Ruderalis is a figment of our imagination, in the same way as the terms Kush and AK47. Hell, it’s even argued that the Indica/Sativa distinction is unwarranted, and Cannabis Sativa is really only one highly variable species.
My point is only that there are pure landrace Sativa that autoflower too, and all the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad traits that you associate with the word Ruderalis are available in a variety of “Indica” and “Sativa” plants as well.
I always thought of it as all one plant regardless of what it’s being called. If it can produce cannabinoids it’s cannabis. Some don’t like autos cos they often have a tarry taste which is attributed to the ruderalis but you quite often get that with regs too. Unless two potential breeding partners of any species are genetically almost identical they cant produce offspring. This means that if they can successfully breed they must be of or from the same species.
eh?
I follow you on the rest, but, just curious where the “experts” are at with it these days. R. Clark(e?) is the main author(not -ity) but I’m sure it’s a topic botanists can approach more nowadays with legal cannabis happenings.
I’ve always understood it to be something like dwarf, low-psychoactivity hemp?
<— giant, high-psychoactivity, piney 
I share the Muffin’s opinion (not a judgement), but the spectrum of the reasons is often bad understood.
It’s not about the worst specimens of all ranges of cannabis, but about the best ones in each type. In the absolute we can reduce everything to its essential function, cannabis is cannabis and the weed is smoked. But you don’t manage genetically a skunk and a nothern light the same way, even if both share a lot of common blood. Let’s speak true one second, ruds hybrids are mainly an injection of a recognized blood in the inherent advantages of a refined hemp structure. btw, it tend to be the rule for everything now lol
Put on the table the source of the outcross and the rud hybrid made from it, you known like me which zip-bag will be empty the first.
It’s all about the genetic potential and the quest of a strong diversity than can offer the cannabis. I don’t want hemp the same way i don’t want a genpool entirely based on a skunk, or something else.
By this point, the autoflowering gene has been isolated and most of the rest of the ruderalas genes were left behind. Most modern autos are far from the original lowryder people first experienced.
I get what your saying bro and until quite recently i told people much the same thing. As @ReikoX just pointed out, things have moved on a lot recently. I used to pride myself that i could always tell an auto, even in a joint made with tobacco it used to be so obvious. Then a friend handed me some green crack buds a couple of years ago and i thought it was among the nicest strains i had ever tried, so sweet and it was the most potent thing we had to smoke at the time. I liked it so much i had to buy seeds but it turned out to be an auto, i had to be shown the packet…
Anyway i live in an environment that could only be damper if it was totally submerged so autos like frisian dew etc with high mold resistance grown indoors can be a very good thing. I hate mold tainted weed but it’s becoming so common the only way to avoid it completely is to quit smoking altogether. Autos might be the way ahead here with their short dark interval. I’m convinced it’s during the 12hrs dark period that most of the damage gets done cos it’s almost impossible to keep the humidity low enough without turning your home into a lab.
I’m taking gr12 biology atm and i was very well prepared for genetics/inheritance thanks to these forums. my marks sitting at 100% halfway through 
i agree with @Worcestershire_Farms its like a lottery … cross anything and everything until you find something amazing then try to isolate and stabilize those traits but its definitely a numbers game. genetic testing could help with deciding which ones to move forward with. you want plants as homozygous as possible unless you just plan on keeping as clone only or something
Also, as per feminized infiltrating your “gene pool”… feminized has the same genetics as a regular, the ONLY difference is there are no male chromosomes in it, if crossed with another male, it’s right back to 50/50. There is no alteration to the actual genetic code itself to make a feminized seed. That’s why you make sure a plant has none or very little “herm” genetics already in it before you self-seed. It’s not that the feminization alters the genetics, it’s because it’s a form of stress, and any form of stress on a plant with herm tendencies, can bring out the herm genetics ALREADY in the plant.
You always get this kind of thing, fem offerings were quite often inferior to the reg versions when they first appeared on the scene. I have no problem growing them nowadays at all. Autos were the same, the early offerings were often quite poor. Same thing with led’s, the early blurple panels were so bad that we are still trying to recover their reputation. Things have developed well over the past few years, hopefully i’ll be around to see prohibition finally end on this septic isle i call home.
When making feminized seeds, regardless of which method you use, you are basically selecting plants that have a tendency toward hermaphroditism. I’d rather not intentionally introduce that trait; that’s just me.
