Cannabis genetics company Phylos has added 10 Elite varieties to its growing menu of proprietary F1 hybrid seeds. Phylos said Elites produce uniform plants that outperform clones and improve the economics of commercial indoor and controlled-environment operations.
The company said its Elite seeds provide:
- Consistent products with reliable genetic and physical characteristics
- Greater yields than comparable clonal genetics
- Shorter flowering maturity allowing for more production cycles
- Reduced hermaphroditism due to stress resistance trait
- Lower production, labor, and integrated pest management (IPM) costs
- More efficient operations by eliminating mother and clone rooms, plus opportunity for mechanization
- Reduced risk of Hop Latent Viroid (HLVd) and other pests and diseases
- Great bag appeal and sought-after aroma profiles like cheese, lemon haze, grape bubblegum, tropical, and candy
"Compared to clones, the use of Phylos seeds in our preliminary trials contributed to a sizable reduction in our labor and plant care costs," said Beena Goldenberg, CEO of Organigram. "We expect that with the continued expansion of seed-based grow in our facility, we will see significant and continued improvements to our bottom line," she added.
Phylos accelerates the conventional breeding process by using genetic markers to look for plants with desirable consumer and agronomic traits. By selecting plants at the seedling stage, Phylos can analyze the same number of plants as a facility 50x larger. Successive cycles of inbreeding and high throughput genotyping tools ensure the most inbred, stable parent lines are used to create truly uniform F1 hybrid seeds.
"I am very happy with the results from our trial of Phylos Elite seeds. We are expanding our work with Phylos due to the high-quality flower, comparable yields to clones, and absence of hermaphroditic issues or genetic instability," said Rachel Porter, Director of Research and Development at StateHouse Holdings. "This reaffirms our belief that F1 Hybrid Seeds hold immense promise for the industry, offering a pathway to cultivate top-tier flower while also eliminating the costs tied to stock management and clone propagation."
