Starting stock
Seeds
Packs from breeders give a range of siblings from the same cross
Clones
A rooted cutting is a copy of one plant. Some varieties exist only this way
Friends
A trusted garden is often the source of a proven cut
Same decision
Seed or clone, the variety still has to fit the room and the flower you want
Homogeneous gardens
Who uses them
Production rooms usually want every plant to act the same
How
Clone one mother, or at least stay inside one tight variety
Payoff
Shared feed, shared climate, one harvest date, and a predictable lab number
Speed
Fast finishers are favored when turnaround is the goal
Heterogeneous gardens
Who uses them
Home growers often care more about quality and choice than max grams
Mix
Several varieties stagger harvest and offer different aromas and effects
Cost
Mixed canopies usually yield less than a single tuned clone run
Care
Plants grow at different speeds and want different amounts of floor
Catalog fields that matter
Ratio
Indica, sativa, and ruderalis percentages hint at stretch and clock
Days
Indoor flower days and outdoor finish month tell you if the plant can ripen for you
Aroma line
Smell and taste notes are a terpene hint, not a guarantee
Feminized and auto
Those labels change sex odds and whether the plant waits for short days