Almost never.
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Selecting keepers
- Thread starter El Timbo
- Start date
Almost never.
This is the way that Shanti/MrNice and others I have read recommend doing it. It sounds very nice ...if one has space and time to keep a bunch of seed mothers while growing out rooted clones.
This would be crazy impractical for me. It takes much longer than just taking cuts and flowering out the mom and I would have no place to keep long vegging, big moms. (Greenhouses must be glorious to have!).
I take 2 cuts from EVERY seed plant I pop.
Most clones get tossed as most seed plants are not keepers, but it's still a minor cost of time/space ... and I never, ever have to kick myself (or try to reveg forever) when I get one of those happy surprises.
thailer
Well-known member
they were both the frostiest of the four ladies. the other two were frosty but i didn't like their structure so i culled them. the one i thought was the winner wasn't very potent and the other i harvested early because it was a late bloomer but it ended up being more potent and i don't mind taking plants well past ten weeks. the second round since i culled two plants i was able to grow the two keepers out bigger and let the longer one finish up. everything improves the second round just because you've grown them out once and you can take notes on what they like.
i would probably only do a second round if i had a bunch of awesome cuts to choose from. these lemon shiv tho i joked around that i was only doing a second round because it was difficult to pic which was the less shitty cut. it just doesn't have the type of high i like and i can smoke it for a couple days and then i can't get stoned off it. low ceiling i think its called. i actually was smoking on it yesterday and ugh i keep reaching for my favorite strain i've had for years.
El Timbo
Well-known member
But you decided not to give 2 of them a second round... so some of you if you had say 9 females would give all 9 a second round before making a final choice?
thailer
Well-known member
it is due to my small room size. i ran the seeds in smaller containers first and then i put them in bigger pots that i normally use. i think its a feeling and you'll find your gut instinct on which to pick. plus you can always post pictures during the seed run and get others opinions. usually the one i like is the one everyone else likes and it helps having affirmation.
I just did 3 seeds knowing one would be cast out before the months over. All 3 are decent. Damn those delicious seeds people. I needed a runt. Now I must flower all 3 but I only have 8 spaces. What if they're crap.
I don't have space to keep all 3 at the end and reveg them. Which may not work anyway. My only route forward is taking 3 cuts off each before flowering. That takes up a lot less space. 3 weeks in 1" tray. 2 weeks in 15 cell. Select best of each. Chop almost in half. Then a 6th week before deciding to grow them up, or just take cuttings again to occupy less space. If grown up, by 7 or 8 weeks in a 18" X 18" they are big enough that 3 can go in a 2x4 space and net out to fill it during stretch.
I run everything twice unless it's total dross. Changing their position in the flower area as not everywhere is equal.
I don't have space to keep all 3 at the end and reveg them. Which may not work anyway. My only route forward is taking 3 cuts off each before flowering. That takes up a lot less space. 3 weeks in 1" tray. 2 weeks in 15 cell. Select best of each. Chop almost in half. Then a 6th week before deciding to grow them up, or just take cuttings again to occupy less space. If grown up, by 7 or 8 weeks in a 18" X 18" they are big enough that 3 can go in a 2x4 space and net out to fill it during stretch.
I run everything twice unless it's total dross. Changing their position in the flower area as not everywhere is equal.
Start seeds and start selection from seeds. Pick good viable and mature looking seeds, discard immature, grey or odd shaped looking beans. Unless your goal is to hunt mutants in which case start all odd formed seeds heh.
Sex plants by waiting for natural age or feeding flowering formula when a gallon or more sized pot if they are stubborn. Avoid sexing by light cycle if you can as it sets you back precious time.
Take cuts off all plants. Males too if you are looking for males but the only way to truly test males is by their progeny. Flower cuts, dry and cure bud then pick your favourites. Narrow down your favourites (I shoot for 3 phenos) to 1 plant by flowering out your picks again. Or if you are confident in your choice pick your favourite from round 1 and cull the rest.
Stem smells, trichome presence, structure, vigor etc can all be observed during growth and flower and provide good notes along your quest for a winner. They do not in my experience give enough information to pick your keeper without flowering. Stem smells do not always translate to finished flower smells, structure changes in flowering, etc.
Sex plants by waiting for natural age or feeding flowering formula when a gallon or more sized pot if they are stubborn. Avoid sexing by light cycle if you can as it sets you back precious time.
Take cuts off all plants. Males too if you are looking for males but the only way to truly test males is by their progeny. Flower cuts, dry and cure bud then pick your favourites. Narrow down your favourites (I shoot for 3 phenos) to 1 plant by flowering out your picks again. Or if you are confident in your choice pick your favourite from round 1 and cull the rest.
