By Luke Sumpter


Video id: 976723279

As one of the first cannabis F1 hybrids, Orion F1 has impressed countless home growers across the world with lightning-fast yields and unparalleled uniformity. Encouraged by her stellar performance, commercial-scale growers are running trials using the variety as a potential replacement for clones. Ideal for large-scale cultivation, Orion F1 and other F1 hybrids can help large operations, such as those at Bioleaf Health, to cheapen production costs and streamline cultivation. To find out how they’re getting on, we sent our master grower Max Majot to investigate as part of our Cannabis Conversations series. Find out what he discovered below!

The Setting: Bioleaf Health

Nestled in the countryside of the Alentejo region in Portugal, Bioleaf Health kick-started its operations back in 2021 with the aim of establishing an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach to medical cannabis production. Recent research highlights the impact of marijuana agriculture on the environment, with effects not limited to high levels of greenhouse gas emissions[1], the destruction of sensitive habitats, soil erosion, and water pollution[2].

Fully aware of the environmental impact of large-scale weed growing, the team at Bioleaf Health operate with an ethos that puts nature first. Aiming to harmonise with nature, the company employs sustainable cultivation methods that respect the environment and minimise the ecological footprint of cannabis production.

In pursuit of the eco-friendly production of the best flower possible, Bioleaf Health sought market-leading genetics to realise their vision. Recently, they’ve decided to trial RQS’s own Orion F1 variety to reduce their dependence on agricultural inputs, reduce growing times, and enhance crop uniformity. Before we find out how they’re getting on, let’s quickly go over the concept of F1 hybrids and get to know Max, our man on a mission, a little better.

Bioleaf setting

RQS F1 Hybrids: From Theory to Reality

Our F1 hybrid cannabis seeds first hit the shelves in 2023. After years of hard work behind the scenes, our breeders finally brought this agricultural technology to the cannabis sector. By creating and crossing highly pure inbred parent lines, they created offspring with hybrid vigour. This trait guarantees superior pest and disease resistance, increased potency, and rapid growth. On top of this, F1 hybrids offer the uniformity and consistency of clones without the additional work of keeping a mother plant alive.

Since their release, home growers worldwide have reaped the benefits of our F1 hybrids. Countless growing reports testify to their superior performance and rewarding yields. After taking the world of small-scale cultivation by storm, large commercial growers now realise that F1 hybrids offer a suite of benefits. With the proper setup, they are the perfect fit for widening profit margins and improving customer satisfaction.

Hybrid F1

Meet Our Master Grower Max

When sending someone to check on Orion F1’s performance at Bioleaf, we could think of nobody better than our master grower, Maxence Majot. As our Technical Manager and Grow Expert, Max currently oversees production at our growing facility and store in Thailand.

However, his role as an investigator and interviewer in our Cannabis Conversations series has him travelling worldwide, including Portugal. Max’s thorough knowledge of the cannabis plant and unmatched cultivation skills make him the ideal person to visit different growing operations across the planet. So, without further ado, discover what was waiting for him at the Bioleaf Health growing facility in Portugal and what he saw regarding their Orion F1 project.

Max master grower

The Greenhouse: Thriving Canopies & Rapid Growth

Upon arriving at Bioleaf Health’s Alentejo facility, Max was greeted by Vladimir, the company’s Director of Production. After shaking hands and introducing themselves, the pair donned lab coats, gloves, hair nets, and masks and entered the production space. Upon swinging upon the door, Max came across 1,600 Orion F1 plants well into the flowering phase of the growing cycle.

Vladimir noted that, despite their maturity, germination occurred a mere 60 days previously. After the film crew took some stunning macro shots of the trichome-covered flowers, Max and Vladimir headed to the indoor nursery, sat down, and talked all things F1 hybrids.

Greenhouse

How Bioleaf are Putting RQS F1 Hybrids Genetics to Work

Against a backdrop of freshly sown cell trays and a wall of green seedlings, Vladimir filled Max in on a few important figures. From the beginning, many growers have opted for our F1 hybrids because of their excellent germination rates, and Bioleaf Health’s data testify to their efficiency. Vladimir told Max, “We want to see if we can obtain the same consistency, going from seeds compared to what we grow from clones. We had pretty impressive success with the germination rate; almost 100% germination of 2,000 seeds.”

Armed with hybrid vigour, F1 hybrids truly blow the germination rates of other types of seeds out of the water. Not only does this trait come in handy for home growers with high hopes of good harvests, but it’s critical for companies trying to balance profit margins. Overall, Bioleaf Health is growing 1,600 plants at a time. Once harvest time swings around, they immediately transplant their nursery specimens into the large greenhouse to keep production running smoothly.

