Cannabis, like many other plants, is not the same all over the world. In fact, there are some spontaneous varieties, present in nature, and many cultivars created by man. According to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICPN), varieties of a plant obtained artificially through hybridization They are called “cultivars”. So when we talk about cannabis we often refer to cultivars with the term variety.

But let's start from the natural varieties, which form the basis of all hybridizations. According to experts, cannabis has three subspecies: sativa, indica and ruderalis.

• Cannabis sativa It was the first to be classified by Linnaeus, the father of natural taxonomy, in 1753. At the time it was the most cultivated hemp in Europe.

• Cannabis Indica, as its name suggests, is a variety originating from India and was proposed as an autonomous “species” by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1785.

• Cannabis ruderalis It is native to Russia and was first described in 1924. Its peculiarity is that it blooms not based on light, but based on the age of the plant.

These are the three natural varieties of cannabis, but the grass that can be found on the market is practically always a cultivar that mixes their characteristics. For example, the famous autoflowering They are born from a mix between sativa, indica and ruderalis: while the first two varieties flower according to the photoperiod, the third has an “automatic” flowering, a characteristic that has been rewarded in hybridization.

Since cannabis is often grown for commercial purposes, growers try to mix natural strains to obtain the best yield in terms of rapid and abundant flowering, high or absent THC or CBD content, flavour, resistance to pests, etc. Once an interesting cultivar has been found, special techniques are adopted to keep its characteristics intact and reproduce the plant “ad infinitum”.

Finally, in recent years, the cannabis market has also entered genetic engineering. A combination of innovative techniques thus allows us to select “super varieties” in an increasingly daring way.

The main and most famous varieties, indica and sativa, have peculiar characteristics that often come into play in hybridization. Indica plants, for example, flower more quickly, while sativas are larger. In terms of effects, the indica variety is famous for its relaxing effect which can even become soporific, while sativa is more activating, does not cause drowsiness and actually has energizing effects. Commercial weed is rarely pure indica or sativa, so growth habits, size, flowering, color, and effects vary significantly.

Cannabis hybridization experiences have really gone far: there are seed cultivars on the market that promise high yields. mold resistance, for those who live in humid places, cultivars that “they don't look like cannabis” for outdoor gardening in prohibitionist countries, cultivars with very high or zero THC content, and so on. The experience of growing and consuming cannabis today is increasingly customizable.