or other old 'pure' Swiss hemp cultivars: The ones I tested as tea back in the '90 had a great taste!
 

Thule

Dr. Narrowleaf
Veteran
You found a variety called Suomi? That's the local name for Finland so I would think it to be finola since nothing else is grown here.
 

Only Ornamental

Spiritually inspired agnostic mad scientist
Veteran
The Vancouver Seed Bank offers suomi... speculations really are that its just Finola. Simply that I've read more than once that the suomi plants are weakly cripples... We're talking about that elsewhere: answers #14 and #15 https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=271195

Do you mind if I ask whether you have access to some seeds (guess it's around harvesting time anyway up north)? And as you said, every commercial field in Finland is likely to be Finola... ;)
 

Thule

Dr. Narrowleaf
Veteran
The Vancouver Seed Bank offers suomi... speculations really are that its just Finola. Simply that I've read more than once that the suomi plants are weakly cripples... We're talking about that elsewhere: answers #14 and #15 https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=271195

Do you mind if I ask whether you have access to some seeds (guess it's around harvesting time anyway up north)? And as you said, every commercial field in Finland is likely to be Finola... ;)

Access, sure :biggrin: It's my breakfast. This years seeds won't be out before winter but organic shops probably have some stock left. I've sent links to people in the past so I could probably look one up.

Btw, I don't think finola is a ruderalis cross.. they just share a common origin.. a long time ago.
 

Only Ornamental

Spiritually inspired agnostic mad scientist
Veteran
Well, well, well... I would have found it myself if I'd searched for 'hampunsiemen'... but I don't speak Finnish (not even Swedish)... Thanks a lot though!
Now I just have to figure out how to buy it on a page where I don't know where to click; to my eyes it's as bad as a Chinese site LoL.

I don't think finola is a ruderalis cross
As said, Finola is allegedly a ruderalis cross... the one thing sure is that it originates from the VIR seed stock in Hungary and was 'created' not thaaaat long ago.
Is there a reason why you think so? Doesn't it look/taste/smell like ruderalis or what else? Either it's its appearance (my opinion doesn't count, I've only seen pictures) or the auto-flowering trait which led people believing in the ruderalis story, I guess.
 

Thule

Dr. Narrowleaf
Veteran
Well, well, well... I would have found it myself if I'd searched for 'hampunsiemen'... but I don't speak Finnish (not even Swedish)... Thanks a lot though!
Now I just have to figure out how to buy it on a page where I don't know where to click; to my eyes it's as bad as a Chinese site LoL.


As said, Finola is allegedly a ruderalis cross... the one thing sure is that it originates from the VIR seed stock in Hungary and was 'created' not thaaaat long ago.
Is there a reason why you think so? Doesn't it look/taste/smell like ruderalis or what else? Either it's its appearance (my opinion doesn't count, I've only seen pictures) or the auto-flowering trait which led people believing in the ruderalis story, I guess.

Actually Vavilov institute in Russia. It's a cross of two Russian landraces, atleast one of which originates in Siberia, where you wouldn't expect to find anything but autoflowering varieties, even in hemp. Yeah, it doesn't look smell nor taste like ruderalis.. but I never saw any Russian rudies, just European ones. :) The thing is, when fresh, finola seeds sprout in hours after soaking. Ruderalis takes 5 months. Finola is about as domestic as it gets but there's no doubt in my mind that it originates from the Russian ruderalis genepool.. thousands of years ago.
 

Only Ornamental

Spiritually inspired agnostic mad scientist
Veteran
Thanks for the correction and explanation! No idea why I thought that the VIR's in Hungary if the VIR is located in St. Petersburg, and that's obviously in Russia... Really need the week-end!
What is the smell/taste of Finola like? Would it be good for tea and seasoning?
 

oldchuck

Active member
Veteran
I find it ironic that I can order all the high THC seeds I want from Europe but cannot get hemp seeds with no THC. You would think some enterprising seed bank would buy hemp seed by the kilo and then resell it to an increasing number of Americans like me who want to fool around with it for various reasons, high CBD, fiber, food, whatever. I'd like a couple of kilos of seed. Growing hemp is now legal in my state.

Out of a couple of hundred Suomi seeds I tried I could only get about five to grow to maturity. One was the most anemic, tiny male plant you can imagine. I thought maybe the seeds were just very old but your explanation, OO, in the other thread makes sense.

I'm hoping for better results with the small stash of seed I collected.
 

