The Art of Breeding Cannabis: Grotivate’s Process

At Grotivate, our breeding process is more than just a series of steps—it’s an art form, honed by over 30 years of experience in both indoor and outdoor cannabis cultivation.

Our master grower has spent decades perfecting his craft, including a decade of meticulous work with DJ Short’s Blueberry strain and the famous C99 strain crafted by Brothers Grimm. These strains are now staple parent strains in the Grotivate collection, serving as the foundation for many of our premium offerings.

As we navigate our soft launch phase, each seed we produce is rigorously tested to ensure it meets our high standards. The feedback we gather during this period will play a critical role in determining which strains will be featured in our grand opening in Spring 2025. Here’s how we do it:

Strain Selection:

Identifying and Choosing Parent Strains

Our journey begins with a rigorous strain selection process. Before we pursue breeding specific cannabis strains, we engage in extensive research on the growth characteristics, effects, taste, and aroma of each strain. We meticulously scrutinize different phenotypes before ultimately selecting the ones we believe will yield the best results.

We consider essential traits such as height, growth speed, mold resistance, and pest resistance, alongside the effects, flavor, and aroma of the final product. The desired effects—whether uplifting and energetic, calming and relaxing, or a balanced hybrid experience—are central to our selection process. We aim to cultivate strains that not only grow well but also deliver the specific effects our community values, whether for recreational enjoyment or wellness purposes.

For example, we chose the Hindu Kush landrace for its fast vegetative rate, robust frame, numerous budding spots, and its deeply relaxing effects paired with an earthy, herbal aroma. The Blueberry strain, originally developed by DJ Short, was selected for its sweet, fruity taste and calming, euphoric effects. These traits make it a cornerstone of our breeding program.

With decades of experience, our breeder selects only the finest strains to serve as the backbone of our collection. These strains are known for their unique combinations of effects, flavors, and aromas, all of which we aim to preserve and enhance in every generation.

Breeding:

Creating Cannabis Seeds

Our breeding process involves traditional pollination to create strains. Because we only cultivate a few plants at a time, our priority has been maximizing each strain’s potential. We manually pollinate female plants with pollen from selected male plants to create seeds using a sealed controlled environment to prevent unwanted pollination and maintain genetic purity.

This small-batch approach ensures that each seed is crafted with precision and care, embodying our philosophy of “Art in Every Seed.”

Stabilization:
Ensuring Consistent Traits

To stabilize traits, we employ backcrossing and pheno-hunting techniques. Backcrossing involves crossing the hybrid offspring back with one of the parent strains or other desirable strains to stabilize the desired traits.

Pheno-hunting is the process of growing multiple generations of the hybrid to identify and select the best phenotypes that consistently exhibit the desired traits. This meticulous selection process, backed by years of expertise, ensures the highest quality and consistency in our seeds.

Testing:

Evaluating Phenotypes and Cannabinoid Profiles

Our testing phase is crucial during this soft launch as we prepare for our grand opening in Spring 2025. We evaluate phenotypes and cannabinoid profiles, growing selected phenotypes in different environments to assess their performance, stability, and consistency.

Additionally, we test for cannabinoid profiles (THC, CBD, etc.) and terpene content to ensure each strain meets the desired potency and flavor profiles. This thorough testing guarantees that our seeds will produce high-quality cannabis plants with traits reflective of their legendary parent strains.

Wooden bowl filled with DJ Short cannabis bud

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Seed Production:

Crafting Small-Batch Cannabis Seeds

Once the desired traits are stabilized, we move to small-scale breeding and isolation. We produce seeds on a larger scale by cross-pollinating selected stable plants and isolate the breeding area to prevent contamination from other pollen sources.

This careful process, overseen by a master grower with decades of experience, ensures the genetic purity and high quality of our seeds.

Harvesting:

Collecting and
Preparing Seeds

Harvesting involves collecting, cleaning, and drying seeds. We harvest the mature seeds from the female plants, clean them to remove any plant material and debris, and dry them properly to reduce moisture content. This prevents mold and ensures long-term viability.

The seeds are then cured in a controlled environment to enhance their stability and readiness for storage.

Collection of marijuana seeds for cannabis cultivation

Quality Control: Guaranteeing
Seed Viability and Purity

Our quality control process includes rigorous testing for viability and purity. We employ testers to monitor germination rates, mold resistance, pest resistance, growth rate, and any inconsistencies in the test strains. The data collected helps us determine the commercial viability of a strain.

Everything from height and growth characteristics to flavor and effects is logged, and the information is used to create spec sheets on all the strains we sell. All of our strains undergo multiple runs before they are deemed suitable for the market.

The elaborate process of breeding and growing cannabis that Grotivate undertakes ensures that the end product is of the highest quality and meets our customers’ expectations. This process ensures that the seeds produced are of the highest quality, maintaining the desired traits so we can provide our customers with the best cannabis genetics and reliable seeds. Our mission is to continue producing exceptional strains of cannabis that enhance the lives of those who use it.