Question for experience breeders

[gagekko]

Okay, thanks in advance for being able to pick your brain.

I bought 10 seeds of Royal Queen Special Kush #1 fem seeds. Usually I have a pretty good germ rate but this time only 4 popped like they should - got 2 other pop but they turned out to be "retarded" mutants that did stand a chance :/

So right off the bat, I'm not getting a warm fuzzy about this grow. This is besides the fact that I got a freebie before and it did surprisingly well - that's why I decided to grow it again.

Now here's the question. I just took clones and one of the mothers has particularly nice smell to it. Now I realize smell doesn't always correlate to a better overall plant but I was just wondering if there is a "more often than not" kinda deal with scent? I mean, I realize you breeders have a lot of knowledge and have a whole list of stuff to look for when weeding out plants for that special one. I also realize that plants can trick you and the one you think is that keeper turns out just ok and the one you don't take the clones from turns out to be the keeper, lol.

I guess where I'm going with this is should I just take all four to flower and see for myself which is the best finisher or should I concentrate on maybe the "best" two and rock/pamper them out till the end? If I should just keep the best two - what criteria should I continue to focus on? Thanks again, and sorry for the long drawn out question.

 

[Ason]

I'm not a breeder but some of the best pheno's I ever had were not very stinky in veg and exploded with smell in the flowering. What I like to do is a before you switch them to flower take 2-4 or even more clones off of each plant, mark the clones with a piece of tape with corresponding # or strain name and the plant you got it off of with the same mark. Switch them all to flower and by 4 weeks or so you'll definitely know which are your keepers, so then you go back to your clones and keep the ones which show the most desired results.

 

[gagekko]

I'm not a breeder but some of the best pheno's I ever had were not very stinky in veg and exploded with smell in the flowering. What I like to do is a before you switch them to flower take 2-4 or even more clones off of each plant, mark the clones with a piece of tape with corresponding # or strain name and the plant you got it off of with the same mark. Switch them all to flower and by 4 weeks or so you'll definitely know which are your keepers, so then you go back to your clones and keep the ones which show the most desired results.

Haha... Thanks bro... I pretty much figure thats the way to do it... But, unfortunately, I can cause I got to stay legal and the plant count would put me over the edge

I guess breeding isn't in my future but it's nice to dream about it

 

[keifcake]

When I make most a lot of my fem seeds, I'll get them crossed many times before ever smoking one or both of them and then make my decision on the results afterwards. You can always reveg them at the end of flower and then make a decision as well about which to keep. i usually go the reveg route, but reveg isn't 100%, sometimes they dont make it.

 

[The Mantis]

Okay, thanks in advance for being able to pick your brain.

I bought 10 seeds of Royal Queen Special Kush #1 fem seeds. Usually I have a pretty good germ rate but this time only 4 popped like they should - got 2 other pop but they turned out to be "retarded" mutants that did stand a chance :/

So right off the bat, I'm not getting a warm fuzzy about this grow. This is besides the fact that I got a freebie before and it did surprisingly well - that's why I decided to grow it again.

Now here's the question. I just took clones and one of the mothers has particularly nice smell to it. Now I realize smell doesn't always correlate to a better overall plant but I was just wondering if there is a "more often than not" kinda deal with scent? I mean, I realize you breeders have a lot of knowledge and have a whole list of stuff to look for when weeding out plants for that special one. I also realize that plants can trick you and the one you think is that keeper turns out just ok and the one you don't take the clones from turns out to be the keeper, lol.

I guess where I'm going with this is should I just take all four to flower and see for myself which is the best finisher or should I concentrate on maybe the "best" two and rock/pamper them out till the end? If I should just keep the best two - what criteria should I continue to focus on? Thanks again, and sorry for the long drawn out question.

hey gagekko - You could try the reveg method:

method 1 - just grow them all out and make no clones at first. then chop only 2/3 of the top of the plant off when harveting. change timer to 18/6 and reveg them all at first. Then just keep reveging only your keeper and make clones from it.

method 2 - when harvesting. keep a few small buds/stems for cuttings. make clones with those. once rooted it will take a few weeks to start reveg. until then it looks like a bud on a stick.

hope that helps.

me - i made clones of the ones i thought were keepers right before i flipped to 12/12. i'm pretty good at guessing so far but missed about 2-3 plants this time that i HAVE to keep bc they are just that sick. i'll do this on my grow log in a few weeks.

 

[shagalicious]

how do you know which is the best without smoking?
i can't believe noone has said this

there is no way to know which is a keeper before smoking

also - your best buzz or smell may not mean much for breeding
just becaue a plant has a charactaristic doesn't mean it will pass it on

good luck - have fun

 

[The Mantis]

how do you know which is the best without smoking?
i can't believe noone has said this

there is no way to know which is a keeper before smoking

also - your best buzz or smell may not mean much for breeding
just becaue a plant has a charactaristic doesn't mean it will pass it on

good luck - have fun

You are right about not really knowing until you smoke. However, I've been lucky with a bunch and have been able to distinguish which one is best after 4-5 weeks of veg. Maybe it's a 6th sense but I have been pretty lucky just picking.

This grow, I missed about 2-3 plants that are better than the clones I took. I think because of the good genetics it is harder to find a keeper. But, that's what reveging is for.

This is a very interesting topic. Almost thread worthy for all growers to see if others have luck "guessing" before smoking.

 

[shagalicious]

You are right about not really knowing until you smoke. However, I've been lucky with a bunch and have been able to distinguish which one is best after 4-5 weeks of veg. Maybe it's a 6th sense but I have been pretty lucky just picking.

This grow, I missed about 2-3 plants that are better than the clones I took. I think because of the good genetics it is harder to find a keeper. But, that's what reveging is for.

This is a very interesting topic. Almost thread worthy for all growers to see if others have luck "guessing" before smoking.

how many seeds did you crack?

average 10 pack is 5 females 5 males
out of 5 females you picked the fourth best?
out of how many females do you consider yourself lucky to have picked the fourth best?
if you had ten and chose the fourth best, that means you scored 70% at best - is that a "C"?
if you had twenty females and still guessed the fourth best, that's barely a "b" on grade
take cuttings of all your girls if you're looking for elite phenos
if you're just checking out a strain...

just sayin