Selecting Quality Seed
Seeds are the foundation of agriculture. Technology has modernized much of farming’s day-to-day operations, but without a steady supply of high-quality seed, yields and crop quality would be greatly decreased.
Seed quality plays an important role in the production of agronomic and horticultural crops. Characteristics such as trueness to variety, germination percentage, purity, vigor, and appearance are important to farmers planting crops and to homeowners establishing lawns and gardens. Achieving and maintaining high seed quality is the goal of every professional seed producer.
Selecting Quality Wheat Seed
FROM North to South, and coast to coast, tomatoes are consistently the most popular vegetable in all gardens. But for most gardeners, just any old tomato won’t do.
Some like them red, some like them yellow, orange or even purple! Some prefer tomatoes as tiny as a dime and some want them as big as a melon. Some like them juicy, some like them dense and pulpy. Fortunately, there are more than 700 different tomato varieties in cultivation today. Plenty of choices for everyone!
Two varieties with unusual striping.
If you’re trying to decide which tomato varieties to grow, here’s what I think about:
- disease resistance
- growth habit
- time to maturity
- flavor and texture
Disease resistance is important, because tomatoes are vulnerable to a number of diseases that can weaken the plant and reduce yields. Look at the seed packet or plant label to see if the variety has resistance to verticillium and fusarium wilt, two very common soil-borne diseases that affect tomatoes. Resistance to these diseases is designated by a V or F after the variety name. If tomatoes in your region suffer from root-knot nematode (N), Tobacco Mosaic virus (T) or Alternaria (A), look for resistance to these diseases as well. Late blight is a problem in many areas, so choose a variety that’s resistant.
Growth habit is important to consider because to get a bumper tomato crop, you need to provide enough room for the plant and adequate support. Tomato plants have one of two growth habits.
- Determinate varieties grow to a certain height (usually 2 to 3 feet), set fruit, and then concentrate on ripening that fruit.
- Indeterminate varieties keep growing taller and taller, setting and ripening fruit until they’re killed by frost. These varieties require more support (from cages and stakes) and more a bit more attention from the gardener.
Time to maturity is important if you have a short growing season. Where I live, I need to harvest my tomatoes by early September, before the light fades and frost comes. So I look for tomato varieties that will start ripening fruit in less than 75 days. Many of the really big beefsteak varieties require a full 90 days to mature. Check the seed packet or plant label for days-to-harvest.
Fruit characteristics are what I care about most. I use tomatoes in salads, on sandwiches, and just to eat out of hand. I dry them, can them and also use them in fresh and frozen sauces. So I select tomato varieties based on how well they’re suited to these uses.
Selecting Quality Cannabis Seeds
Characteristics of the seeds like the strain, resistance to pests, THC potency and other unique characteristics decide the quality of the seeds.
Selection of Seeds
When selecting cannabis seeds the most important deciding factor to consider is the strain of the plant. It may seem to be overwhelming for a novice grower to decide this initially, but the choices can be narrowed down by answering some simple questions. This will help in choosing the best strain. Cannabis seeds contain genetic material that decides the potential shape, size, cannabinoid content and time for maturity of the plant. Choosing the right strain of seeds can assure you a very good quality harvest, provided you also use good quality fertilizers and provide the plant with good growing conditions.
Characteristics
Before picking these seeds, decide the characteristics that you are looking for. Are you looking for characteristics of a sativa or an indica or a mix of both? The indica varieties are usually good for stress relief, relaxation and overall serenity and calmness. They also offer effective relief from body pain and are often used for treating insomnia. On the other hand, sativa highs are energetic and uplifting, with the effects being cerebral. So, depending on what your needs are or what results you are looking forward to achieve, decide the strain of seeds you would want to buy.
Other Considerations
The next question you would need to answer is whether you would be growing these plants outdoors or indoors. Answering this question can reduce the number of choices in front of you as there are different kinds of seeds for indoor and outdoor cultivation.
Flowering
Flowering is also a very important feature that has to be considered and this is fully influences by the sativa or indica ratio. Any grower would want seeds that would mature well before the threat of bad weather or frost. If the sativa mix is high in the seeds, it would require a longer time to be ready for harvest. Usually, seeds with longer growing seeds are meant for outdoor cultivation. Deciding these aspects beforehand can help you choose the right seed for your cultivation needs.Most advanced grower find better yield when they have to get products like cbd e-liquid visit link here.
Factors Affecting the Harvest
If the yield that the harvest produces is a very important factor for you, there are different kinds here again. There are high, medium and low yielding marijuana plants. If quantity is important to you than quality, then choose seeds that can produce high yields. On the other hand, if quality is what is crucial you may have to compromise on quantity. Most of the time, maximum yield comes from indica and indica hybrid strains, while the sativa varieties produce lower yields.
These tips may help in choosing a good cannabis seed strain. Even if the grower chooses the best of the seeds, it is in his hands to maximize the potential of the plant by following the best cultivation practices.