# Regular seed

> Regular seed comes from a normal cross of a female and a male, so it produces roughly half female and half male plants.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/regular-seed.html
- Also written: regular seeds, non-feminised seed, non-feminized seed
- Glossary category: Genetics and breeding · Evidence: Established
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

Regular seed is seed from a female [pollinated](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pollination.md) by a real male. Each seed inherits an X from the mother and either an X or a Y from the father, so the crop comes out close to 50:50 female to male.

## In practice

For flower-only growers, [regulars](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/regs.md) mean more seeds to start and males to identify and remove before they shed pollen, typically when the first flowers show at the nodes or earlier with a DNA sex test. For breeders, regulars are the raw material. They contain males, and males carry half the genetics of the next generation. A selected male is how traits are combined, lines are [stabilised](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/stabilisation.md), and diversity is kept.

Many breeders and preservationists prefer regular seed for these reasons. Lines bred only through feminising skip [male selection](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/male-selection.md) entirely.

Expect the ratio to vary in small batches. Ten seeds might give three or seven females by chance.

## Don't confuse with

- **Feminised seed**: female × [reversed female](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/sex-reversal.md); nearly all females.
- **Bagseed**: seed found in purchased flower; often from an accidental pollination of unknown origin.
- **Landrace seed**: usually regular, but "regular" says nothing about origin.

## Myth check

House position: males are a necessity in breeding and are encouraged and rewarded on GenetixBay. Regular seed is not "old-fashioned"; it is how breeding works.

## Related terms

[Feminised seed](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/feminised-seed.md), [Male selection](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/male-selection.md), [XY sex determination](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/xy-sex-determination.md), [Cross](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cross.md), [F1](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/f1.md)

## Read more

- [Regular, feminised, autoflower or clone: choosing your starting material](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/basics/seed-types-regular-feminised-auto-clone.md)

## Sources

1. Divashuk MG, Alexandrov OS, Razumova OV, Kirov IV, Karlov GI. 2014. Molecular cytogenetic characterization of the dioecious Cannabis sativa with an XY chromosome sex determination system. PLoS ONE 9(1):e85118. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085118
2. Allard RW. 1999. Principles of Plant Breeding, 2nd edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York. ISBN 978-0-471-02309-0