Indica and Sativa marijuana All the information

One of the most asked questions by less experienced growers is what are the main differences between indica and sativa marijuana. In this post we will talk deep about wich are the main characteristics of both cannabis plants, and detailed information about cannabis indica and cannabis sativa.

Long ago, when just landrace genetics exist in cannabis genoma, words like Cannabis Sativa L and Cannabis Indica Lam were created to identify these two species from the cannabacid family. Nowadays these taxonomic words have reduced to Sativa and Indica, but still are confusing to casual consumer, medical marijuana users an even for everyday smoker.

Differences between these two species are wide: From the shape of the plant, how it grows, and effects experimented when consumed. But why do these differences exist?
Why an indica plant grows shorter than a sativa? Why does a sativa produces a psycoactive experience compared with an indica? To get these answers we should use genology and scientific data to trace a union from today strains to its originary landraces. Have lab information reffering its cannabinoid levels, and terpene archives helps doing this study.

Origin of Indica and Sativa

In the same way that there is no way how long it's been growing cannabis in the Planet, our most old use by humans dates from thousands of years ago in Far East. The origins of cannabis landraces have been traced from south to center Asia, with wild cannabis enlarging from Middle East all the way to China and Mongolia. But, how different spieces of cannabis developed separately in the same latitudes of Earth?
Like all living organisms, cannabis plant has evolutioned, and adapted to its medium (and still doing today). With cannabis born regions located close one to the other, the answer to why species evolutioned different is in examing its climatology origins. These climatologies may vary due to difference between geographic areas, that go from the Himalaya bottom up to High Lands of Hindu Kush valleys, and high peaks of Rif mountains in Marroc.

According to Kymron deCesare, chief director of Steep Hill lab in Oakland, California, the biggest difference in the evolution between sativas and indicas is that sativas developed to resist better a humid mediums. This includes a thin stem developement, stretchy, and thin and long leaves to promote a better breathing. Indicas evolutioned to survive in dryier climates, developing as short and bushy plants, whit wider leaves, designed to minimize water losses when breathing. That's why thousands of years ago, indica strains like Afghanica could be found in higher places where the air was thiner and water was little. While in lower valleys sativas grew taller in dense and humid forests.

Fast forwarding some thousands of years to 1753, when a young scienctist called Carl Linnaeus classified for the first time the cannabis genoma using what will become modern taxonomic name. In that time Lennaeus thought that cannabis genoma was monotype - what means that there only exists one specie - and called it Cannabis Sativa L (L comes from Linnaeus to show out the author who called it that way for first time). Three decades after, in 1785 another notorious scientific, and biologyst, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, indetified a second specie of cannabis that named like Cannabis Indica Lam- (from Lamarck), after examining the specie of a plant collected in India. Finally on early twtieth century a group of Russian botanicals and explorers of plants, identified a third specie of cannabis known as Rudelaris. Cannabis Rudelaris distinguish from cannabis indica and cannabis sativa because is a more strong and fibrous plant, more likely to hemp, that posesses low or non THC, making of her non-psycoactive.

Examples of pure Landrace strains

Sativas: thai, Burmese, Pakistani and Mexican.

Indicas: Afghan, Hindu Kush Morrocan / Ketama.

Physical aspects and growth

These revolutionary tendences help first plants of cannabis in terms of breathe, so increasing it's photosynthesis ratio, what incremented their flower and seed production - assuring the survival of these genetic lines.

Today, in a similar way, marijuana growers use evolutive characteristics from indicas and sativas to boost their yields, depending on de enviroment of growth in their gardens. Indoor growers usually wish lower plants due to space, so they usually choose indica strains. Outdoor growers may need to resist against hot enviroment and humid, during most of the time, so they usually choose sativa strains that breathe better. It can also be that an outdoor grower believe that strong and wide indicas resist better against pests of the garden, while indoor's think that thin sativas are more resistant to mold or mildew.

Everything depends on the enviromental conditions of your growing space, and the individual characteristics of the choosen strain. Even in those cases, results are not easy to predict, due to every single genotype has the possibility to exhibit new characteristics (or phenotypes) that may vary from the law, when plants are grown in new conditions not tested before. In other words, what you see in indicas, or sativas, is not allways what you get.