I’m not saying that feminized seeds shouldn’t exist. I think that they are best used as an intended end product for consumers…but I also think that there can be negative consequences to the market being too focused on feminized seeds.
Just because someone breeds cannabis does not make them a decent and ethical person. Many people have realized that there is money to be made by selling seeds, and that is their sole driving motive. Hype and marketing easily overshadow lousy breeding. If trendy hermie prone clone-only “fire” cuts are feminized by a “breeder” and used to create new trendy hermie prone “fire” crosses that will ultimately be released as fem only, do you really think that such a person is taking the time and effort to ensure that the future generations aren’t going to sabotaged by the ticking time bomb of hermaphroditism? That’s more of an extreme example, but it illustrates my point. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Hermie.
I might be wrong, but that’s the way I look at it. For now.
“When making feminized seeds, regardless of which method you use, you are basically selecting plants that have a tendency toward hermaphroditism.” That is scientifically inaccurate, self-seeding by STS/Silver/Gibberil, etc… has nothing to do with hermaphroditism genetically. What it does do is stress the plant, which as noted before, will activate ALREADY inherent traits for hermaphroditism. I totally agree on the rest of your post as per negative consequences and non-ethical “breeders”… but I did want to correct the common misconception that feminizing has any genetic link to hermaphroditism.
Niburan ftw… for what it’s worth, a buddy and myself have grown out around 20 fems and have yet to run into a hermied plant. Fems are sold for 2 reasons. 1. Limited space growers don’t want to sort through males 2. Breeders don’t want their gear used in possible crosses. (Sure, they can be reversed, but the average person won’t go through the steps to reverse)
Feminizing seeds with silver solutions is not selecting for hermaphrodites. The silver physically blocks the ethalene preventing it from producing female hormones.
absolutely true, but to me a tropical ganja plant that autoflowers under an 18/6 light period because it had long hours of sunlight in it’s natural tropical environment is a lot different than a russian industrial hemp that has been bred for generations for quick harvests and fiber production.
one is a ganja plant and an heirloom most likely the product of mild selection combined with continual pollination by local jungli. the other has been heavily worked by humans selecting for traits that are considered undesirable by cannabis growers. I can see how this selective breeding could have a very negative effect on the future phenotypical expressions of a line it was crossed to.
Any of you done the Banana-ethylene thing? (Hang 
them & they give off “a lot” of it)…causes the female/male ratio to 
go up…?
I’ve spent probably too much time today looking for info on feminized seeds being more prone to herming…haven’t found anything solid. Not sure if my Google-Fu isn’t working, or if the information just doesn’t exist outside of anecdotes.
I understand that colloidal silver treatment doesn’t alter the DNA, but I could’ve sworn I read something once about some plants being resistant to the process and resulting in failed feminized seed runs. User error…possibly or most likely. But, if it’s true that some plants are harder to feminize than others (which I can’t find any substantial information about it) then it is also true that making feminized seeds is basically selecting for hermie trait. Not to the same degree as selecting naturally herming plants that go bananas at the slightest sign of stress though, but still. And yes I know all cannabis has the hermie trait hardcoded…
I’m probably really wrong about this. But I’m not giving up the ghost just yet! Maybe subconsciously I’m just trying to legitimize my prejudice of feminized seeds…
Good luck in your search sir. Seems to me IF hermied genetics was TRULY an issue, a quick search of a browser would show results as this is a multi billion dollar industry. But keep on keeping on bud. Personal research is valuable to EVERYBODY
My view is fem seeds are for most people a finished product that you buy and grow out, maybe taking some cuttings along the way. If you want more seeds you buy more. If you want to do crosses you get regs, choose well and you might even get a stunner but you’ll likely get a load of junk too and no guarantee they wont still herm if stressed enough. I wonder how many of us can actually create and successfully stabilize a new strain anyway. Most of us don’t have the space and/or cant risk the numbers required so fem seeds are a very attractive option. Anyway i can overlook the odd seed in my bud if it’s good enough smoke
Even for breeding, fems at least let you choose a strain and know it’ll be female. Then you grow a few regs of another strain and hope for at least one male. The essence of chucking. 
I hear ya bro! fem and auto seeds were unheard of when i got into this. I view them as options i wish had been available to me 20yrs ago.