What's With The Numbers!?
Last month we dove into lab testing in the industry and what testing for THC looks like from the perspective of an LP (Licensed producer) – if you have not had a chance to check it out yet click here!
As you might have guessed we want to start tackling industry topics that you, our OGENauts, want to hear about! If you ever have any questions you want to see answered, you can let us know by sending us a note here. Or by hitting any of the feedback links on our strain pages.
One of the questions we get often is “what do the numbers at the end of your strain names mean?”
In short – it is a code that is associated with the specific phenotype we selected from that strains phenohunt! When you have seeds from two parent plants, they are not all the same. There are lots of dissimilarities that range from differences in colour, size, as well as shape, all the way up to aroma and flavours.
With so many players in the Canadian cannabis game, it is essential to have unique starting genetics, but it is also extremely important to hunt for unique features within them. One of the ways we ensure success is to continuously discuss the phenohunt in our process improvement meetings. You can read more about our PIC team here!
In genetics, the phenotype is defined as a set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. This term covers an organism's physical form, development process, and behaviours. When we talk about our phenotypes, we are referring to the identification of a specific seedling. To do this properly, we plant (or pop’) a few dozen seeds from the same parents and assign an identification code to each. Once we cut clones from each pheno, our clones will continue to be identified by the same phenotype code that their parents have, this way we know exactly what seed the final buds came from.
We are taking you back to biology class with this genetics chart! In it, we have Parent A and Parent B. Each of these parents have different dominant characteristics represented by Aa for Parent A and Bb for Parent B. Fig-1 above showcases potential phenotypes that have different dominant characteristics based on the combination of what their parents had. Think of it like siblings, while they usually share some similarities, they all will walk and talk differently from the others in some way shape or form. This chart is extremely simplified - these differences can be big or small - but it is important to know that every seed will be unique. In our phenohunting process, these seeds will always be popped at the same time, side by side.
Once a winning phenotype has been determined, we assign a # code, and these end up being the numbers that you see on our final products. For OGEN, this pheno number represents all the dedication, love, and passion we have for cannabis. You could say that the number at the end of the strain name symbolizes the OGEN stamp of approval!
So, what do the numbers at the end of the strain name mean? The number means that our selected cultivar was chosen among many due to success in all our cultivation processes. The selected winner will be kept as a strain that we are proud of and want to bring to the market! If you would like more information about phenohunting, click here to read one of our previous blogs for a bit more of a deeper dive into the process!
