should I be looking for a "keeper"?

[StinkyGreen]

I'm looking for some advice from more experienced growers about looking for a "keeper" phenotype.

My background: I'm a 400W closet grower, growing only for occasional personal consumption. It doesn't make any financial sense for me to grow - I do it just for fun and because I want to know exactly what I'm smoking. I've done two grows to date. My first grow was about "wow, I grew my own weed!" My second grow was about "wow, I grew different strains!" I'm now at the point where have a pretty good idea about the kind of high(s) I like, and have purchased seeds for 5 different strains that I want to try next. The problem (which I'm sure I'm not the first to have) is that I now have way too many seeds/strains for the size of my grow space

So what is the best approach to take? My inclination is to plant 2-3 seeds for each strain and hope for a female of each. On the other hand, I read about folks planting a whole pack or more to look for a "keeper pheno". Is taking the first approach a classic newbie mistake? How much variability in terms of the quality of the high is there in a pack of 10 seeds? Is a great high really all about hunting for that killer pheno? Or does it depend on the strain/breeder? If it helps, all the strains I'm looking at next are Mandalas.

The most important characteristic to me is the quality of the high. Bag appeal, yield, frostiness, plant structure, taste, etc. ... I'm much less concerned about. Given this, does it make sense for me to plant an entire pack and look for a "keeper" pheno that would be presumably much better than the rest? Or are all the seeds from a pack of 10 likely to give the same kind/quality of high, and "pheno hunting" is really just for breeders and commercial growers.

 

[GhettoInc]

If i were you just grow out what you have room for. Get a general idea of kind of buzz you want and pick out a couple strains. Grow some out you could start out 10 or maybe even 15 under your 400. Start up a small veg cab and keep a clone off every female you grow out. If you find one you really like. Keep it around and keep going until you got a few good ones you really like. Cause you get bored of smoking the same thing all the time easy.(at least i do). If its just for personal not breeding. thats gonna be the fastest way. If you keep the original moms and flower a clone off each one. you gonna waste alot of space if you dont like some of them. But doing it that way your future clones are going to be more vigorous. But that is debatable.

 

[WelderDan]

There will always be some variation in even the most stable strains. Even if a strain is very uniform, you will eventually find one plant that stands out. It may be 1 out of 100. But it will stand out from the rest.

And one day, you will grow out some beans and find that one plant that stands out, and you will kick yourself over and over for not keeping a cut.

Trust me. It will happen.

 

[RaNgEr RiCk]

Always man, the search never ends!

 

[GhettoInc]

You will always get to remember it though Theres always the one that gets away. Its kinda the same way with women , you can hold on to it for awhile but sooner or later your gonna lose it. but you can always go back and replay it in your mind. lol anybody thats been married long enough knows what im talkin about no offense to any females

 

[stoney917]

every grower has THAT ONE WHO GOT AWAY myne was a 97 ghsc hawian snow caramel haze pheno. oh and my first blueberry plant. what strains did ya get? ya may get some tips to help in early selection.

 

[Iron_Lion]

If I was growing just for my self I would just grow what ever I wanted to smoke at the time. I get bored quickly and love trying many strains and up until recently I didnt keep clones. I've recently acquired some expensive/rare strains and the only economical way to keep them around is to keep clones.

For the personal grower one thing to look at is fem seeds, they've come a long way in the last few years and now you can get some really good S! fem seeds of elite clones that are pretty close to original. I've run many fem strains and have had some real winners.

If you like variety and dont care much for a specific yield just keep going from seed.

 

[Marn]

Like you, I just started growing but i'm going the route of finding some nice moms. I got lucky and found a nice trainwreck that I plan to keep around. Now I plan to get some indica dom genetics or something from the chem family and try to find a keeper there. Eventually i'd like to cross my wreck.

 

[Sandnut]

I would just try loads of different strains, you must be curious of how they all grow different, look different, smell different, and the way the end products are so different in good ways! If you are really looking for a keeper I'd order some Feminized Chronic seeds and try find the fat cola pheno which is really common like 25% i think (?) Like this guy did, he yielded 450grams of 1plant in a closet... http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=12653
its quality smoke too. good luck!

 

[ThePizzaMan]

I'm looking for some advice from more experienced growers about looking for a "keeper" phenotype.

My background: I'm a 400W closet grower, growing only for occasional personal consumption. It doesn't make any financial sense for me to grow - I do it just for fun and because I want to know exactly what I'm smoking. I've done two grows to date. My first grow was about "wow, I grew my own weed!" My second grow was about "wow, I grew different strains!" I'm now at the point where have a pretty good idea about the kind of high(s) I like, and have purchased seeds for 5 different strains that I want to try next. The problem (which I'm sure I'm not the first to have) is that I now have way too many seeds/strains for the size of my grow space

So what is the best approach to take? My inclination is to plant 2-3 seeds for each strain and hope for a female of each. On the other hand, I read about folks planting a whole pack or more to look for a "keeper pheno". Is taking the first approach a classic newbie mistake? How much variability in terms of the quality of the high is there in a pack of 10 seeds? Is a great high really all about hunting for that killer pheno? Or does it depend on the strain/breeder? If it helps, all the strains I'm looking at next are Mandalas.

The most important characteristic to me is the quality of the high. Bag appeal, yield, frostiness, plant structure, taste, etc. ... I'm much less concerned about. Given this, does it make sense for me to plant an entire pack and look for a "keeper" pheno that would be presumably much better than the rest? Or are all the seeds from a pack of 10 likely to give the same kind/quality of high, and "pheno hunting" is really just for breeders and commercial growers.

Absolutely...if you are limited in space...you will def. want to hunt for that pheno that you like. The variations among phennotypes is pretty amazing...it eventually you will want to stop purchasing seeds.

You could make your own...but I prefer cloning. Also....when you get to run the same pheno over and over..it brings you much closer to the plant and its needs.

You must find a keeper.

 

[StinkyGreen]

Thanks for all the advice! So ultimately it does seem worthwhile to "pheno hunt". But yes, it does take more effort too. I think for my next grow I'll still go down the route of maximizing the number of strains. Once I figure out what strain(s) I like best, I'll then do a dedicated grow to find a keeper. I like the suggestion of setting up a small clone cab and then flowering the plants early to identify which ones to keep. I also like the idea of using feminized seeds to check out different strains. Good suggestions.

The strains I have on deck are Mandala's Chill-Om, 8 Miles High, Sadhu, Point of No Return, and Oshira. (I grew Satori and Beyond the Brain in my first two grows and liked them lot.)

I love the concept of the "one that got away" I feel that way about a strain I smoked in Seattle about 7 years ago. No idea what it was, but wow, blew my mind. The analogy with women is a good one. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all though ... I wonder what analogy women would draw between weed and men