Colchicine Induction
Colchicine induction is a breeding technique used to artificially double a plant's chromosome count, creating polyploid cannabis specimens. Breeders apply colchicine—an alkaloid derived from autumn crocus—to seedlings or meristematic tissues to disrupt spindle fiber formation during cell division. This process converts diploid (2n) plants to tetraploid (4n) or higher ploidy levels. Colchicine-induced polyploids are often associated with increased vigor, larger flowers, and altered terpene profiles in some lineages. The technique remains specialized and requires careful handling due to colchicine's toxicity; results are not guaranteed and many induced plants show sterility or reduced fertility. Documentation of this method appears frequently in academic cannabis breeding literature.
Colchicine Induction strains
No strains tagged into Colchicine Induction yet — they'll appear here as breeders submit lineage records under this classification.
Colchicine induction is a breeding technique used to artificially double a plant's chromosome count, creating polyploid cannabis specimens. Breeders apply colchicine—an alkaloid derived from autumn crocus—to seedlings or meristematic tissues to disrupt spindle fiber formation during cell division. This process converts diploid (2n) plants to tetraploid (4n) or higher ploidy levels. Colchicine-induced polyploids are often associated with increased vigor, larger flowers, and altered terpene profiles in some lineages. The technique remains specialized and requires careful handling due to colchicine's toxicity; results are not guaranteed and many induced plants show sterility or reduced fertility. Documentation of this method appears frequently in academic cannabis breeding literature.
Breeders employ colchicine induction to generate novel genetics and explore phenotypic variation without sexual crossing. Polyploid induction can serve as a research tool to study how chromosome doubling affects cannabinoid and terpene expression across different cultivars.
Educational reference · Cultivar metadata only · No medical claims