Hybrids come from breeding (“hybridization”) indica and sativa plants together. For centuries American farmers have sought to increase the quality of their crops by hybridizing them with different varieties from around the world. Similarly, modern cannabis breeding as we know it began on the west coast of the United States and Canada in the mid-’60s – and it hasn’t stopped. Farmers mixed mold-resistant equatorial sativas with fast-flowering, subtropical indicas for a more viable commercial crop.
Cannabis comes in male and female sexes and is an annual crop that reproduces through pollination and creating seeds. A breeder will selectively inbreed generations of the same hybrid (called “back-crossing”), until each future generation of hybrid expresses its genes in a generally consistent way.
Hybrids can be either indica or sativa-dominant, meaning they will express the characteristics of the dominant parent with less character¬istics of the secondary variety. For example, an indica-dominant hybrid like Cookies will most likely affect the body and offer more sedating effects. A sativa-dominant-hybrid like Super Lemon Haze will lean toward energetic sativa effects.A “true” hybrid, meaning that it is an even mix of both varieties.