Stem smells, trichome presence, structure, vigor etc can all be observed during growth and flower and provide good notes along your quest for a winner. They do not in my experience give enough information to pick your keeper without flowering. Stem smells do not always translate to finished flower smells, structure changes in flowering, etc.
You really can't pick until you smoke. Your frostiest plants are not always the best. It's the Cannabinoid profile of ea plant you need to smoke on to tell who's the winner. The hard part is when plants as so close to ea other picking 1 isn't easy.
To reinforce the point:
I just harvested two tester seed plants that I finished about 4 weeks ago. They grew side by side .... the WW was very frosty with nice structure, nice chunky buds and nice aroma. I was excited.
Next to it was a Doz D Doz ... not as nice of a structure, very little frost, unimpressive looking, a nice exotic but faint aroma. Not too excited, figured it was a dud and tossed one of the two cuts I had of it.
Harvest and smoke test: The WW was a complete dud with little buzz or taste. The Doz D Doz was/is a knockout ... strong, prominent and pleasing taste with a bang on 3-hit buzz.
(Thank god i didn't toss both cuts! I'm vegging up a monster as we speak.)
Just as in women, go by looks alone and you'll be screwed.
q3corn
Active member
I don't recall the second run ever really making a difference. Once the original seed plant finishes the clone is ready to go. So I run it. If it did something unexpected that would be the reveg attempt scenario for me. The little reveg experience I have came early when I didn't understand as much about cloning and grafting.
Im'One
Active member
I like to harvest, smoke then revegg..I guess I'm crazy but keeping cuts from everything sounds complicated. I just always raise the hours of light towards the end and feed them rain. If I want to I can revegg it!
There is some differences between the seed run and the clone run, most of the time the buds from the clone have a better structure and slightly different shape. I see it with every strains I have done from seeds and after from clones. That's why it's important to make at least two runs before selecting a keeper.
Usually I run all females twice unless there is something I really don't like in one of them like taste when smoked or major herma trouble.
I dont reveg well. Lots of failures trying revegging. Taking cuts in veg is my #1 method or last resort taking cuts in flower to root in my cloner.
ArtOfSelection
Active member
I too always warm to my 'little favourites' during flowering based on scent or resin build up, I think whether they make the final cut depends on goal, if searching for a particular terp profile, you're going to select the specimens that display that trait, and they often show early, if your lucky enough to have several plants that have it, you're going to then look at smoke testing, for e.g. growing out a load of lemon skunk seeds, a selection of plants that are the most lemony will make the cut, if you have the top 5-10 most lemony, it's after that that smoke testing will come in, and analysing how that scent and flavour transfers to the dry smokable product, I think there is a link between how resinous a plant is, and overall strength, but that obviously doesn't mean it's the 'best' smoke, the most enjoyable part of selecting for me is when I have several plants that are equally good and then splitting hairs thereafter, often tho as others of said, it's not the most obvious, it's the dark horse that ends up the overall winner
CrushnYuba
Well-known member
I also say that runs from clone are different from seed. You have to run a couple clones to really know what it is. Structure and even flower time are different. Don't forget some clones are stronger then others. So i think you hot to run a few to really know.
El Timbo
Well-known member
A very varied response! Aroma in flower is very important to me personally - I love sitting among my flowering plants, inspecting them... inhaling their scent.
So a real keeper will have to impress me in flower as well as with her dried/cured buds - so perhaps I should be eliminating plants with no interesting aromas in flower as they will never be real long term keepers for me even if they smoke well.
Then if the plants that smell good in flower don't smoke well then I have no keepers from that grow and I move on...
So a real keeper will have to impress me in flower as well as with her dried/cured buds - so perhaps I should be eliminating plants with no interesting aromas in flower as they will never be real long term keepers for me even if they smoke well.
Then if the plants that smell good in flower don't smoke well then I have no keepers from that grow and I move on...
ArtOfSelection
Active member
Sounds logical if scent is such a big factor for you personally ..what good a sour diesel seed that has no sour ,what good a blueberry that have no sweetness/berry ,what good a cheese that isn't cheesy..but i will say,..often a plant can surprise you when you come to smoke it with it's amazing high .or when its dry and cured ...sometimes the plants that reek in flower are less pronounced when dry and cured .and plants less smelly in flower..... really reek when you crack a dry cured bud open,so imo don't be too hasty use all your god given senses to select
El Timbo
Well-known member
Yes I agree - and I'm interested in knowing if plants can go from being aroma free on the first run to being aroma rich on the second.
No ... I've never seen that. I HAVE seen plants that had a great smell when grown as a small tester seed plant but lost it, mostly, when grown out to a much larger size on the second run.
Second run plants can look a bit stronger because they go into flower more quickly though.
