It all starts with genetics. The possibilities for manipulating the cannabis plant through breeding and cultivation are expanding rapidly, and advancements in methods for achieving optimal plant expression are accelerating as the industry moves into 2026. Breeders and cultivators are increasingly banding together to share knowledge and resources, while high-tech equipment and analytical tools are being deployed to deepen understanding of the plant’s biochemistry.
As cultivation operations scale, operators are looking for ways to achieve higher yields, stronger plant vigor, improved disease resistance, and, most importantly, consistent outcomes from plant to plant. One approach is polyploid breeding, specifically the development of triploid cannabis plants.
John Keating, founder of Tesoro Genetics and leader of the genetics program at Advanced Nutrients, has been at the forefront of this effort. While triploids are widely used in large-scale agriculture, most consumers unknowingly encounter them in seedless fruits like watermelon and bananas. The approach remains relatively new to the cannabis industry and far from simple to execute.
According to Keating, his team spent several years refining the process before achieving reliable results and launching a line of triploid seeds at MJBiz 2025. I sat down with him to better understand how triploid cannabis works, why it matters for commercial cultivation, and what it could mean for the future of genetic innovation in the industry.
To understand why triploids are gaining traction, it helps to start with a basic explanation of ploidy.
Diploids, Triploids, and Tetraploids—Explained
Most plants, including cannabis, are diploid, meaning they carry two sets of chromosomes (2N)—one inherited from each parent, Keating explains. Each chromosome contains genes, and each gene exists in two copies, known as alleles, which influence traits such as plant morphology, cannabinoid production, and secondary metabolite expression.
During normal reproduction, a diploid plant produces gametes—pollen and ovules—that each contain a single set of chromosomes (1N). When pollen and ovule fuse during fertilization, those chromosome sets recombine, restoring the diploid state (2N) in the embryo.
“That’s the standard biological cycle,” Keating says. “You split the genetic material in half to make gametes, then bring it back together to rebuild the diploid organism.”
Polyploid breeding intentionally disrupts that cycle.
According to Keating, breeders can induce chromosome doubling in a diploid plant to create a tetraploid (4N) plant with four sets of chromosomes. Crossing that tetraploid with a standard diploid produces a triploid (3N) offspring.
Why Extra Chromosomes Matter
Changing the number of chromosome sets has immediate effects at the cellular level.
Polyploid plants, particularly tetraploids, have larger cells than diploid plants, Keating explains. Larger cells often correlate with larger leaves, thicker stems, and bigger flowers. More importantly for cannabis, polyploidy increases gene dosage, meaning the number of copies of key biosynthetic genes available for expression.
As Keating points out, the genes responsible for cannabinoid biosynthesis—THCA synthase and CBDA synthase—are located on chromosome 7 and are present in two copies in a diploid plant. In a tetraploid plant, there may be four.
“If all four copies are THCA synthase, you’ve got a strong THC producer,” Keating says. “If they’re all CBDA, you’ve got a CBD-dominant plant. Or you can have a mix, which produces a mixed cannabinoid profile.”
With more copies of these synthase genes available, the plant has a greater capacity to produce cannabinoids and other secondary metabolites, such as terpenes and flavonoids.
Where Triploids Create Commercial Value
While tetraploids offer enhanced metabolic potential, Keating says triploids are often the commercial end goal.
Triploid plants are typically sterile or near-sterile, meaning they produce little to no viable pollen or seeds. For cultivators, this can significantly reduce the risk of accidental pollination, one of the most persistent threats to flower quality in commercial facilities.
“When you remove reproductive pressure,” Keating explains, “the plant can redirect more energy toward resin production and secondary metabolites.”
That combination of enhanced gene dosage from polyploid breeding and the operational benefits of sterility is why Keating and other advanced breeders believe triploid cannabis could represent the next major leap in cultivation.
Where Triploid Breeding Can Go Wrong
While triploid cannabis holds significant promise, John Keating cautions that polyploid breeding is inherently unstable if it’s not executed carefully, which is why many efforts fail.
The first challenge arises at the tetraploid stage. When breeders force a diploid plant (2N) into a tetraploid state (4N), they’re pushing the plant into a condition it does not naturally want to maintain. Cells become larger, chromosome density increases, and unless every cell successfully converts to tetraploidy, the plant can end up as a mixoploid, a mosaic of diploid and tetraploid cells.
“That mixed state is a problem,” Keating explains. “Because diploidy is the plant’s natural condition, any remaining diploid cells can eventually dominate.” Over time, that instability can cause the plant to revert toward diploidy, undermining the entire breeding effort.
Gene dosage compounds the risk. Doubling chromosomes increases the
number of all genes, potentially amplifying undesirable traits. If a plant carries latent issues, such as a tendency toward hermaphroditism, those traits can become more pronounced when additional gene copies are introduced.
According to Keating, breeders who push lines too aggressively to maintain tetraploidy can also encounter low germination rates, inbreeding depression, and inconsistent phenotypes. The physiological stress of maintaining an enlarged cellular state appears to increase the likelihood that these problems will surface.
The key, he says, is stabilization.
Successfully working with polyploid cannabis requires time, repeated selection, and careful environmental management to allow plants to adapt to their new ploidy level.
Early Results—and What Still Needs to Be Proven
Despite the challenges, Keating says the performance gains he’s seen in commercial settings are incredible.
According to Keating, triploid cannabis consistently shows increases in potency and yield. While not confirmed, he plans to work with a research university to investigate whether polyploid plants develop thicker trichome walls that could help retain volatile secondary metabolites after harvest.
“That’s a big deal if true,” Keating says. “Terpenes and other secondary metabolites off-gas hard and fast once the plant is cut. If the trichome structure is physically holding more of that in, that has major implications for post-harvest quality.”
While that hypothesis still needs peer-reviewed validation, Keating says yield improvements are already showing up clearly at scale.
“What we’ve seen with the plants we’ve actually released into the world is dramatic increases in yield,” he explains. In multiple large-scale cultivation environments—not just isolated test lights—operators are reporting production levels approaching six pounds per light, a benchmark Keating says he had previously only heard discussed in theory.
“This isn’t one light or two lights,” he adds. “This is happening across larger facilities.”
The team plans to enter into clone licensing agreements with major players in different regions and work hand in hand with them. We plan to keep it limited, because we don’t want to flood the market like what happened with Blue Dream. As for seeds, they are producing rock-solid batches. We’ve picked our favorite ones that perform across all environments, are high-yielding, and have great appeal.
For the future, Keating says we will see double haploids, genuine F1s, further polyploidy, and rapid modification via gene editing.
Listen to John Keating talk about their work with triploids on the Innovating Cannabis Podcast.
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