Bioeaf cannabis
  • Bioleaf’s Experience with Orion F1 Hybrid Seeds

Alongside superb germination rates, Vladimir revealed the other benefits that Bioleaf growers have experienced while cultivating Orion F1 hybrid seeds.

  • Growing Speed

As the conversation continued in the plant nursery, Vladimir expressed his surprise with the growing speed of Orion F1, stating that after germination, “..we got a bit surprised by the vigour of how fast they grow”. Vladimir added, “I was planning to keep them around two to two and a half weeks in this little easy block. I had to transplant after ten days, more or less. We had to reorganise the schedule according to the vigour of the plant.”

Hybrid vigour not only increases the germination rate of F1 hybrids, but it positively impacts their growing speed. Here, we can see that Orion F1 grew so fast that it exceeded the expectations of seasoned cultivators, forcing them to overhaul their growing schedule.

  • Pest and Disease Resistance

The conversation went from growing speed to pest and disease resistance. Max brought up the topic, asking Vladimir about the resistance to fungal diseases they had experienced, including concerns about botrytis and powdery mildew because of the humid spring conditions in the greenhouse.

Vladimir responded, saying, “Yes, we were a bit worried about the greenhouse we have because we don’t have a way to dehumidify. So, we have to play with outside humidity, the outside temperature, but we don’t have control over the humidity. So far, we haven’t seen any problems or any kind of powdery mildew. In the vegetative stage, it didn’t appear on the plants. In the flowering stage, we found only two plants showing a little bit of botrytis in the top parts,” Vladimir continued, “So, I would say, on the powdery mildew, it was zero. On the botrytis, very good results compared to the conditions of growing we’ve given the plants.”

F1 hybrids have some of the best disease resistance among any type of seed. Even in the uncontrolled humidity of the Bioleaf greenhouse, Orion F1 plants showed extraordinary resistance to common fungal infections.

  • Aromas and Terpene Profile

Of course, we couldn’t send Max all that way to Portugal without asking about Bioleaf’s view on the aroma of Orion F1. In response, Vladimir said, “The smell is very fruity, very sweet. Alongside some floral notes, the second smell that comes through is really pungent on the nose—you have a bit of gas and diesel. Using the terpene analysis you gave us, farnesene is the primary terpene. That is really what we smell when we enter. It’s the first smell in the greenhouse, and after that comes the fruit, and then comes the sweetness and a bit more fuel at the end.”

Orion F1
23_genetic background_1 Blue Mammoth Auto x Blue Dream x Amnesia
25_flowering time_1 35 - 40 days
29_THC_1 THC: Very high
22_Effect_1 Calming, Physically Relaxing, Stoned
110_harvest 65 - 70 days after germination

Buy Orion F1

Seeds, Clones, and the Future of F1 Hybrids: Bioleaf’s Outlook

As a commercial operation, consistency, efficiency, and uniformity are extremely important to Bioleaf Health. Now that they’re transitioning into F1 hybrids as a potential partial replacement for clones, Max wanted to determine how the seeds compare. Vladimir noted that he envisions a future where they use both clones and F1 seeds, stating:

“In the medicinal market, you have to be able to deliver your product in some consistent production. If you have some patients who start to medicate with a specific cultivar for a specific pathology, you cannot tell them one year after using the product that it’s over. The patient needs to have a possibility to have the product in the long term. Therefore, the clone is going to go on, but this kind of seed with good stability in the phenotype expression can replace, little by little, clone production in the medicinal market.”

However, Vladimir went on to point out some of the weaknesses of clones:

“When you grow from clones, first you have to deal with the generation of your mother plants. Not all old mother plants are going to give viable clones. We see in the industry that whenever you need to grow in huge quantities, seeds are the real answer because they’re scalable.”

Bioleaf Health: Bringing F1 Hybrids to Commercial Cultivation

Max’s trip to Bioleaf Health uncovered some critical details about the company pairing ecological cultivation techniques with high-quality medicinal flowers. Not only is Bioleaf pushing the boundaries when it comes to going green, but it’s also one of the first large cultivators trialling F1 cannabis seeds as a viable replacement for clones.

While they’re taking a middle-ground approach for now, the company has shown that varieties such as Orion F1 offer a host of benefits for large-scale growing, including profound disease resistance, rapid growing times, and sublime terpene profiles.

External Resources:
  1. A narrative review on environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation https://jcannabisresearch.biomedcentral.com
  2. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00844 https://pubs.acs.org
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes only. The information provided is derived from research gathered from external sources.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: