I love fems. If you get them from the right breeder, you're golden. I have plant limitations so I usually run fems unless there's something I really want to have that's only in reg. But if I could run as many as the op, I'd go for regs. You also never know what you want to keep for a mom until that shit is down and you've smoked it. Picking a mom at 4.5 weeks is silly, sorry.
No need to apologize. I was referring to picking a mother to cut clones from. As growers, we have all tried many things and sooner or later, discover what works best for them. Having grown for many years, I have popped my share of seeds to grow. In early days, I would just germ some seeds, veg them, then 12/12 light, kill the boys and flower the girls, only to start over... seeds, veg, kill the boys, over and over again! As I progressed, to save time I began to clone instead of growing from seeds. This takes out all of the guesswork since it is a genetic duplicate of the plant it is taken from. Next time you plant a handful of seeds from your next strain, keep a close eye on your plants as they progress through the flowering cycle. Many times, there is one (sometimes more) that flowers better, has more frost, is bushier... than the rest, etc. When you just keep the first female found and use it as a mother for cloning, chances are, you are doing yourself a dis-service. The reason I chose the 4-4.5 week time-frame, is it provides the maximum flowering time to observe the plant characteristics, while still being able to return the plant to a vegetative state. Many plants cannot return to a veg state after 5-6 weeks. I cannot say that I have noticed a difference in the "smoke" of a particular strain, provided the conditions are the same between plants. I have, however found that how well a plant grows and responds does change from seed to seed, just like clones from the top of a mother grow differently than clones cut from the middle or bottom of the same plant.
I appreciate your input, but to say it's silly just means you may not completely grasp all that is involved in proper and efficient genetic selecting. Instead of this type of remark, you could explain why you disagree. This will allow others to make their own conclusions based on the available information. I will not be drawn into an argumentative debate. I just want to share my knowledge and experience...
Remember, this forum isn't for grandiloquent comments, we're here to help each other.
