Red
Saving the Planet, One Seed At A Time
Past Selection Processes Review
Originally, in the late 1970's, I was growing up to 100 plants at a time using over 1000 watts of light, and also outdoors in a backyard garden space. These were all land race sativa that fortunately cloned well. The ratio of highly desirable individuals from these plants was about 1:100. One of the most annoying traits of these varieties was hermaphroditism. Approximately 60% of all of these plants from seed were unmanageable hermis, and about 25% more were what I referred to as manageable hermaphrodites, meaning that with close observation and intense scrutiny the male pods could be seen and eliminated as they appeared. About 15% of these sativa plants were female enough to produce marketable sinsimilla bud, with a constant vigilance toward the occasional stray pollen sack. In other words the hermaphroditism expressed in these equatorial sativa was extreme and nearly total.
A quick word about the virtues of hermaphrodites: Ask any old-time herbalist, one who has been experiencing fine herb since at least the early 1970's, what their favorite all-time herbal variety was, and the answer will be something to the effect of; “Santa Marta or Acapulco Gold” or “Highland or Chocolate Thai” or “Punta Roya (red-tipped gold Highland Oaxacan)” or “Guerran Green” or “Panama Red” etc. et. al., all of which were equatorial, or sub-tropical, origin sativa and hermaphroditic. Even the great hashish of the era such as Lebanese Red and Blonde, all Moroccan and Nepalese were produced from seeded stock.
This is not so much in praise of the hermaphrodite as it is a suggestion in regard to the cannabinoid profile of seeded verses non-seeded herb. It has been my experience that the cannabinoid profile of seeded herb produces a wider range of effect than from non-seeded, or sinsimilla, herb. The equatorial environment also probably contributed to a wider range of cannabinoids. One of the aspects of the equatorial environment is its consistent day/night temperature range, there is little difference between day and night temps on the equator supposedly inspiring a wider cannabinoid profile. Couple this with the seeded cannabinoid profile and it becomes easy to understand the popularity of the equatorial produced sativa, despite its hermaphroditic problems. I am curios as to what future research in this capacity may provide.
Once the indica was introduced into the mix the hermaphrodite “problem” became controllable. It only takes a few zero-tolerance generations indoors to fully eliminate hermaphroditic tendencies. As a matter of fact, this, coupled with shortening the flowering cycle, became the first main concerns of the indoor or commercial horticulturist. This unbalanced focus may be the strongest contributing factor to the “blandness” of much of the herb to follow. The author “R” did a cover piece for High Times magazine in the mid-1980's calling for a “Ban the Bud” campaign, against the indica onslought, due to how bad and bland the quality of some herb was becoming then. I remember the times clearly.
During this period I was beginning to venture out into larger satellite grows (indoor and out) that kicked my selection numbers up to around 1000 plants at a time for awhile. It was from these trials that I was able to do the bulk of my f2 experimentation and selections. I worked with these numbers for enough trials to manipulate and witness the phenomenon of quality production to a high degree of certainty. Once I was certain how to produce the f3's, the f4's and beyond became much easier to produce.
During the late 1980's, and due to the harsh political realities of the times, the high numbers game became too dangerous. The war on some drugs and spooky ops such as Operation Green Merchant forced my experimentation deep underground. Fortunately, the lessons learned prior proved fruitful and progress was possible despite the political weather. I had already learned to produce f3 and f4 Blueberry (et. al.). However, doing so with diminished numbers actually helped boost my learning curve. Between 1987 to 1990 I was able to do so using less than 100 plants from seed at a time. And by 1991 I was able to do adequate selection work from past produced stock using less than 50 plants (seeds) at a time.
Europe
Holland
By the early 1990's I was extremely interested in the burgeoning seed market developing in Holland. I had known about the seed banks since 1983 and was always only interested in obtaining more pure, land-race varieties. Unfortunately, there were only hybrid crosses ever available at the time and I had more than enough of my own to work with. By 1993 I finally made the pilgrimage to Amsterdam where I made new connections. In 1994 I connected with the first company that I worked with in Europe. By 1995 I was supplying this company with seed-stock both for sale and for breed work. I had contracted with this company to produce Blueberry, Flo and Blue Velvet.