Thule

Dr. Narrowleaf
Veteran
Thanks for the correction and explanation! No idea why I thought that the VIR's in Hungary if the VIR is St. Petersburg, Russia... Really need the week-end!
What is the smell/taste of Finola like? Would it be good for tea and seasoning?

It's been a while since I smelled any but I think the smell was very piny, fresh, grassy, some fruitiness in the background maybe. People described it as pine forrest. High pinene content for sure and very distinct.

Should be ok as a tea, it has that fresh taste, oil should be good too but it's not a delicious odour compared to most drug strains. Depends on what you like really, but it was never bred to taste good.
 

Rinse

Member
Veteran
Anyone know what is the most common type grown in Hungary?
I can get bags of organic Hungarian hemp seed from local health shops.
 

Only Ornamental

Spiritually inspired agnostic mad scientist
Veteran
@ Thule: Fresh 'n fruity sounds nice, the pine forest though... Well, I'll see for myself ;) .

@ Rinse: Hungary seemingly has the most different cultivars, a high diversity of actually cultivated varieties, and the most 'easy-going' regulations on hemp cultivation and hemp strains. Quite a few of those have a too high amount of THC for EU approval. I suppose that you can't guess a hungarian cultivar successfully when looking at a seed cause the location of the retailer tells you nothing and not even the exact place of cultivation is of any help.
Not even in France, where only 3 main cultivars out of over 20 are grown (theoretically ~30% chance to guess correctly), is there a chance of guessing the variety determination because seeds from food shops come often from Eastern Europe... (Sorry for the phrase, it sounds awful... had a sleepless night)
 

Sam_Skunkman

"RESIN BREEDER"
Moderator
Veteran
Access, sure :biggrin: It's my breakfast. This years seeds won't be out before winter but organic shops probably have some stock left. I've sent links to people in the past so I could probably look one up.

Btw, I don't think finola is a ruderalis cross.. they just share a common origin.. a long time ago.

Finola is Russian but not fully Ruderalis, I am sure.

-SamS
 
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Sam_Skunkman

"RESIN BREEDER"
Moderator
Veteran
Finola is not fully autoflowering. It starts flowering even under long photoperiod, it finishes flowering unlike many autos. It is determinate.
-SamS

Well, well, well... I would have found it myself if I'd searched for 'hampunsiemen'... but I don't speak Finnish (not even Swedish)... Thanks a lot though!
Now I just have to figure out how to buy it on a page where I don't know where to click; to my eyes it's as bad as a Chinese site LoL.


As said, Finola is allegedly a ruderalis cross... the one thing sure is that it originates from the VIR seed stock in Hungary and was 'created' not thaaaat long ago.
Is there a reason why you think so? Doesn't it look/taste/smell like ruderalis or what else? Either it's its appearance (my opinion doesn't count, I've only seen pictures) or the auto-flowering trait which led people believing in the ruderalis story, I guess.
 
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Sam_Skunkman

"RESIN BREEDER"
Moderator
Veteran
Finola is a cross of two Arctic variaties from the VIR #313 and #315, neither are fully autoflowering. They are both wild land races from Siberia.
I crossed them and gave a kilo of "Finola 314" to Jace up in Finland. Jace and a Finnish farmer colleague did the work to stabilize Finola 314 and bring it to market.
This was in the mid 1990's, I did the work in the Netherlands, Jace did his work in Finland. He needed an extra early variety for Finland and VIR 313 and VIR 315 were the two earliest low THC varieties in my seed collection. They were given to me by the VIR, I grew and reproduced the 100 or so of each. In a few seasons I have enough to share with Jace.
-SamS


Actually Vavilov institute in Russia. It's a cross of two Russian landraces, atleast one of which originates in Siberia, where you wouldn't expect to find anything but autoflowering varieties, even in hemp. Yeah, it doesn't look smell nor taste like ruderalis.. but I never saw any Russian rudies, just European ones. :) The thing is, when fresh, finola seeds sprout in hours after soaking. Ruderalis takes 5 months. Finola is about as domestic as it gets but there's no doubt in my mind that it originates from the Russian ruderalis genepool.. thousands of years ago.
 
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Sam_Skunkman

"RESIN BREEDER"
Moderator
Veteran
For people looking for CBD hemp is not what you are looking for, hemps CBD levels are real low, just a few %. You are better off getting a CBD clone from someone, they can be up to 15%-30% CBD with or without THC also.
-SamS
 
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