Cannabis Indica

Origin of Cannabis indica:

Cannabis indica tends to grow naturally in subtropical areas of the world. In general, you will find it 30-50 degrees north and south of the equator in such countries as Pakistan, Tibet, Lebanon, Morocco and Afghanistan. The European botanist Jean-Baptiste is reported to have published the first description of an indica in 1785. He discovered it in India, hence the “indi” prefix in the name indica.

Properties of Cannabis indica:

Cannabis indica is characterized by its stout, stocky stature and short, dark green leaves. It grows to be a lot bushier than its more lanky sativa counterpart, often taking the conical shape of a Christmas tree. A pure cannabis indica will also grow and mature much faster than a sativa. Generally speaking, an indica has a flowering period of within 6-8 weeks. This makes them very popular with cash-croppers and is one of the reasons you may find a heavy indica presence on the street market. When grown indoors, most indica strains tend to grow up to 1m in height and when grown outdoors they can reach 2m.

In terms of cannabinoid content, cannabis indica tends to have an average THC level with a comparatively high CBD content, especially in comparison to their sativa counterparts. However, in today’s market there is a great focus on THC, this has caused breeders to selectively breed indicas to have a higher THC %, thus dramatically increasing the THC/CBD ratio of commercial strains in comparison to wild ones.

Cannabis Indica plants tend to have fuller, more compact kolas at the top of the plant, however, due to their smaller stature, they tend to produce smaller yields than a sativa. A smart cultivator can overcome this though with some clever crop management. Whilst indicas tend to yield less, they grow much faster and take up less room, meaning that a cultivator can potentially grow many more cannabis indica plants than they could cannabis sativa within in the same area, offsetting or even outdoing the total yield they would have got from a sativa crop in the same space.

Historically speaking, cannabis indica is the most traditional cannabis family to be used for the production of hash.

Effects of Cannabis indica:

The high CBD content of cannabis indica strains causes them to induce a sedative and relaxing effect. It tends to spread throughout the body, relaxing and numbing it. This is what is often referred to as being “stoned”. Cannabis indica strains do not tend to have the same psychoactive effects as their sativa counterparts. Because of the primarily physical effect, cannabis indicas are often seen as the more medically useful of the various cannabis families. This is not necessarily true, but when various governments look at the implication of cannabis as a form of medical treatment they tend to focus on the sedative qualities rather than the psychoactive.

The effects cannabis indica strains induce make it a great treatment for such ailments as chronic pain, nausea, appetite stimulation, arthritis, muscle spasms, sleeping disorders and anxiety, to name but a few.

Cannabis indica can be summarized to have the following effects:

• Body-buzz
• Sedating
• Relaxing
• Muscle relaxant
• Pain relief
• Reduce Nausea
• Increase appetite
• Increase dopamine

Examples of Cannabis indica strains:

• Northern Lights
• Granddaddy Purple
• OG Kush
• G-13
• Mango
• Afghani #1
• Chronic