The first company I worked with in Europe sprouted only 25 seeds of each of these varieties to make selections from. Other than supplying seed-stock, I was only minimally involved in the selection process. I did get to see the mother and father plants alive, however, the selection process had already been done prior by others. Unfortunately, my relationship with this company was short-lived as all the owner really wanted was my seed-stock. Once he had it I became a very low priority in his scheme. In all honesty I was never paid one red cent for any of the Blueberry (or “Flow” or Blue Velvet) that company number one in Europe produced (plus having over 3,000 seeds that I produced completely ripped off).
Needless to say this lack of concern prompted me to seek other possibilities that culminated in my relationship with the second company I worked with in Europe. At this company about 50 seeds of each variety were sprouted, but I was once again mainly left out of the selection process except for sampling a number of finished products and making selections based on those (which is enough, actually). I never got to see any of the live plants from this selection process at company number two in Europe. I also contributed seed-stock for three more varieties there; Blue Moonshine, Blue Heaven and Purple Passion. The owner of this company was satisfied with paying me the minimum amount I would consider adequate. Fortunately, part of the deal was my ability to remain independent and work with whomever else I pleased.
Switzerland
The third company I worked with in Europe was in Switzerland. The owner of this company was able to dramatically push the envelope there and some interesting results blossomed. I visited Switzerland three times between 1999 and 2001 and was truly amazed at what I witnessed on each visit. Out of all of the companies that I worked with in Europe, I felt the most involved and productive in Switzerland. I was involved with selections of finished products and with live mother and father plants as well. I even got to help plant, transplant and harvest a few of the gems produced there.
The varieties produced by the third company that I worked with in Europe included Moonshine Rocket Fuel, Rosebud and Blue Satellite. I must admit that the bubble hash from the Blue Satellite is among the finest and most desirable product I have sampled (outside of my own) since the 1980's! Unfortunately, the owner of this company was unable to successfully work with the local authorities and was forced to leave Switzerland. Some truly intrepid tales were spun during the brief stay there and I will remember many of them with delight.
Canada, The True North Strong and Free
With glimmers of hope on the horizon, Canada is fast becoming the Cannabis Breeding capital of the world. With the much-appreciated activism of entrepreneurs such as Marc Emery (et. al.), a new haven for a seriously dedicated cannabis community is developing. One such entrepreneurial dedicate is Red of Legends Seeds. I met Red in Switzerland where he was very busy and involved working for the happening community there. Red is a high-flying, free spirit with a savvy sense of taste.
Red was able to orchestrate the necessary requirements to produce a very large selection process. This grow consisted of about 400 plants (over 200 Blueberry phenos and over 100 Flo). Out of these there ended up being over 160 Blueberry and over 70 Flo females and about 60 males that made the initial cut. Copies of each of these were cloned and meticulously maintained by the crew. This actually turned out to be a slight overkill, but a testimony to the absolute dedication of the crew.
The Crew
Mighty-G is a green-thumbed master gardener whose success with cannabis is phenomenal. Mr. G was able to provide and maintain a near-perfect growing environment for a lengthy period of time as the plants were kept in an extended vegetive state to insure 100% clone success. The plants were absolutely beautiful. Kermit was in charge of clone reproduction and maintenance. Kermit has been a respected part of the local cannabis community for many years. Chimera appeared online a few years ago and has proven himself to be an intelligent and dedicated soul, along with being a focused horticulturist with excellent credentials in the field of genetics. I first learned of Chimera online where he posted to a few message boards that I occasionally lurk and I appreciated the information he shared. The Cannabis Cowboy also added his expertise, especially considering the collection, purification and pressing of the dry-sieved resin.
I just want to give a big “shout out” and a huge thank you to all of the crew for their very successful efforts on this project. You cats rock! Thank you.
