[socioecologist]

Originally Posted by PDX Dopesmoker

Does that thing really say 42.3% cannabinoids? How in hell is that even possible, did you figure out how to clone a chunk of hash? That strain name is suspicious, are you using some sorta biomedical science flimflammery to push cannabinoid content to astonishing new levels?

The posted test result was from a rough ethanol extract. Flowers average 8-10% CBG by weight, 0.1% THC, 0.1% CBD. This is the product of traditional breeding.

[PDX Dopesmoker]

Originally Posted by socioecologist

The posted test result was from a rough ethanol extract. Flowers average 8-10% CBG by weight, 0.1% THC, 0.1% CBD. This is the product of traditional breeding.

Seems like you're pulling some exciting, crazy results. It was only a matter of time before someone started accusing you of witchcraft.
How many generations did you have to work on the CBG line to get it to start giving such amazing results? Do you think you'll be able to push CBG into the 20%-25% range?

[socioecologist]

Originally Posted by PDX Dopesmoker

Seems like you're pulling some exciting, crazy results. It was only a matter of time before someone started accusing you of witchcraft.
How many generations did you have to work on the CBG line to get it to start giving such amazing results? Do you think you'll be able to push CBG into the 20%-25% range?

I would question claims like that too, no worries! I don't know a lot of other seed or cannabis production companies who are operating like us.

Two generations of inbreeding on the initial CBG-rich variety, which led to 3 different pure CBG plants out of a small batch of seed (remember: inbreeding becomes very difficult very quickly due to sterility). I outcrossed the best (last March) to start the improvement process (earlier flowering, day neutral, more oil, more terps, etc.).

We have autoflowering CBG plants growing right now in preparation for a large seed production run for 2018 field trials. We are testing out some cool tools for identifying those plants in large populations (youPCR from Medicinal Genomics), as they only pop up 6% of the time in F2s. We are very curious to know if it is 100% accurate at this point or if SNP variation can lead to false results, so must compare the gene screen to leaf analysis on this first run ($$$). Our auto CBG lines will be the default for large scale oil production and will dominate our acreage next year.

On the boutique side (trimmed flowers destined for domestic and international markets), we are in the selection stages for new plant lines derived from outcrosses to high content lines with recognizable terpene profiles (The White, GG4, GG12, Ghost OG, Death Star, Thin Mint GSC, Plat. GSC, White OG, etc.). We plan to run about 15 acres of clones from these selections next season--which will not be enough to meet demand, but is about all my tired brain can handle logistically.

[socioecologist]

Wanted to share this shot of our crew. Can't thank them enough for making this all possible. Our first large shipment of trimmed flowers is ready for delivery. Growing acres of plants is (relatively) easy; getting material broken down, trimmed, and packaged back up is a true logistical challenge and we couldn't do it without our team. We were able to produce some epic product this season, could not be happier with the outcome.

Rain is creeping into the forecast and this year's harvest looks to be winding down for us over the next two weeks.

[PDX Dopesmoker]

socioecologist, I was just reading back through this thread to refresh my stoned memory & look at the dates on a few things. You posted your harvest photo last year in early November & this year its in early October. In January you posted about your experiments with finding the early flowering varieties indoors.
Assuming that the socioecologist annual harvest photo is an accurate metric for progress in the outdoor cannabis growing season, how much of the full month earlier is attributable to a more favorable growing season this year and how much is attributable to your sophisticated indoor pheno hunting technique? Did the ones that performed early indoors also do the same outside?
Kinda makes the head spin a little if so, too much to think about at once.
I know a number of people who are trying to develop their own tasty early flowering high THC varieties & they get good results, but mostly its done on trial & error. Using your method could really advance the ball for them (also for me cause they keep on giving me free seeds to test out). Also got me wondering about finding some plants that flip at 15/9 & leaving the timer there and if that would speed up the indoor flowering cycle.

[oldchuck]

I can tell you PDX that they do flower early. And the buds are fat and aromatic. They have been prone to some bud rot this year since we had a very wet August here on the east coast. Flowers in August, harvest in mid September.

