Marijuana Daily Gardening. Henry Woodward

       This delicious Blueberry bud from OtherSide Farms showcases the strain’s gorgeous structure and ample trichome production.

      One thing is for certain: before you buy any seeds, do your research. Many seed sites online detail all of the above characteristics and some even give percentages of THC content, the ingredient that causes the much desired high. As with alcohol content, higher THC loads mean either a more serious high and/or the necessity to consume less to gain the desired effect. It’s useful to consider the difference in kick between a beer (low content) to wine (mid content) to whisky (high content). THC levels in pot work on essentially the same principle. One truly excellent phone application is Leafly, or its online version, leafly.com. Both provide a strain guide with literally hundreds of different varieties, pictures, user reviews, assessments and described effects. It is a great place to start your search. This is a fun activity in itself, much like creating a wish list for Santa.

      One other piece of advice I would offer when choosing a strain is that seeds will vary in price based upon several factors. These are availability, popularity and whether or not the seeds are “feminized.” The first two are out of your control, but you will pay more for rare seeds and definitely for seeds that are the “it” strain at any given time. If you want to find strains that offer great value at reduced price, do an online search for “Cannabis Cup winners.” The Cannabis Cup is an award given annually to the top strain or strains based on an internationally held competition within the marijuana cultivation community. Recent winners, like the Tangerine Dream that I will detail in this grow journal, will tend to be pricier. You can get good value however by searching for winners of previous years. Though their popularity will often have receded over time, they were good enough to be one-time winners. It doesn’t matter that they are old news with the pros: they’ll be new to you in any case. For instance, I really enjoy the Blueberry strain, but it is much cheaper than the newer Tangerine as it has been on the market for some time. Nonetheless, it is a fantastic smoke, grows beautifully and provides excellent value for money.

      Feminization is a treatment that increases the chance that germinated seeds will produce female rather than male plants. Since females are the only gender that you will want to grow for now, feminized seeds are a plus. Males are necessary for strain development through generational genetic manipulation achieved by crossbreeding, but their presence at sexual maturity must be avoided when bringing cannabis plants to harvest. You will want to nuture the plump buds of unfertilized females without any male interference – and feminized seeds work! Though some will invariably produce male plants, as you will see from the grow I will profile, I had a 100% rate of female cultivation from seven seeds in three different (feminized) strains. This is much higher than the more typical 50-60% rate of female production that I have had in the past when growing from non-feminized seed, for instance, as in my trusted Master Kush. Whatever you purchase, be sure to buy at least four or five seeds of each strain so that you will definitely be able to produce multiple females.

      One final consideration with respect to buying seeds and supplies: you may choose to pay in cash to reduce your “electronic footprint.” Bank statements and credit card bills may expose suspicious purchases, whereas cash leaves no trail, with no details about you. This may seem paranoid, but consider your own comfort level. If this is something that might keep you awake at night down the road, pay in cash. Growing marijuana should be relaxing and rewarding, not a source of stress.