Originally, in the late 1970's, I was growing up to 100 plants at a time using over 1000 watts of light, and also outdoors in a backyard garden space. These were all land race sativa that fortunately cloned well. The ratio of highly desirable individuals from these plants was about 1:100. One of the most annoying traits of these varieties was hermaphroditism. Approximately 60% of all of these plants from seed were unmanageable hermis, and about 25% more were what I referred to as manageable hermaphrodites, meaning that with close observation and intense scrutiny the male pods could be seen and eliminated as they appeared. About 15% of these sativa plants were female enough to produce marketable sinsimilla bud, with a constant vigilance toward the occasional stray pollen sack. In other words the hermaphroditism expressed in these equatorial sativa was extreme and nearly total.
A quick word about the virtues of hermaphrodites: Ask any old-time herbalist, one who has been experiencing fine herb since at least the early 1970's, what their favorite all-time herbal variety was, and the answer will be something to the effect of; “Santa Marta or Acapulco Gold” or “Highland or Chocolate Thai” or “Punta Roya (red-tipped gold Highland Oaxacan)” or “Guerran Green” or “Panama Red” etc. et. al., all of which were equatorial, or sub-tropical, origin sativa and hermaphroditic. Even the great hashish of the era such as Lebanese Red and Blonde, all Moroccan and Nepalese were produced from seeded stock.
This is not so much in praise of the hermaphrodite as it is a suggestion in regard to the cannabinoid profile of seeded verses non-seeded herb. It has been my experience that the cannabinoid profile of seeded herb produces a wider range of effect than from non-seeded, or sinsimilla, herb. The equatorial environment also probably contributed to a wider range of cannabinoids. One of the aspects of the equatorial environment is its consistent day/night temperature range, there is little difference between day and night temps on the equator supposedly inspiring a wider cannabinoid profile. Couple this with the seeded cannabinoid profile and it becomes easy to understand the popularity of the equatorial produced sativa, despite its hermaphroditic problems. I am curios as to what future research in this capacity may provide.
Once the indica was introduced into the mix the hermaphrodite “problem” became controllable. It only takes a few zero-tolerance generations indoors to fully eliminate hermaphroditic tendencies. As a matter of fact, this, coupled with shortening the flowering cycle, became the first main concerns of the indoor or commercial horticulturist. This unbalanced focus may be the strongest contributing factor to the “blandness” of much of the herb to follow. The author “R” did a cover piece for High Times magazine in the mid-1980's calling for a “Ban the Bud” campaign, against the indica onslought, due to how bad and bland the quality of some herb was becoming then. I remember the times clearly.
During this period I was beginning to venture out into larger satellite grows (indoor and out) that kicked my selection numbers up to around 1000 plants at a time for awhile. It was from these trials that I was able to do the bulk of my f2 experimentation and selections. I worked with these numbers for enough trials to manipulate and witness the phenomenon of quality production to a high degree of certainty. Once I was certain how to produce the f3's, the f4's and beyond became much easier to produce.
During the late 1980's, and due to the harsh political realities of the times, the high numbers game became too dangerous. The war on some drugs and spooky ops such as Operation Green Merchant forced my experimentation deep underground. Fortunately, the lessons learned prior proved fruitful and progress was possible despite the political weather. I had already learned to produce f3 and f4 Blueberry (et. al.). However, doing so with diminished numbers actually helped boost my learning curve. Between 1987 to 1990 I was able to do so using less than 100 plants from seed at a time. And by 1991 I was able to do adequate selection work from past produced stock using less than 50 plants (seeds) at a time.
Europe
Holland
By the early 1990's I was extremely interested in the burgeoning seed market developing in Holland. I had known about the seed banks since 1983 and was always only interested in obtaining more pure, land-race varieties. Unfortunately, there were only hybrid crosses ever available at the time and I had more than enough of my own to work with. By 1993 I finally made the pilgrimage to Amsterdam where I made new connections. In 1994 I connected with the first company that I worked with in Europe. By 1995 I was supplying this company with seed-stock both for sale and for breed work. I had contracted with this company to produce Blueberry, Flo and Blue Velvet.
