Find the best feminized seeds of 2025. Leafly selected feminized seed strains with exciting genetics & chose what we think are the top picks.

The post Leafly’s top 8 feminized seeds of 2025 appeared first on Leafly.

The post Leafly’s top 8 feminized seeds of 2025 appeared first on Paradise Found.

Find the best autoflower seed banks of 2024. Leafly reviewed popular seed banks & chose top picks for different needs & budgets.

The post Leafly’s top 5 autoflower seed banks of 2024 appeared first on Leafly.

The post Leafly’s top 5 autoflower seed banks of 2024 appeared first on Paradise Found.

See our list of the best cannabis seed companies 2024. Find quality seeds you can count on with this roundup of some of our favorite banks.

The post The best cannabis seed companies appeared first on Leafly.

The post The best cannabis seed companies appeared first on Paradise Found.

With home grow on the rise and a growing understanding of cannabis genetics, the cannabis seed market is undergoing its glory days. Allied Market Research provides a report showing the growth backed by data gathered by its team of analysts, who focus on multiple markets.

The global cannabis seed market size was valued at $1.3 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $6.5 billion by 2031, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.4% from 2022 to 2031, according to a new report published by Allied Market Research titled, “Cannabis Seeds Market.”

“The cannabis seeds market faced a period of short-term negative growth due to COVID-19 pandemic,” Allied Market Research representatives wrote. “Factors such as a decline in the product demand from major end-users, limited operations in most of the industries, inadequate funding to research and academic institutes, and disrupted supply chain has restricted the overall growth of the market during [the] pandemic period. However, [the] market is now slowly recovering from the negative impact and is expected to capture the growth momentum post 2022.

The Cannabaceae family of flowering plants includes the genus Cannabis, traditionally broken down to Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis, though some have dropped the sativa/indica terminology.

The cannabis seed market is divided into three categories: feminized, regular, and autoflowering seeds. The regular seeds segment dominates in terms of market size. 

The feminized seeds segment is also making an impact, growing at a moderate rate during the forecast period. Wild seeds grow at a 50/50 male-female rate. But feminized seeds are genetically modified using a handful of methods, designed to become only female plants. This has several advantages for growers, but the main one is that pollinating male plants won’t be able to devastate a crop and turn flower to seed. This helps facilitate growth and save a great deal of time and help farmers produce plants with clones.  

Autoflowering seeds contain ruderalis genetics crossed with potent strains to induce flowering regardless of light cycles, when normally plants do not flower until they receive a 12/12-hour lighting regime.

These tactics help growers tailor plants to their needs based on several outside factors.

In the report, distribution channels were classified as specialty stores, wholesalers and distributors, and online sales channels. Regional markets were analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA (Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.)

Wholesalers and distributors make up the lion’s share of distribution channel size. The specialty stores segment, however, exhibits the fastest-growing distribution channel. These are the stores that provide expert guidance and detailed product specifications.

Cannabis Seed Benefits

Beyond growing, the seed market also includes the supplement market.

The seeds are great sources of protein, fiber, and healthy fatty acids including omega-3s and omega-6s. They also have significant levels of gamma-linolenic acid and arginine—compounds that help treat chronic pain, lower the risk of heart disease, and help control neurological and other problems. 

They also contain calcium, potassium, vitamin E, sulphur, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc. Those who can’t consume nuts, gluten, lactose, or sugar, however, can eat them because they are high in vitamin E, Allied Market Research adds. The market for cannabis seeds is expanding as a result of the increasing cannabis seed market demand in both the medical and recreational markets.

Cannabis seeds also have been marketed to promote digestion, weight loss, and several other benefits, some of which have yet to be proven. As time rolls on, data will provide more insight into proven benefits.

To learn more about the cannabis seed market, read the full report here.

The post North America Dominates Seed Market, Report Indicates appeared first on High Times.

The post North America Dominates Seed Market, Report Indicates appeared first on Paradise Found.

See our list of the best cannabis seed companies 2023. Find quality seeds you can count on with this roundup of some of our favorite banks.

The post The best cannabis seed companies 2023 appeared first on Leafly.

The post The best cannabis seed companies 2023 appeared first on Paradise Found.

Nowadays people tend to associate the cannabis plant with Mexico, and for good reason. For decades, narcos smuggled their harvests into the United States and Europe. Along with California, Mexico is known to produce some of the finest cannabis in the world. The states of Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Sonora, and Durango—where the largest farms are located—all have climates that are perfect for cultivating cannabis: year-round temperature ranging between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, with cool, long nights and low humidity.

