Autoflower Propagation - Strain Stability?

[early4surely]

Hi Afficianados,

Just received some Auto Hindu Kush (Lowlife) seeds . Originally I had ordered the Auto AK47, but got these as replacement . I plan to grow them indoors for seed production. My hope is to generate plentiful seedstock to run multiple outdoor plots with continual harvests.

Has anyone tried to run homemade auto F1's? I wonder how stable the genetics are, in other words whether the offspring are worthwhile. I chose Auto Hindu Kush as my 2nd preference, hoping genetics would be more stable than with other AF's.

I would also be grateful if someone could share report on this Auto Hindu Kush, if possible outdoor grow. I know the strain is quite new so will take any info I can get...

Respect and honor to all guerilla lovers (my specialty is low maintenance, hence the AF's)

Earl

 

[Kodiak]

Hi Earl, sure it's worth it. Every time you cross two of the strongest plants you can find to each other, you also get stronger offspring. It is impossible to predict how the genes will recombinate but since the parents were strong you will most likely end up with strong offspring. There can be some variation in the genetic recombination but generally all F1's will look quite similar to eachother, carrrying half of the genes of the mother and half of the father. Once you get into F2's you will see some variance in phentotype.

It all depends whether or not the auto HK is a F2-cross or a truebreeding F3. The autoflowering trait is a recessive one in cannabis. Sometimes auto seeds are sold as F2's which means that 50% of the plants from those seeds will autoflower and the rest will flower normally. If you know that they are truebreeding lowyders then all is fine, if not you need to grow out the seeds and watch the plants. If all females flower under say a 20/4 light schedule then you have a truebreeding lowryder strain, if only some do then you have a F2 strain. If that is the case, remove the non-autoflowering males and females from the seed stock and when you know which females are autoflowering, pick the best ones and remove the rest. In order to ensure that you are using the best genetics available, save only one or two that are sticky and smell good.

The same goes for the males. Watch for autoflowering and also how fast they form the clusters of "balls". Keep only one strong male or perhaps two if you want more genetic diversity. Scratch all plants that show any signs of weakness.

I made F1's of Diesel Ryder and a Diesel Ryder x Lowryder #2 cross that I call Quick Diesel. The same formula applies here as with any cross, I started out with 10 plants of each strain and when I found the strongest ones, I removed the rest. The male I chose was the strongest one from both strains and the females I used were also the best ones out of the 10 seeds started.

If you use only the strongest individuals for the cross, you will end up with seeds that will grow into strong plants, equal to or even better than the parents. You will be working with a small population so I recommend that you chose one male and one female, that way you will have a better idea of what the offspring will look like. You can then cross those F1's to a new batch of auto HK or another lowryder strain in order to improve on vigour.

I intend to cross my hybrids to new lowryder strains each time That way I will ensure that the offspring is strong and I might also run into something really special by doing so.

If you check out the breeding section of my Growing Guide you will find an example on how the recessive autoflowering trait behaves in genetic recombination. Have a look, it will give you an answer to your question.

 

[early4surely]

The can be some variation in the genetic recombination but generally all F1's will look quite similar to eachother, carrrying half of the genes of the mother and half of the father.

Thanks for your help Kodiak. Good info on your link for sure.

Am I correct to understand that F1's should be 100% AF provided parents are original 100% AF's from breeder?

Bombay,
Earl

 

[Kodiak]

Yes, that is correct. Lowryder strains that I know are truebreeding for sure are Lowryder#1, Lowryder#2, Diesel Ryder, Blue Ryder/Blue Streak and Master Low. Possibly also Power Stout.

Strains from the Joint Doctor and Mdanzig are generally truebreeding.

 

[early4surely]

Thanks man, kudos, done deal.
Spark me up Kodi!

 

[Kodiak]

Sure, glad I could help.

Breeding cannabis is a lot of fun. You get your own seeds and sometimes even your own unique hybrid. Naming it is the fun part.

Good luck with those lowryders man.

 

[curts1]

Hi, I´m also planning on making some Quick Diesel (nice name) this summer amd am wondering how your strain turned out? I´ll be doing this small scale, have four seeds of each, mostly to get my own AF seedstock.
C

 

[Kodiak]

Hi Curts,

I just finished that seed run so I have not had time to try them out yet. I started a new seed project today so I'll know soon enough. I started some 25 seeds of the F1 Diesel Ryder and 25 seeds of the Quick Diesel, as well as 10 seeds of Blue Ryder/Blue Streak. I'm hoping for a father from the Blueberry hybrid as I do not want to cross the DR to the QD because they have the same father.

To answer your question, the quality of the seeds that you make is directly related to the genetics of the parents used in the cross.

The Lowryder#2 female that I chose for the Quick Diesel cross was very sticky and had a very strong smell of fresh citrus fruit. The Diesel Ryder father was also a strong plant with a nice petrol scent and dense clusters of male flowers (this affects how dense the female flowers will be in the offspring), so I am confident that I'm looking at some good seeds here. Got some 200-300 seeds from each lowryder female.

I stress tested the parents by periodically subjecting them to low temps, strong fertz, high humidity in flowering and mold. They handled everything I threw at them and proved to be very resistant, so I know that they will do fine outdoors. Stress testing the plants will also weed out potential hermafrodites.

Try to get some more seeds so that you'll have a greater population to chose from. At least ten of each would give you a fair chance of finding one good plant from each strain. If you are going to take the time to make seeds, it's not a bad idea to invest in a larger population.

Breeding strong genetics is the only thing that makes sense to me and the larger your initial population is, the greater the chance of finding plants that are good representatives of their strain.

If the seed line that you start is founded on strong genetics, you will also get better results further down the line.

Best of luck with all of your seed projects