Indica-sativa dominant hybrids

The term hybrid is potentially confusing, due to everything that is not 100% pure landrace - something rarely common today- is technically a hybrid strain. In our point of view, a strain with a 70/30 ratio in every of its both tendences is dominant. Everything lower than a 70/30 - for example a 60/440 or 50/5' - is considered as non-dominant or well balanced hybrid.

Examples of sativa dominant hybrids: Haze, Blue Dream and Strawberry Cough.

Examples of Indica dominant hybrids: Hash Plant, Blueberry and Girl Scout Cookies.

Cannabinoids, terpenoids and psycoactive effects

And what about different effects that you get when smoking indicas compared with sativas?
Many cannabis users experience a sativa high as euphoric and cerebral, while the indica buzz is more body buzz and can keep them in the sofa for hours in front of the TV. Could these effects be atributed directly to the differences between these two species? If so, why?
Sativa and indica terms are really only valid to describe physical characteristics of the cannabis strain, in a certain enviroment" said deCesare. "They are not valid concepts in terms of energy nor relax".

Because of its nature, the effects of THC are energetic - meaning that both, indicas and sativas own a level of THC that will create an euphorix effect when smoked. So why some indicas leave you in vegetative state?
According to deCesare, sativas and indicas share same cannabinoids as well as terpenes - the chemical compound found in cannabis that contributes in aroma and taste of flowers. These terpenes or terpenoids, are also found in many other plants, in fact they are what create essential oils that we use for fragances and perfumes. Not only terpenes exist in sativas and indicas, they also exist in similar ratio.

However, deCesare points to a major exception that helps to explain psycoactive effect differences between sativas and indicas: Consistant high levels of myrcene terpene in cannabis indica compared with cannabis sativa In fact, according to many studies that he did with cannabis investigators like Dr Donald Land and Dr Ethan Russo "Myrcene is the main ingredient responsible of changing THC effect from energetic ro couchlock.

This means that what many of us thought about indicas and sativas is not necessary true: The THC usually associated to psycoactive properties of cannabis is not the only factor that set us high. In fact, the Dr Russo's theory of different combination of terpenes work together to create different effects from one strain to another, is a much better explanation of the psycoactive differences between indicas and sativas. Indeed what deCesare was sure is that myrcene terpene is the most important variable determining these effects.

Asked about the evidence used to this conclusion, deCesare answers: "This can be only determined in lab testing. When we start analyzing cannabis, there was about 1000 different strains. This number has been dramatically increase today, with over 3000 different strains. This conclusion is based in 100.000 different lab test during tha last 7 years".

Holy... Myrcene!

Myrcene is a pretty common terpene  - it exists in many other fruits and plants grown all over the world. Mangos and hops are two of the best-known if we talk about high contents of myrcene.
You can notice that relaxing feeling when you drink a couple of beers? deCesare asked. " That effect is, to a good extend, due to myrcene present from the hops".

So, what myrcene levels are necessary to get that relaxing feeling - or high like many of us know it-? The studies done by Steep Hill Halent suggests that myrcene levels lower than 0,4% in flowers does not have much impact in energetic effects to wich THC contributes. But when myrcene content is higher than 0,5% "strain increases its sedative and relaxing effects" comments deCesare. "OG Kush is considered by many like a very relaxing flower with about 1,25% of myrcene. Few strains have myrcene content over 3%. Other chemicals may play a lower rol in these relaxing effects, including CBD, CBN and linalool, when present in strains that couchlock, but are not allways present nor as influent.

So what's next?

In conclusion, we ask Dr deCesare what possibilities and oportunities could medical cannabis bring in the future. "Looking forward, when USDA and FD regulates distribution of cannabis" "will insist in labeling properly, to ensure that consumer buys a certain marijuana, and gets what he's paying for. The only way to make this possible is lab testing looking for myrcene".

It is interesting a recent study of National Health Institute published in Nacional Medical library, decriminializing the effects of cannabis sativa and cannabis indica for medical users. "Statistically, users of cannabis indica use it against pain, helping in sedation and sleep. Cannabis sativa is preferred for euphoria and enhancing energy. The conditions statistical significance for cannabis indica preference were: non-migraine headaches, glaucoma, neuropathy, spasticity, seizures, insomnia and joint pain. For cannabis sativa, no conditions were significant".

Refferences:
High Times Magazine
National Library of Health