Surely, you have heard the words indica or sativa sometime in your life, especially if you are a marijuana user. Still, it may not be entirely clear to you what the difference is between indica and sativa. Do not worry! It’s normal since, to this day, it does not finish clarifying either despite the studies carried out over the years.
Scientifically, all marijuana capable of producing THC and being psychoactive is recognized as Indica Cannabis. The Cannabis Sativa is recognized as a psychoactive plant and is used to create fiber and different materials. These claims are scientific; that is, they are made after several years of study and analysis of the different types of cannabis found over the years.
As it is a topic that we can expand on infinitely, this time, we are simply going to focus on what we growers know as THC-producing indica marijuana and sativa marijuana, and we will discuss the main differences between them.
Physical characteristics between indica and sativa
The indica plants are characterized by forming dark green leaves, thick and composed of up to 9 leaflets. Its structure is very compact and leafy. It develops a thick and firm trunk, it is composed of several branches that are not too developed, and its maximum height is 1.50 m. Its root system is more resistant, strong, and effective. As for the flowers, this type of plant forms large, dense, and highly resinous buds, and thanks to the formation of short internodes, these can form together and become compacted, creating a dense central baton.
The sativa plants are characterized by forming light green leaves, elongated, thin, and serrated, and may even be composed of more than nine leaflets. Its structure is slender, open, and airy, it develops a fine, highly elastic trunk composed of many lateral branches, and it can easily reach over 2 m in height. Its root system spreads more quickly, although it is not very resistant. In this case, it forms flower clusters that are more open, less compact, and distributed along the branches. It’s due to the great internodal distance with which it develops.
The flowering time between indica and sativa
In the indica varieties, the flowering time is shorter, 6-8 weeks. In their natural habitat, the arrival of bad weather and low temperatures happens much earlier than in the areas where sativa varieties have developed. This fact makes the plants have to flower much faster to maintain the species. For this reason, indica plants are faster and generally more resistant.
The sativas varieties have a longer flowering time to develop in the areas where the weather hardly varies during the season. Above all, having only a slight variation in sunlight hours during its development makes flowering slow and progressive. For these reasons, the flowering periods in this type of marijuana exceed 12 weeks, and they are not as resistant to stressful situations, but they support rainy climates very well.
Different Effects of Indica and Sativa
The effect of indica strains is generally relaxing, narcotic, and sedative. It is a plant that produces high THC levels, along with small CBD levels that, in combination with the range of terpenes that this type of plant develops, produces the effects discussed above.
The effects produced by sativas are much more energizing, active, and cerebral. It’s because they produce very high THC and THCV levels and zero levels of CBD, so the psychoactivity is total. In this case, as in indica strains, terpenes also play a big role in their effects.