Indica vs Sativa: Does it really matter?

Hey folks! It’s time again to take a deep dive into cannabis knowledge with Cobourg’s favorite (and incidentally only) locally owned and operated cannabis retailer, Circa 1818.

We talk a lot on here about different types of cannabis: what their properties are and whether or not they’re stimulating strains, sedative strains or something in between. We more often than not respectively refer to these differences using the terminology sativa (stimulating), indica (sedative) or hybrid (In between) with most stores using this classification to organize flower for your shopping convenience. The question that keeps coming up though, especially these days, is whether or not the plant type really makes the difference we think it does in terms of effect or if we should spend less time focusing on those differences when it comes to choosing our next bud.

                So, this week we’re going to dig into that most nebulous of questions to find out how to best pick the strain that has the effects you’re looking for.

The Age of Hybrids

                Ok, so right away let’s clear up some terminology. When we talk about indica vs sativa, what we’re really discussing is the difference in how and where these plants grow and what characteristics they take on during their growth. Indica tend to propagate in colder, mountainous climates and have broader leaves, are shorter and more densely branched. Meanwhile sativa type cannabis plants tend to be taller with thinner branching patterns and are found in warmer climates.

                We also use the terms indica and sativa to describe the plant effect, which in the old days was a pretty reliable way to foretell what the electric lettuce was going to do to you. Traditionally, indica is what you’re looking for if you need to become one with a piece of furniture for the next five hours while sativa is a good fit for someone who prefers to go for long walks in nature while smoking a fat blunt.

Which brings me to the point of this whole blog post: There are almost no pure indica strains or a pure sativa strains in today’s cannabis market. There are the occasional landrace strains that evolved in nature without human interference (such as the classic indica Hindu Kush) which represent the purest forms of the indica/sativa extremes but by and large most cannabis these days falls into the hybrid category. This is because growers have experimented with breeding traits from other plant types into their flower in order to boost THC yields, improve grow cycles, make the plant hardier and more. Which is nothing new for us, humanity has been breeding and altering plant characteristics ever since we started this agriculture game. Seriously, go look up what a banana used to look like before we genetically toyed with that potassium laden boomerang of a fruit.

                A hybrid cannabis strain effectively means that the strain has qualities from both plant types, resulting in a user experience that is much more middle of the road on average compared to what they would expect to experience from something that leans more heavily into either indica or sativa territory.

                When most growers or retailers categorize their flower as being indica or sativa what they’re usually saying is that the flower leans into either territory a little harder than the other. For example, Pink Kush is widely regarded as a pure indica but does actually have sativa like traits, meaning it’s an indica dominant hybrid with a ratio of 90% indica traits to 10% sativa traits.

So..How Should I be Picking Flower?

                The best advice we can give if you’re trying to pick a flower for a specific effect is to do a little bit of pre-purchase research. Finding out what the indica/sativa ratio that your prospective flower has is a great starting point. Next up would be taking a good look at whatever terpene information is provided. Most flower these days has terpene information provided by the grower and (as we discussed in previous blog posts) this can go a long way to helping you get the most out of your ganja.

When in doubt, ask your budtender who will be more than happy to gab about terpene properties so that you can learn what you need to know to get what you need out of your weed. Till next time folks!

Now that we’ve cleared that up, why not take a look at our menu and put your newfound knowledge to the test!