The Stick Test! How do you choose your keepers?

[Epiphyte]

Hello Everyone, this is just meant to be a discussion about how you choose your keepers. Obviously, you smoke the finished product, but are there other common characteristics among keepers that are noticeable at different stages of the flowering cycle or even in veg?

For me, I do the "stick test" at all stages of flowering. Two fingers, rub the bud, press the two fingers together, then smell. I notice that all keepers usually stick stronger and earlier than other strains and also smell stronger.

Currently, I have a deadhead og(skunk pheno). It was a keeper. It went through about 9 months of not the best treatment in veg. Mostly, just in a small pot, under flouros, with poor air circulation. Its five weeks into flower and does not have a noticeable smell or stick. I wonder if this has always been the case or did I bunk it out in 9 months of mediocre care?

So, I'm wondering what characteristics people look for in a growing plant that are common among keepers. I also have a problem/question about whether some strains don't show their keeper quality until 3, 2, or maybe 1 week before harvest?

Lastly I'll say that I have noticed that the plants in veg that smell the most are NEVER the keeper of the bunch (in terms of seeds). And I have five new Tangerine Dream x Afghan seeds in veg. I happened to randomly put a leaf steam/ petiole between my teeth and sucked, something I don't normally do, and there was such a distinct orange/tangerine citrus taste that I was taken aback. Now that I type this it occurs to me that I need to check the other plant stems....

I'd love to know what everyone thinks!

 

[growhigh1233]

depends........ if im growing out a seed line with specific traits then its easy.......a blueberry without blueberry smell, pointless so everything is discarded without the correct smell !, same with if your looking for a yeilder ! all none yeilders go ! anything to tall ,.... bud quality to ! if one looks like crap with mid range resin ! could discount it if your selling it x

when its high motivated its harder you have to judge purely on smoke !............. i have 15 nevilles haze to smoke test !........ thats when it gets hard !.... takes months to get to a consensus imo

coz if your always high, it gets harder to tell differences ! all just melts into a crazy haze ride

 

[St. Phatty]

My tests tend to be more of a torture test.

My winter-spring indoor grow extended into the early summer - temps in the 100's.

So I got to test heat resistance.

One strain did exceptionally well, like it was 70 degrees.


Of course generally I like to pamper the hell out of them. But sometimes ...

The test is usually - what I like to smoke. + what yields.

 

[mr bub]

the final test if its a keeper doesn't happen until late, like trichrome coverage and smell, and the smoke test.
Thats why re-veg of a plant is such a good idea, you can grow it again and get lots of cuttings.

 

[dabass2dark]

I judge my plants based on characteristics throughout its entire life. I love a good vigorous grower in veg., but one that doesn't over stretch. I love it when a plant is easy to clone too.

In flower, I like it to also be vigorous but not over stretch to the point of being hard to manage. The overall flowering time is another crucial factor, so if it goes longer than 9.5 to 10 weeks its probably not going to be kept in my garden. Sugar showing up early on in the 2nd 3rd week is generally a good sign.

But the most important factors for me, don't come until the 8-9th week usually, and that's the terpenes. For maximum smell and taste I feel you need to harvest when the plant is plenty ripe, with at least some amber trichomes showing.

I feel like the taste and smell are more important than the potency. The ability for the plant to be burned and produce such lovely flavors makes it all worth it. But, bag appeal can go along way too, so a winner would also have to have some cool colors or some nice frostiness.

 

[BadRabbit]

Clones sometimes/often have slightly different growth patterns that the seed mom ... probably just because they go into flower so much more quickly. Because of that, I never rule out a plant for keeper status based on excessive stretch or smallish yield.

I take cuts from everything, usually 2 per plant, then watch carefully. Aroma, strong aroma and good trich coverage plants get special consideration .... but everything is smoke tested at finish. Anything that offers even a hint of nice flavor and good to great potency is run a second time from clone ... if it's blah flavor, blah potency and low trichs, it 's gone, but anything that shows potential is run a second time, at least.

All that being said, real keepers usually jump out and clearly announce themselves by week 5 to 7 of the seed grow ... strong pleasing aroma, and pretty crystally buds aren't that hard to spot. The yield on these obvious keepers is often, not always, but often, less than their plainer sisters ... but once a gem is found, your job is to figure out how to overcome yield with her clones. Double veg time, topping, not topping, scrog style ... whatever it takes. And even if you do get less overall yield, what would you (and your friends) rather have? A bigger pile of meh, or a smaller stash of solid gold?

A true commercial grower will probably answer that they have to have both quality and big yield ... I get that, but good luck. Growing top quality usually involves some tradeoffs.

 

[Epiphyte]

Thanks for the input everyone! It seems, Badrabbit, that some strains don't show their goods until at least week 6, huh?

Anybody have opinions on stem rubbing in veg or early flower? ie how it smells, if its noticeably oily...do any of these consistently or inconsistently suggest keeper quality?

And Growhigh1233, thanks for your thoughts... Something I need to be more aware of is, "what is this strain and why am I growing it." I'm pretty much just always looking for the best taste and smell with the strongest high. Ironically, the deadhead is a good example. I got it because I wanted something similar to chem 91 but what I choose to keep was closer to a Skunk 1. But it had the shabang. Taste, ohhh the smell ( skunk lovers know), the high, all done in no more than 8 weeks