But long before cannabis was introduced to—and became synonymous with—the New World, it was being cultivated in the lands of Central Asia. Initially, though, the cannabis or hemp plant was grown not for its leaves but for its stems, which could be processed into a strong and durable rope.

Excavations reveal that humans have been using hemp rope since the Neolithic age. The earliest evidence for burning cannabis, meanwhile, dates back to 3,500 BC, and is attributed to the Kurgans of modern-day Romania. This Proto-Indo-European tribe probably burned the plant as part of their rituals and ceremonies, a practice that spread eastward as its practitioners migrated. Why the Kurgans burned cannabis is difficult to say. They may well have discovered the plant’s psychoactive properties by accident, only to find that the smoke heightened their connection with all things spiritual.

The earliest evidence for smoking cannabis comes from the Pamir Mountains in western China. There, in 2500-year-old tombs, researchers discovered THC residue inside the burners of charred pipes that were probably used for funerary rites. (Similar pipes, dated to the 12th century BC, were later found in Ethiopia, left there by a separate culture). These devices, compared to pyres, would have yielded a much stronger high. Given their placement inside a crypt, however, it’s safe to say they were used only ceremonially, not recreationally. 

Some scholars have argued that cannabis was an important ingredient of soma, a ritual drink concocted by the Vedic Indo-Aryans of northern India. Described in the Rigveda, a collection of ancient Sanskrit hymns, soma was made by extracting juice from an unknown plant. When taken in small doses, soma was reported to induce a feeling of euphoria. In higher doses, it caused people to see hallucinations and lose their sense of time. All three of these effects have been ascribed to cannabis, but even if cannabis was not the main ingredient of soma, it may have been combined with psychedelics such as psilocybin, a.k.a. magic mushrooms.

Aside from rope, cannabis was most often processed into medicine. When the Hindus of India came down with a case of “hot breath of the gods,” healers treated the illness with cannabis smoke. The logic behind this treatment was not exactly scientific; cannabis was thought to possess healing powers because it was the favorite food of the supreme godhead Shiva, also called “Lord of Bhang.” In reality, cannabis would have been able to reduce fevers because its active ingredient, THC, works on the hypothalamus to lower body temperature.

The Assyrians used cannabis not in a medical but religious context, burning it in their temples to release an aroma that supposedly appeased their gods. Sources from the region refer to cannabis as qunubu, providing a possible origin for the word we use today. The Assyrian Empire was conceived in the 21st century BC and lasted until the 7th. During this time it engulfed much of modern-day Iraq as well as parts of Iran, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey. Through trade and conquest, Assyrian traditions spread to neighboring societies, including the Dacians, Thracians and Scythians, the latter of which were among the first to consume cannabis in a distinctly recreational manner.

The Scythians were part of a Central Asian nomadic culture that flourished from 900 to around 200 BC. Originating in northern Siberia, Scythian tribes settled as far as the shores of the Black Sea, where they came into contact with the ancient Greeks. When Scythians died, their friends and family burned hemp inside tents to commemorate their passing. While the Kurgans and Assyrians burned their cannabis out in the open or in large indoor spaces, the Scythians were essentially hotboxing themselves at every funeral. At least, that’s the image we receive from the historian Herodotus, who wrote that “the Scythians enjoy [the hemp smoke] so much that they would howl with pleasure.” And so, the primary purpose of this ritual was to send off the dead, it clearly also served to entertain the living.

Herodotus did not live among the Scythians, but his observations seem to have been confirmed by excavations. Archeologists discovered fossilized hemp seeds at a Scythian camp in western Mongolia that were left there between the 5th and 2nd century BC.

Romans, too, consumed cannabis for their own pleasure, but not in the way you might expect. Like many societies of classical antiquity, they harvested the plant for its seeds rather than its leaves, which were discarded as a waste product. When grounded, the seeds were used in medicine. When fried, they were served up as delicacies during lavish dinner parties. Roman chefs mentioned cannabis seeds in the same breath as caviar and cakes. Galen, the famous Roman physician, wrote that they were consumed “to stimulate an appetite for drinking.” Nowadays, it’s the seeds—not the leaves—that are considered useless. However, the Romans believed they, too, had some intoxicating properties; Galen adds that, when consumed in large amounts, the seeds would send people into a “warm and toxic vapor.”

