How many plants must you select from to not be a "hack"

[WelderDan]

Speaking of an eye for selection, I have a theory about how peoples' ability to see traits changes, or more accurately, develops over time. So often you hear the phrase, "There were two phenotypes". You read further and find that the observer noticed that some were short (get ready...INDICA) and the others were tall, (don't tell me...SATIVA?). That kind of statement always startled me because I've yet to see a seedbatch that fell into such neat, well defined categories even for those most easily observed traits. But, further thought always brings me to the conclusion that the observer wasn't really looking that closely, or more properly, hadn't yet learned to look. Coming from the other direction, the science of plant breeding has matured quite a bit since Mendel. It's much less common for people to trot out the punnett square with great confidence than it was in days past. The simple explanation for that is that we now know that traits that sort into simple qualitative groups are rarer than hens teeth, and that most traits are inherited quantitatively. Of course, that's not to say that the PS is useless with quantitative traits. Now for the real can of worms. Whether a trait is judged to be quantitative or qualitative can depend on who observed it.

I have to agree with you about how your observational ability develops over time. I recall my first forays into growing back in the late 70's. Colombian Red grew shorter with fatter leaves than Colombian Gold. My first experience growing an Afghan Indica was a plant with medium width leaves and fairly long internodes, but it budded and finished before the Colombians even showed sex. I was aware of the differences, but knew nothing about what it all meant. Back then, we saved bag seed, culled the males and got what we got. Only a handfull of the people I knew were actively crossing various strains in search of something better. It was a "let's try this and see what happens" approach.

Now, through countless hours of reading, chucking pollen and observation, I'm just starting to think I have some inkling of what I'm looking at and how to achieve what I want. And I find my nose is as valuable as my eyes. I know what I like, and I know what I'm looking for, it's just that the differences can be very subtle and hard to spot.

I'm no Luther Burbank (a batch of potent but horrid tasting Afghani #1 x C99 proves that!), but I've hacked myself several excellent crosses in my quest for knowledge. I even consider my mistakes a success, in that I learned something. In my case, I've learned that patience and persistence are key in developing that eye for selection. Not that I'm there yet, but I'm outta the parking lot at least!

 

[tokatronic]

I don't think the birds select seeds from only the most potent buds. I would imagine once they've caught hold of the munchies, they're keen on every seed in sight. The fact that birds can get high does not indicate that the birds reject seeds from buds that do not get them high.

Yeah. And as well we could say that the fact that birds eats seeds doesn't indicate that the birds get high. It could be as the fish, I've read on a hobby fisher's site that they throw cracked cannabis seeds in the water and the fish go crazy about them because of the nutricious food. It just might be that the birds find them nutritious as well.

 

[ganjasuiteseat]

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