indica dominant strains: High-yielding, easy, small, sturdy plants
What are indica Cannabis Strains?
indica dominant strains are high-yielding plants that grow easier than sativas. They thrive better in harsher conditions. This section includes marijuana seeds with a very high percentage of indica genetics. They tend to be smaller plants and sturdier than those with mostly sativa genetics, and they have dense buds.
indica Weed Strains
Cannabis indica first grew in the Hindu Kush mountain range, in Afghanistan and Pakistan (we even have a strain named Hindu Kush). It can also be found in Nepal, Lebanon, and Morocco. It flourishes in a temperate climate, with low temperatures at night even in the heat of summer. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a French biologist, classified the plant in the late 1700s, noting that (unlike the hemp grown in Europe at the time) the plant was intoxicating.
Those intoxicating effects were quickly taken advantage of and were used in European medicine throughout the 19th century.
indica Strain Traits
A Cannabis indica plant will typically grow to between about three and ten feet tall. It can also be trained to grow significantly shorter than that, which makes it a convenient strain if you are growing indoors where you have limited vertical room for cultivating your plants.
The plant boasts round leaves and soft marbled seeds. Its buds and flowers grow close together and are sticky to the touch. Because of this, indica is the ideal strain for making hashish, since it contains a large amount of resin. Interestingly, that resin evolved as a reaction to the harsh climate in the Kush mountains, where the plant is from. Some indica strains, like Master Kush, are well known for inducing the munchies so if you're looking for an appetite stimulant, it will do the trick.
indica Strain Effects
This particular strain of marijuana is famed for behaving much like a sedative. After you smoke it (or consume it in some other manner), you'll soon find yourself in a state of deep relaxation. Most people choose to use Cannabis indica right before bed or watching a movie, not when they are looking for the more psychoactive creativity-inducing effects of other strains.
Those relaxing effects mean that this strain of Cannabis is also great for medical marijuana patients who are suffering from pain or insomnia. Taking it at night can help them to enjoy a relaxing full night of sleep.
Growing indica Strains
Cannabis indica flowers more quickly than their counterpart, sativa strains, and it's easier to speed up the pace of flowering by simply adjusting the amount of light the plants receive. That, combined with its short stature, makes the plant popular for people looking to grow a large quantity of marijuana indoors.
If you are new to growing, it is best to choose a hybrid that is strongly indica dominant, rather than picking out a strain of pure indica. Hybrids are much more resilient to mold, rot, and pests than the pure strains are because indica did not have to develop resistance to many of those things in the Kush mountains. Most indica seeds available today are actually hybrids.
Growing successful indica plants, and getting the highest possible yield, means that you'll want to grow fast and limit their size. You can do this by packing the plants in tight and making sure that they flower quickly. There are two primary techniques that you can use to accomplish this goal:
Sea of Green (SOG)
This is a very simple technique that was developed in Holland. After planting the seedlings, you allow the plants to “veg” for two weeks, and then you turn on the lights and induce flowering. This process forces the plants to stay small so you can grow more of them in a limited space. It also helps you avoid training or pruning them, and it shaves up to two months off of the growing cycle, allowing you to get the next batch planted more quickly so you can produce more harvests each year.
Screen of Green (SCROG)
This is a very similar technique to the Sea of Green. By using a screen, you can train the plants to grow horizontally rather than vertically. This way, the plant forms a canopy, and all of the buds are at the same height so that light reaches them simultaneously. The easy access to light means that SCOG is one of the most efficient growing systems that has been developed, and it works particularly well with the bushy indica.
If you're using one of these two techniques, it's unlikely that you'll need to do much else to train them. However, it's always a good idea to make sure you know how to make your plant do what you want. There are two techniques for that as well:
Low-Stress Training (LST)
As the name implies, low-stress training is a gentle technique. As the plant grows, you simply pinch off the tip below the node. The plant will then send up two new shoots, which can also be topped if you would like.
Super Cropping
Super Cropping is also known as High-Stress Training. As the name implies, it is much harsher on the plant than low-stress training. Super cropping involves injuring the plant during the vegetative stage, causing it to grow more vigorously in an attempt to survive the perceived threat. Once the plant reaches the flowering stage, it goes dormant, and super cropping will no longer be effective.
indica Plants Need Love and Care
With love and attention, indica plants can be simple to grow. Provide them with an environment that replicates their native environment by allowing the temperature to drop by 10 to 15o Fahrenheit. Be vigilant for mold.
Even after harvesting, indica buds need extra care. They must be processed correctly since they are so susceptible to mold. Dry and cure them while keeping a close eye on the buds, just like during the growing process.
High Quality indica Seeds
Experienced growers will find that indica is fun and easy to grow. To get the most value out of a single seed, create clones. Use high quality seeds to create a strong mother plant, then grow clones from it. Not only does this make harvesting quicker and easier, but it also makes growing indica (especially heirloom) more predictable and manageable.
When growing indicas, experiment with a few different growing and training techniques or try out slightly different temperatures and lighting options until you find the one that is the most effective for you.
Soon, you'll find that you have plenty of high quality indica for any time that you just want to relax and enjoy some natural relaxation.
indica Strain Variety Pack
If you're looking for indica seeds but you can't decide which one to pick, be sure to check out our indica Mix Pack.