Cannabis was so widely consumed in classical antiquity that people raised the same questions and concerns we are debating today. The Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides, for instance, wrote that the plant’s spherical seeds, “when eaten in excess, diminish sexual potency.” Modern-day cannabis users are all too aware of the connection, even if they don’t eat seeds. As stated by Healthline, cannabis is “often associated with side effects that may affect sexual health, including erectile dysfunction.” Similar to some psychedelics, the general sense of euphoria generated by cannabis may counteract or override the reception of sexual stimuli.

Let’s skip forward a bit. Recreational smoking became especially popular after the 9th century AD. In the Middle East and Western Asia, the followers of Islam took up the habit for the simple but somewhat amusing reason that their holy scripture, the Quran, forbade the consumption of alcohol and various other intoxicating substances. Fortunately for Muslim stoners, the Quran did not say anything about weed. Of course, they smoked not just any weed, but hashish.

Skipping forward again, this time to the 16th century—the century that cannabis arrived in the New World, and for the sole purpose of making rope no less. Actually, Americans did not start smoking weed until about one-hundred years ago, when Mexican immigrants entered the country to seek refuge from the Mexican Revolution. For decades the U.S. government turned a blind eye on this harmless, multicultural and age-old practice. However, this changed during the Great Depression, when Washington redirected the anger of unemployed workers to their Mexican brethren. After millennia of peaceful consumption, cannabis was suddenly decried as an “evil weed” and, in 1937, the U.S. became the first country in the world to criminalize cannabis on a national level.

The rest, at this point in time, has now become history as well.

The post A Brief History of Getting High appeared first on High Times.

The post A Brief History of Getting High appeared first on Paradise Found.

An unknown protester sowed cannabis seeds throughout the rose gardens of New Zealand’s Parliament in Wellington, most likely as an act of defiance. The guerilla grower may have splintered off a violent anti-vaxxer occupation that took place weeks earlier.

New Zealand Herald reports that half a dozen of the weed plants were promptly destroyed by Parliament grounds staff as they continue to sift through the rubble of the occupation.

According to New Zealand’s 1 News, an unnamed protester returned to Parliament grounds on Thursday claiming the seeds had been sown during the chaos, alongside a range of other plants that are always there, such as coriander, brassica and marigolds.

Many of the cannabis seeds had been scattered throughout Parliament rose gardens, the protester told 1 News in anonymity, and “many more will likely germinate for years to come.” It is not immediately clear if the protester was involved in or liable for any of the violence that took place weeks prior. 

With a few weeks’ head start, nature takes over and it can spread like a weed. A Parliament groundskeeper agreed that more seeds will inevitably sprout. “There were a few cannabis seedlings,” the groundskeeper said. “A lot of seeds had been scattered around, amongst other things left from the protesters.”

Parliament grounds Speaker Trevor Mallard told 1 News, “I’ve asked for the weed to be weeded.”

This comes after a 23-day occupation of New Zealand’s Parliament grounds and surrounding streets by protesters against the country’s vaccine mandate—eerily similar to the insurrection at the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C. The copycat insurrectionists torched areas, threw flammable objects, and in some cases, tried to ram into law enforcement with cars.

The occupation began as a “convoy” that kicked off in Wellington on February 8, and was very similar to the Canadian convoy that took place in Ottawa in Canada. The convoy first camped in front of the Parliament building before things went South and they began to blockade most streets.

According to John Pratt from Victoria University of Wellington, the police did nothing to prevent the occupation from taking place, nor did they enforce a complaint from nearby Victoria University against the protestors. So by the stretches of imagination, the weed scattered throughout Parliament grounds could have been prevented as well if they had chosen to do so. Protesters attempted to burn the Law School building at the university.

Opposition National Party leader Christopher Luxon repeatedly extends sympathy for the protesters. Amid the vaccine mandate protesters, other issues are also at play.

Is it Connected to Random Roadside Drug Testing?

Random roadside drug testing will kick off in New Zealand in 2023 as part of an effort to deter drug-impaired driving, after the Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment legislation on March 29. The Māori Party is the only party to have voted against the bill.

“In July 2020 the Government introduced legislation that would introduce a compulsory random roadside drug testing scheme in New Zealand,” the Ministry of Transport wrote in an announcement. “Under the proposed drug driving regime, oral fluid tests will detect the most prevalent impairing illicit and prescription drugs at the roadside. The proposed change allows police to test drivers for the presence of drugs anywhere, any time, just as they can for alcohol.”

There are blood limits for 25 different street drugs, including THC. The problem with that is the fact that THC lingers in the bloodstream for much longer than most street drugs.

Drivers who test positive for drugs will be fined and stopped from driving for a minimum of 12 hours. On a positive note, drivers will not be criminally charged if they are simply high and not in possession of controlled substances.

