Only an estimated 2% of growers and manufacturers are Natural Seed companies with products that reach the market. The other 98% use what is called feminized seed and produce products derived from such. Natural Seed is proven to be superior and produces far more efficacious and robust plants. The reason growers use feminized seed is because it is far less cost– and labor–intensive, and therefore much cheaper to grow and produce. This is why only 2% of growers in the U.S. are Natural Seed farmers, but the results are astoundingly superior.

To understand the difference between Natural and feminized seed, one first has to know a little about the hemp plant and how it is grown.

Hemp plants are very similar to human beings as to the continuation of their species. There are male and female plants in a hemp field–the male plant pollinates the female, and when pollinated the female produces seed for the next generation. There is hemp/cbd oil in both the male and female, but the female produces far more oil and continues to produce oil until the moment it is pollinated.

When the female is pollinated it will cease producing oil and turn all of its energy towards producing seed for the next generation. If a female is not pollinated it will continue to grow more and more oil hoping to attract pollination. So, the trick in hemp farming is to not allow the female to be pollinated. How is this done? This is where we get to the difference between natural and feminized seed. In short, with Natural Seed, you literally go through your entire field and cull the male plants before they produce their pollen. Right away, one loses half of your crop, and it is a very labor- and cost-intensive process. So, with the absence of the male plant the female will continue to grow more and more oil until harvested. The use of feminized seed is an extremely different method.

Geneticists have developed what is known as feminized seed, which will produce strictly female plants. No male plants are grown when using feminized seed. How did geneticists do this? They accomplished this by modifying, manipulating and mutating the hemp plants RNA so as to produce only female plants, with the result being an inferior plant. The debate in the industry now is whether feminized seed is GMO seed.

Technically speaking a GMO is the manipulation of an organisms DNA, whereas in this case it’s the manipulation and modification of RNA.

To us it is a semantic argument, but you may decide for yourself. And when you learn more about the actual processes of feminization, which we will now cover, you will most likely be even more abhorred. We will now briefly cover the two main methods used, Rhodelization and Colloidal Silver, below.

Hemp plants are amazing survivors, they really are, and they will do literally anything to stay alive and propagate. We know the trick to producing more hemp oil is to not allow the female plants to be pollinated, because once they are pollinated they stop producing oil and turn all their energy towards producing seed. Well, guess what? If you allowed that female plant to grow and it was never, ever pollinated–it will actually grow its own male parts herself and pollinate herself. The result is that the plant will essentially become the mother and father of its own seed, it produces seed from itself, meaning the seed will all be female as both sets of its genes come from itself. This is not even the bad part! So, there are generally two ways that geneticists derive feminized seed, Rhodelization and the use of Colloidal Silver.

Rhodelization is the original method for producing feminized seed and is still often used. As we said, when a female plant is near death and is not pollinated, it will grow its own male parts and pollinate itself. Well, the natural life cycle of a hemp plant takes months, and geneticists/farmers/growers cannot wait that long, so these female plants are induced to death before its natural life span. In Rhodelization, a female plant is brought to near death by spraying it with mutagens and/or poisons, then brought back to life again. Then it is done again. And then again. And finally, even though the plant is young, it is completely stressed, realizes it is dying, and in a last-ditch effort to propagate the species, grows its own male pollen sacs and pollinates herself, resulting in strictly female seed. So, there you go, this is what 98% of all hemp/CBD products are derived from.

Another method of producing feminized seed involves the use of Colloidal Silver, Silver Thiosulfate and similar substances. Colloidal Silver is made of tiny silver particles suspended in a liquid, most usually water. During the plants flowering stage, this is then sprayed directly on the plant every single day for about two weeks, and it interacts with a hormone in the plant called ethylene to trigger a sex change where it produces only female pollen. That stressed and manipulated plant is then bred to a female plant, and it produces only female seeds because it is getting both sets of it's genes from two female plants. So, again, you may decide for yourself on what you’d like to use on and in your own body, but before you do that, let’s see what Colloidal Silver and similar substances are known to cause:

Side effects of Colloidal Silver, Silver Thiosulfate and similar substances
• Argyria
• Kidney damage
• Stomach problems
• Headaches
• Organ damage
• Seizures
• Interactions with prescription meds
• Unsafe whether used topically, ingested or inhaled
• Silver is NOT an essential mineral, your body does NOT need silver

So, there you go, these are the two main methods of feminized seed production, just remember – Nature Always Wins! Natural Seed produces a plant with every compound and natural element that nature intended.

We would like to touch upon a topic many consider simple and pedestrian, yet nothing could be further from the truth–and that is the word ORGANIC. The word organic is too often just plain misused and misunderstood.

There are THREE things that must be adhered to in the hemp industry to be considered truly organic, and three things only.

1. You cannot use GMO seed: And while the current debate about feminized seed being a GMO is being waged right now, the fact remains that feminized seed IS mutated, modified and manipulated seed, so as to produce only female plants.

2. You must use organic farming methods; no pesticides, no chemical fertilizers, no artificial agents, etc.

3. You must grow on organically certified land. Your land must be free from all prohibited substances on the national list provided by the NOP (National Organic Program) for a total of three years. That land must also have definitive borders and a buffer zone, as well, to prevent any contamination from nearby acreage that may not be under organic management.

If any of the above criteria are not met, the product is NOT organic. Too many people are not aware of this, and we bring this subject to light simply for the knowledge of our readers who are the one's paying organic prices for things that simply aren’t organic.

In sum, we refuse to use any feminized seed and use only Natural Seed the way nature intended. In our opinion, not only is Natural Seed in it's natural state and possesses all the strength and vitality of nature, it has not been compromised nor subjected to unnatural growth adaptation. These are the facts, and, again, the choice is the consumer's.