In an earlier post up in the stickies, “Origin of the Species”, the author describes the work of breeders in the last decades in his informative overview of the history of current strains. In a small comment, he says,
“Unfortunately, some early Dutch breeders made very poor selections from the initial seeds they were given. The most common bad selection was for copious red hairs instead of for large bracts. Red hairs are a sign that female flowers are present, but they are not in themselves psychoactive. A preponderance of red hairs indicates many, but tiny, flowers with little surface area for psychoactive resin glands to develop”
BTW Don’t take this as overall criticism of the breeders, the piece is very favorable.
But it made me think about red hairs on buds and whether I would choose that trait in my specimens. He also mentions, as mistakes, too dense buds and shiny but too thin resin glands.
I smoked a lot of mj before ever seeing red pistils, it was various green but some was kick ass - Jamaican Lambs Bread, Thai stick, and so on. Red hairs seem to have come around in the 90s and later. But I didn’t come to the west coast then.
I wonder if this matches others experiences — are red hairs just for bag appeal at the coffee shop or dispensary, are they even detrimental to overall quality; or do they add flavor, effect the high, otherwise add desirability. Maybe they’re a sign of well tended mj and indicate quality without adding anything directly. He might be talking about strains that aren’t around much anymore.
Any thoughts on red hairs?
“Unfortunately, some early Dutch breeders made very poor selections from the initial seeds they were given. The most common bad selection was for copious red hairs instead of for large bracts. Red hairs are a sign that female flowers are present, but they are not in themselves psychoactive. A preponderance of red hairs indicates many, but tiny, flowers with little surface area for psychoactive resin glands to develop”
BTW Don’t take this as overall criticism of the breeders, the piece is very favorable.
But it made me think about red hairs on buds and whether I would choose that trait in my specimens. He also mentions, as mistakes, too dense buds and shiny but too thin resin glands.
I smoked a lot of mj before ever seeing red pistils, it was various green but some was kick ass - Jamaican Lambs Bread, Thai stick, and so on. Red hairs seem to have come around in the 90s and later. But I didn’t come to the west coast then.
I wonder if this matches others experiences — are red hairs just for bag appeal at the coffee shop or dispensary, are they even detrimental to overall quality; or do they add flavor, effect the high, otherwise add desirability. Maybe they’re a sign of well tended mj and indicate quality without adding anything directly. He might be talking about strains that aren’t around much anymore.
Any thoughts on red hairs?