A flurry of medical organizations in New Zealand slammed the roadside drug testing plan. The framework for oral fluid and blood tests is “not supported by reliable scientific evidence”, the Royal NZ College of General Practitioners said. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists said “the presence of drugs … does not directly relate to impairment.” The NZ Medical Association also said that the science is “not quite sufficiently adequate.”

The post Weed Sprouts Across New Zealand Parliament Grounds Weeks After Occupation appeared first on High Times.

The post Weed Sprouts Across New Zealand Parliament Grounds Weeks After Occupation appeared first on Paradise Found.

It’s officially spring, and that means it’s time to plant your garden. We talk with Leafly’s grow expert about getting started.

The post The Roll-up #235: Start your cannabis garden today, here’s how appeared first on Leafly.

The post The Roll-up #235: Start your cannabis garden today, here’s how appeared first on Paradise Found.

Researchers studying an ancient tomb in China have found direct evidence that cannabis was a staple food crop during the Tang dynasty more than 1,000 years ago. 

Previous research into the civilizations of ancient China has shown that cannabis was an important crop for thousands of years, with historical texts showing that the plant’s seeds were a staple food consumed in a type of porridge. And now archaeological evidence from central China is confirming the significance of cannabis during the Tang dynasty, which ruled the country from 618 to 907 A.D.

Cannabis Found in Ancient Tomb

In 2019, workers at an elementary school playground construction site in Taiyuan, Shanxi province discovered an ancient tomb buried underground. Escaping discovery for more than 1,320 years, the remarkably dry environment of the tomb had preserved the wall paintings and artifacts found inside.

The researchers determined that the discovery was the tomb of Guo Xing, a cavalry officer who had fought with Tang emperor Li Shimin, or Taixzong, in a series of fierce battles on the Korean peninsula. Among the artifacts discovered in the tomb was a jar containing staple foods, which included cannabis seeds and the remnants of their husks, according to a report by the South China Morning Post. 

“The cannabis was stored in a pot on the coffin bed amid other staple grains such as millet. Obviously, the descendants of Guo Xing buried cannabis as an important food crop,” said Jin Guiyun, a professor with the school of history and culture at Shandong University and a co-author of the study published last month by the peer-reviewed journal Agricultural Archaeology.

The cannabis seeds were significantly larger than those of today’s varietals, suggesting that a cultivar of cannabis had been bred specifically for grain. They were so well preserved that some still showed their original color. The researchers noted that the seeds still had their husks, which can contain the psychoactive cannabinoid THC. According to the Compendium of Materia Medica, a book written by herbalist Li Shizhen about 500 years ago, eating too many cannabis seeds that still had their husks could “make a person run about like mad.”

“Cannabis seeds with husks are not only related to the high lignin content of the husk and its hard texture, which can reduce the chance of mold and prolong the storage time, it may also stimulate the nerves and cause hallucinations due to the consumption of husk for religious and medical purposes,” researchers with the Taiyuan Municipal Institute of Archaeology wrote in a report on the study.

Study Reveals Cannabis Use as Food, Fiber and Medicine

Cannabis was an important crop during the Tang dynasty, providing food, fiber and medicine for the ancient civilization. But the Taiyuan region was wetter and warmer at that time, making rice the most common grain in the area.

However, the artifacts placed in the tomb by the family of Guo Xing did not include rice as would be expected. Instead, the researchers found cannabis seeds, perhaps reflecting the personal food preference of the ancient warrior, who lived to the age of 90. 

In ancient Chinese texts, cannabis was known as one of the five staple food crops known as wu gu. Archaeologists have discovered cannabis in tombs found across the country, some as old as 6,600 years old. Previously, researchers have theorized that the presence of cannabis in tombs indicated the use of the plant for spiritual and funerary purposes. But the evidence discovered in Guo Xing’s tomb illustrates the importance of cannabis as a staple food crop as well.

“The cannabis was buried as food for the tomb owner’s feast and health in the afterlife,” the researchers wrote.

The post Study Shows Cannabis was Food Staple for Ancient Chinese Dynasty appeared first on High Times.

The post Study Shows Cannabis was Food Staple for Ancient Chinese Dynasty appeared first on Paradise Found.

Deepak Chaudhary and the Indian Landrace Exchange connect indigenous farmers with modern growers in an equitable exchange.

The post Grow landrace cannabis strains with ‘fair trade’ seeds from the source appeared first on Leafly.

The post Grow landrace cannabis strains with ‘fair trade’ seeds from the source appeared first on Paradise Found.