Marijuana growers have the wonderful opportunity to choose marijuana strains that are perfect for them. Here’s a brief guide on how to do that…

First, determine how much vertical and horizontal space your grow area has, and whether you want to grow indoors or outdoors.

If you’re growing outdoors, choose strains described as “outdoor” by their breeder. You can grow much larger plants outdoors than indoors, and most “outdoor strains” don’t do well indoors, although some indoor strains thrive outdoors.

If you’re an indoor marijuana grower, choose strains not known for growing too tall.

Another size issue involves your gardening style. Some growers do clone gardens such as “sea of green.” These are densely-packed single-cola grow ops with plants rarely taller than a couple of feet and not very large in diameter.

Other growers use full-size cannabis plants topped or trained to become huge, multi-branch beasts. These plants may need support, such as trellising or a SCROG net, and they require more skill, time, care.

The thing to remember is some strains do better in one growing style compared to another, and you want to know ahead of time that the strain you choose matches your gardening style.

You also must decide if you’ll grow photoperiod feminized or regular (non-fem) marijuana seeds, or autoflowering feminized marijuana strains.

We’ve tested all the award-winning autoflowers. Other than the convenience of not having to flip to a 12-12 light cycle for bloom phase, even the best autoflowering marijuana is not as potent or heavy-yielding as the same genetics in a photoperiod plant.

If you’re growing only to harvest seedless buds and have zero intention of breeding your own seeds, get feminized photoperiod seeds.

If you want to breed your own seeds, get regular photoperiod cannabis seeds that’ll produce male and female plants.

Other plant trait considerations include how long the total crop cycle is, according to the breeder. Some strains need 4-5 weeks in grow phase and only 45-55 days in bloom phase. Others need 55-70 (or even more) days in bloom phase.

In general, the more Sativa genetics in the strain, the longer the bloom phase. Poorly-bred “pure Sativa” strains such as those sold by ACE flower for months and never really finish.

Another thing you want are marijuana strains that produce intense, attractive terpenoid scents…unless you fear that strong marijuana odor could create a security risk.

If weed plant odor could get you busted or ripped off, avoid marijuana strains heavy on skunk, fuel, and other characteristic smells known to law enforcement and narky neighbors.

Of course, harvest weight, potency, and high are major concerns. You want the most resin glands filled with the most potent cannabinoids and terpenoids per watt of grow light electricity you use.

You also want the heaviest harvests possible, but big, thick buds are susceptible to gray mold (bud rot).

Also, the heaviest-yielding marijuana strains are often loaded with Indica genetics, which can create a sedating, couchlock high.

Gray mold isn’t the only problem your plants encounter. Some marijuana plants are resistant to pests and pathogens such as mold, powdery mildew, spider mites, thrips, aphids, etc. But others are magnets for those problems. You want to find that out ahead of time, and only purchase marijuana strains that resist pests and pathogens common to your locale.

Other traits to look for include sturdy branches and stalks, low amount of leaf in the buds, easy to feed, no hermie traits, fast-growing, short internodes, and phenotype consistency.

Phenotype consistency means that if you germinate ten seeds of the same strain, each plant should look, grow, yield, and get you high in a nearly-identical way.

Obviously, you’re looking for the medical and psychoactive effects that most please you. Sadly, the majority of cannabis breeders are lame when it comes to useful descriptions of strain effects. It’s also true that each of us experiences marijuana differently—a strain that knocks one person out might boost energy in a different consumer.

Look at the genetic origins of the strain—strains high in Sativa are usually stimulating while strains high in Indica or Kush may be sedating. Weird thing is, this is not always true.

As you know from reading our articles on marijuana seed breeders, about 90% of marijuana seeds companies are amateurs selling mediocre genetics.

When you’re choosing what strains to grow, part of your concern is to get reliable strains from professional breeders who offer guarantees and have an excellent reputation for their strains, pricing, strain descriptions, and customer service.

There aren’t many marijuana seeds breeders like that. In fact, most seed companies are scammers, including most of the famous ones.

Fortunately, the marijuana seeds companies you see recommended here at Growing Marijuana Perfectly—Serious Seeds, Humboldt Seed Company, HazeMan, Pure Breeding—are companies you can trust.

Growing marijuana costs you money and time. Even in legalized states, you take serious risks when you grow marijuana. Carefully use the information in this article to choose strains that perfectly match your gardening environment, grow op goals, and most importantly, that give you the high you crave!