The first company I worked with in Europe sprouted only 25 seeds of each of these varieties to make selections from. Other than supplying seed-stock, I was only minimally involved in the selection process. I did get to see the mother and father plants alive, however, the selection process had already been done prior by others. Unfortunately, my relationship with this company was short-lived as all the owner really wanted was my seed-stock. Once he had it I became a very low priority in his scheme. In all honesty I was never paid one red cent for any of the Blueberry (or “Flow” or Blue Velvet) that company number one in Europe produced (plus having over 3,000 seeds that I produced completely ripped off).
Needless to say this lack of concern prompted me to seek other possibilities that culminated in my relationship with the second company I worked with in Europe. At this company about 50 seeds of each variety were sprouted, but I was once again mainly left out of the selection process except for sampling a number of finished products and making selections based on those (which is enough, actually). I never got to see any of the live plants from this selection process at company number two in Europe. I also contributed seed-stock for three more varieties there; Blue Moonshine, Blue Heaven and Purple Passion. The owner of this company was satisfied with paying me the minimum amount I would consider adequate. Fortunately, part of the deal was my ability to remain independent and work with whomever else I pleased.
Switzerland
The third company I worked with in Europe was in Switzerland. The owner of this company was able to dramatically push the envelope there and some interesting results blossomed. I visited Switzerland three times between 1999 and 2001 and was truly amazed at what I witnessed on each visit. Out of all of the companies that I worked with in Europe, I felt the most involved and productive in Switzerland. I was involved with selections of finished products and with live mother and father plants as well. I even got to help plant, transplant and harvest a few of the gems produced there.
The varieties produced by the third company that I worked with in Europe included Moonshine Rocket Fuel, Rosebud and Blue Satellite. I must admit that the bubble hash from the Blue Satellite is among the finest and most desirable product I have sampled (outside of my own) since the 1980's! Unfortunately, the owner of this company was unable to successfully work with the local authorities and was forced to leave Switzerland. Some truly intrepid tales were spun during the brief stay there and I will remember many of them with delight.
Canada, The True North Strong and Free
With glimmers of hope on the horizon, Canada is fast becoming the Cannabis Breeding capital of the world. With the much-appreciated activism of entrepreneurs such as Marc Emery (et. al.), a new haven for a seriously dedicated cannabis community is developing. One such entrepreneurial dedicate is Red of Legends Seeds. I met Red in Switzerland where he was very busy and involved working for the happening community there. Red is a high-flying, free spirit with a savvy sense of taste.
Red was able to orchestrate the necessary requirements to produce a very large selection process. This grow consisted of about 400 plants (over 200 Blueberry phenos and over 100 Flo). Out of these there ended up being over 160 Blueberry and over 70 Flo females and about 60 males that made the initial cut. Copies of each of these were cloned and meticulously maintained by the crew. This actually turned out to be a slight overkill, but a testimony to the absolute dedication of the crew.
The Crew
Mighty-G is a green-thumbed master gardener whose success with cannabis is phenomenal. Mr. G was able to provide and maintain a near-perfect growing environment for a lengthy period of time as the plants were kept in an extended vegetive state to insure 100% clone success. The plants were absolutely beautiful. Kermit was in charge of clone reproduction and maintenance. Kermit has been a respected part of the local cannabis community for many years. Chimera appeared online a few years ago and has proven himself to be an intelligent and dedicated soul, along with being a focused horticulturist with excellent credentials in the field of genetics. I first learned of Chimera online where he posted to a few message boards that I occasionally lurk and I appreciated the information he shared. The Cannabis Cowboy also added his expertise, especially considering the collection, purification and pressing of the dry-sieved resin.
I just want to give a big “shout out” and a huge thank you to all of the crew for their very successful efforts on this project. You cats rock! Thank you.
, but now i understand it .
