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Help looking for moms

Beesknees1

New member
Got a bunch of beans I'm gonna pop looking for some mothers. I run 1 plant per sq/ft in my room. I am wanting to flip my seed plants at 2 ish weeks from germination, so basically 12/12 from seed. Should I wait for the seeds to be 4-6 weeks old so the are "sexually mature". If I do run them that small will I get a good representation of the of the plants genetics/ the size I'm looking for (1x1) . Will I have any trouble grabbing a couple clones at say week 1 of flower on these seed plants/ will the clone have good vigour coming from such a young plant? I'm am gonna flip the rest of my room in 2-3 weeks... Any thoughts or experience much appreciated
 

WelderDan

Well-known member
Veteran
I always wait until the nodes begin to alternate before flipping. At that point, they are considered sexually mature. It is my personal opinion that doing so produces better product as opposed to 12/12 from seed.

I can't say for sure if you will get a true representation of the plant by going 12/12 from seed, but you certainly have a better chance by waiting until the nodes alternate. As for grabbing clones a week into flower, that is OK. It may take a few extra days to root, and you need to immediately go to a veg schedule like 24/0, 20/4 or 18/6 until it stops throwing pistils, but you can root flowing clones. The longer you wait, the longer it takes to return to veg mode.

Best to take clones before flipping as they root easier, but you of course won't know the sex unless it shows pistils prior to the flip unless they are fem seed of course.

Hope that made sense, and best of luck
 

JockBudman

Well-known member
Ahoy there, just thought I'd offer my perspective on this.

Yes you can definitely run them 12-12 from seed and get a good impression of the strain. If you grow it well, get the environment right etc you'll have the same results no matter if you grow in a 25 litre tub or a 2litre bottle. I've been running clones of a few strains lately, growing and testing them in different styles - topped and untopped, 2l pots, 5l pots etc. I've not noticed any difference in performance other than the cuts in bigger pots having more branching going on.

Cloning wise I've been experimenting with that too and I've successfully rooted cuts taken up to 3 weeks in flower. After that my success rate drops off and it's a gamble. You're also more likely to lose cuts due to mould in the proto buds unless you trim them off (I learned the hard way)

The one thing you don't mention is having a separate veg space but you'll need one to do any cloning as they won't root in 12-12 and you can't keep the mums. Although I'm guessing you have that sorted, just a wee thought in case others are reading this.

I'd say your plan sounds good, you could definitely run a 12-12 from seed, take cuts once sex has shown and have them vegging whilst you finish up the seed plants, smoke the results and make some choices on what to keep.
You could also take the cuts early on before they show sex, that way you can toss males or keep them if you find a really good one and want to make crosses in future.

Only other thing I'd add is to take two cuts at least from every plant you want to clone. Again, I learned the hard way on that one.

Ultimately it's horses for courses - everyone has their own way of doing things based on their set up and growing style. WelderDan's technique is much more professional than mine but does require more time and space. I tend to run smaller pots with less veg time to run numbers, look for keepers and make seed runs.

Experiment, mess around and don't beat yourself up if you lose a cut - experience and mistakes are how we all learn. Some of us quicker than idiots like me but it's all good.

Hope this helps

Ganja gu brah :joint:
 

Beesknees1

New member
Im thinking I am gonna do 12/12 from seed since they will probably end up the same size I run plants in my room so it will be a good representation of what im looking for in a plant. Thanks Budman some good tips in there. I was Gonnna wait till week one to take clones mostly because im not sure there will be enough plant before that to take them. I was doing a lot of reading on one of the strains am about to pop last night and looks like a ton of people are having trouble with hermies. I realize doing a seed run in a part of your flower room is a risk but I am in there every day so I am not worried about missing males but hermies on the other hand I have never had and from what I have read im getting the impression even if your looking they are hard to find. Do you guys have any experience with this. Since they will be small plants I would think I could spot some nanners or weird looking buds but...
I also have some seeds I would like to sift for the upcoming outdoor season. Not exactly sure how to do that inside. I am at 49 parallel and have strains with at least one parent with proven strong/resistant genetics for this climate. The other parent being killer indoor genetics, also one strain is a pure outdoor strain. So id be looking for quality and botrytis/weather resistance first and yield second. I was thinking about growing them out and then in week 6 move them to another space picking the nicest looking nugs and seeing which will resist botrytis the longest by subjecting them to wet cold conditions. Again not ideal and will not be growing the kind of monsters I can grow outside.
 

JockBudman

Well-known member
What strain is it you're running that herms? I've actually had some experience with this shit on the current grow I'm doing - it was a female strawberry glue from thseeds that banana'd about 3 weeks in. I caught it early I thought, picked all them off but the next day - boom, loads more. So I scrapped it but most of the plants that were in there are seeded to some extent. It's why I mostly use regs now and only pop freebie fems when it doesn't really matter if something turns on me.

Cloning wise, if you do 12-12 from seed the plants will be vegging/stretching for at least the first 3 weeks until they show sex. From then you've got another 3 weeks or so to take cuts that'll reveg, although taking them at the point they show pistils is probably the best option as you know sex and they're still early on enough to root and veg easily.

Ganja gu brah :joint:
 

Beesknees1

New member
Gorilla Wreck 4, and yeah its fem. Im gonna grab a couple clones from each plant as early as possible and just scrap the males for the reg seeds im running
 

Lester Beans

Frequent Flyer
Veteran
Sure 12/12 from seed is a good way to figure out which plants have the aroma, resin, structure, stretch etc.

You can take a seed flat of seeds on start them at 12/12 even, just to check the qualities. Then run the winners after some veg.

I'm about to drop 100 seed in two flats and 12/12 them.
 

Wendull C.

Active member
Veteran
Let your moms get sexually mature then take cuts from those if possible. That always resulted in the phenos showing more traits for me. Just my .02 cents. It is probably worth less than that though man.

You can however take a cut or two and put them under 12/12 to sex them before the plant is sexually mature so you don't waste time on males unless you want to breed them.
 
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dank.frank

ef.yu.se.ka.e.em
ICMag Donor
Veteran
12/12 from seed doesn't go into flower automatically like most people seem to think. It still takes a couple weeks for them to transition from seedling to being aware of the fact all environmental indicators are screaming to hurry up and flower and make seed. It's not like you don't get a slight veg period anyway.

It's certainly not the same as flowering a rooted clone that is sexually mature that truly does trigger day 1 of 12/12.



dank.Frank
 

Beesknees1

New member
Also anyone have any thoughts on sifting outdoor genetics indoors>? Obviously outdoors is best but would like to have something new for the upcoming season
 
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