This is an introductory post basically dedicated to members of this community who are not familiar with the plant, and to those who have contradictory knowledge about the plaNext
This write-up is a review of materials and write up on the cannabis plant and its usefulness
You must have head the name weed or hemp or marijuana or cannabis. These are different name that are connected to the plant, and are used based on one’s understanding or place where you find yourself.
The plant can be called weed depending on your definition of weed. If you define weed as a plant growing where it is not unwanted or plants or troublesome plants to some farmers or officials of law prohibiting is cultivation, you are wrong.
Marijuana is basically used as a notorious nickname for the plant cannabis to label it as an illegal commodity or drug, not considering the benefit of nature.
Hemp basically refer to a variety of the Cannabis sativa grown basically for industrial use. This plant is grown basically for its tough bast fiber. Today Common hemps are referred to as cannabis or narrow leaf-hemp.
Pot may likely be derived from the Mexican Spanish potiguaya meaning cannabis leaves.
Cannabis is the genus name for all hemp plant or marijuana based on biological taxonomists classification. In simple terms, we can say all hemp or marijuana are called species cannabis (cannabis sativa family) scientifically. Cannabis indica and cannabis ruderalis are other family in the cannabis genus.
To be more serious minded about the usefulness of the plants, it should be better referred to as cannabis in a more general term.
| Kingdom | Plantae |
|---|---|
| Clade | Angiosperms |
| Clade | Eudicots |
| Clade | Rosids |
| Order | Rosales |
| Family | cannabaceae |
| Genus | cannabis |
| Species | cannabis sativa L, cannabis indica, cannabis rederalis |
When some hear the word weed or marijuana, the main functional part they think about is the leave, dried and rolled thick and smoke. But there are better functional parts of the leave that some have little or no knowledge about. These parts include the;
The bud is the most functional part of the plant used for both recreational and medicinal functions.
The gender of the plant is another aspect of the plant, it either male or female and sometimes mixes gender.
Male cannabis plant contains less percentage of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) and does not taste very good. Non-pollinated female plant contains large quantity of THC and produce larger amount of buds, but pollinated cannabis plant does not have THC, but produce large quantity of seeds. Female plant is better than the male plant when smoked because of its high quantity of THC and taste. Therefore, for a good quality smoke, one should be looking out for a non-pollinated female cannabis plant with high THC and good taste. This is the reason why most of growers get happy when their plant produces female flowers.
Male flowers produce small banana shaped sacs which breaks open to release pollen at the leaf nodes during pre-flowering phase. While for a flowers, a pair of hair-like pistils forms at the leaf nodes along the stem.
Note : For you to produce large quantity of buds, there is need for you to be able to differentiate between the male and female flower, separate them and prevent the fertilization of the female flowers by the male flowers. But If you are growing to produce seed, there will be no need to separate them.
Next topic….chemicals components of the plant and its usefulness