[PDX Dopesmoker]

Originally Posted by oldchuck

I can tell you PDX that they do flower early. And the buds are fat and aromatic. They have been prone to some bud rot this year since we had a very wet August here on the east coast. Flowers in August, harvest in mid September.

Sounds like the system works as intended, thats really big news. Congrats on the dank harvest & thanks for filling me in.

[socioecologist]

Originally Posted by PDX Dopesmoker

socioecologist, I was just reading back through this thread to refresh my stoned memory & look at the dates on a few things. You posted your harvest photo last year in early November & this year its in early October. In January you posted about your experiments with finding the early flowering varieties indoors.
Assuming that the socioecologist annual harvest photo is an accurate metric for progress in the outdoor cannabis growing season, how much of the full month earlier is attributable to a more favorable growing season this year and how much is attributable to your sophisticated indoor pheno hunting technique? Did the ones that performed early indoors also do the same outside?
Kinda makes the head spin a little if so, too much to think about at once.
I know a number of people who are trying to develop their own tasty early flowering high THC varieties & they get good results, but mostly its done on trial & error. Using your method could really advance the ball for them (also for me cause they keep on giving me free seeds to test out). Also got me wondering about finding some plants that flip at 15/9 & leaving the timer there and if that would speed up the indoor flowering cycle.

Good recall and thanks: I think this is one of the more important insights / developments in cannabis production in a while. You are right about last year, it was a mid-to-late October harvest that stretched into the first week of November with our 2016 varieties. We were testing our first "early" varieties in the summer of 2016 on a small scale at our greenhouses. The indoor grow in my garage last winter was more of a "proof of concept" on our "early" varieties released for the 2017 production season, just to make sure that they would respond to the light cycle the way I had hoped (they did). No pheno hunting required on this one, since our crosses are as close as we can get to true F1s without using double haploids. We self our selected moms until they become infertile as pollen donors (line breeding), then outcross to another highly inbred line that is as distant genetically as possible. The resulting plants express true for particularly traits: (1) early flowering, (2) massive flowers, (3) loads of resin and terps, and (4) robust stalks that do not require staking. I don't want to sound like an arrogant ass, but this outcome is all purposeful and by design. It seems like magic, but is just basic plant breeding in many respects (though also years of hard work and meticulous devotion to a particular goal).

As you and several others mentioned last winter, there are SO many variables that can affect flower timing, even with the early flowering genes nailed down. Our R&D field was full of 2018 varieties getting tested before release to farmers; our experience in real conditions is that each variety has a harvest window lasting about 1 month. When that window arrives is dependent on your location (i.e. day length) and, critically, your fertilization regimen (excessive N can delay onset over a month). In our field, flower initiation began in early July for some plants and early August for others, with about 25% beginning the process each week over the course of a month. We harvested from late August to late September as the blocks of plants reached maturity. If your row spacing is appropriate, "early" varieties stretch the usefulness of drying space by allowing for a long, staggered harvest under good weather conditions.

This is definitely a "golden age" of cannabis production for my brother and I. Farmers are arriving from all over the world to see these lines in action; it's really cool to have solutions, in seed form, ready for deployment regardless of where a farm is located. Looking to grow thousands of acres in Columbia at high elevations? Got a line developed for that. Want to grow in the high desert where frost can strike in mid-August? We have plants (autos) that will get you a bountiful harvest before then. These breeding tools also help our own flower production program as well: when we ID new cannabinoids, we have a breeding program in place that allows us to scale up production within a year. Even that is getting a boost right now, as we just ran our first PCR gene screen yesterday; now we can screen out unselected chemotypes the same week they emerge from soil. This was my goal 10 years ago and we finally achieved it yesterday afternoon--pretty stoked. The future is so bright that I'm trying to revel in the moment a bit.

[Aota1]

Just got a sample of some cbd tincture made using your (Socioecologist) varieties grown and extracted here in eugene. The producer is very pleased with the seeds.

[socioecologist]

Nice! Hope it helps you. We've had nothing but positive feedback from growers. Our goal is to make varieties better every year and help push large scale cannabis cultivation forward.