Golden Tiger Question - Compact pheno or runt?

[Peacefrog]

Hi all. I have 3 Golden Tigers going that are about 6 weeks old from seed and in their first week of 12/12. One note on germing these seeds - they all started out like little freaks with their first couple of leaf sets being very deformed. They ended up fine so if anyone is discouraged by some freaky seedlings don't give up on them!

Anyways back to the reason for posting ... one of the plants has been a slowpoke from the start. It was the last seed to crack and the last to poke its head above the coco and now it is just growing super slow, nothing like the other two which are much more vigorous with lots of branch growth and plenty of places to take clones. The slow plant is developing at about the same pace as a very indica plant I have going in the same tent with very slow branch development. I have pinched the top to try to stimulate the branching but it is just taking its sweet ass time.

Since I am trying to grow pure sativas indoors in a tent I can't keep waiting for this little guy/gal to give me some clones before I put the rest of the grow in 12/12. I am debating pulling the plant back out into my veg tent to give it more time to grow but that would really mess up my plans for the grow if I did that.

I have also considered culling it as a runt or just letting it go into flower without taking a cutting but before I do that I am wondering if this is a known pheno of Golden Tiger that I just need to be patient with. If it has all the traits of the wild untamed sativa in a compact indica form that could be a nice plant to have around. On the other hand, it could just be a runt that I am wasting resources on.

And I know pics will be the first thing asked for if I want good answers. I am winding down for the night but I will snap some photos tomorrow night when the lights come on.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Peacefrog]

Pics

Pics

As promised some pics ...

This is the first one to crack and the most vigorous.

Here is number two. I don't really have a bug problem but if a plant in this tent is going to draw flies it will be this one. Some of the leaf damage is wind damage from an oscillating fan but it has taken a little insect hit too plus it might be wanting a little calcium too. Still pretty vigorous but running just a tad behind number one.

And here is the special (?) little gal (I hope). It looks healthy and has poked along at a consistent but slow rate of growth. The branching is just taking forever. If this is a girl it has the looks of a single giant cola plant unless I top it, much like an indica dominant plant. Pinching the other plants really got the branches started but this plant seems only interested in keeping its main stalk going.

It has maintained about the same growth rate as this very indica plant, which has no business being in the same tent as Golden Tiger and SSH but what the hell. This plant has the fat indica leaves but like the little tiger it is height challenged and not interested in branching.

That's it. It will be interesting to see which of these end up being girls. Any input is welcome.

 

[dubi]

Hello Peacefrog,

Im glad to see more and more golden tiger indoor growers The first 2 look like typical Golden Tiger, the third is a very curious one, looks a lot like the compact Congo pheno, definatly african sativa leaf. Should be interesting to see them flowering side by side. But you are right, she has almost no branches to take clones ... maybe place her close the lamp now in the initial flowering stretching to stimulate the branch development. Hopefully you ll be able to take a few clones before she really starts to flower.

 

[Peacefrog]

Update

Update

Well after almost 3 weeks of 12/12 (and another week of 14/10 before that) the plants are finally showing sex. I'm better at picking out pistils than balls so I am sure the first two plants are girls and pretty sure the little one is a boy.

I also got rooted clones of all 3 plants although #2 and #3 just got moved from the cloner to pots last night so they still need to start growing before I am confident I have a healthy mother and father. #1 has been the most the most vigorous plant and naturally its clone is already well established.

Here's some updated pics. They are now under a 600 HPS and 400 MH. I should have turned off the HPS or changed the white balance before I took these pictures but oh well. Sorry about the yellow tint.

First is an overhead shot of #1. I am hoping a combination of supercropping and tying to stakes will help keep these ladies under control for the next 14 weeks. The girls seem to be more interested in growing out than up so far but I expect the stretch to start very soon.

Here's a closeup of one of the flowers getting started:

#2 showed pistils a couple of days after #1. Growth is pretty similar to #1 so far - just a little slower. Here is an overhead shot:

And here is the little guy that started this thread. Even factoring out the effect of the HPS, this plant does look a little sickly - kind of reminds me of pH problems I had when I was growing in soil.

Here is a closeup. You can almost make out little tiny balls. I'll be sure in a couple more days.

I'm not sure if this plant is a worthy male to collect pollen from to dust other plants. It certainly hasn't been a superstar of the tent. I also have 3 Mr Nice SSH females (3 for 3 on those!) growing alongside the Golden Tigers that would be willing recipients, in addition to a few plants grown from feminized seeds. I may just worry about seeing if any of these plants are keepers instead of trying to make seeds - I do have an unexpected abundance of girls this grow. I also have a couple of cuttings of the male that I can veg out and see if they show any more vigor before I try to collect pollen.

Anyways, thanks for the response Dubi. I am very excited to have 2 girls to work with. I will post some more pics in a couple of weeks once I have some flowers forming. By my reckoning, I should be ringing in the new year trimming some exotic buds. If anyone has any input on what to do with the male I would love to hear it. Thanks all.

 

[stickey fingers]

you are liveing my dream !
thanks for shareing
SPECICAL THANKS, DUBI AND ACE SEEDS

 

[dubi]

So the third rare one is finally a boy Not sure what to recommend you, it doesnt look like typical thaish golden tiger pheno, it's more african and compact appearance. Maybe is not the most representative Golden Tiger F1 expression but this kind of rare phenos are usually interesting and funny to explore ... anyway you never know till you grow its progeny.

 

[Peacefrog]

So the third rare one is finally a boy Not sure what to recommend you, it doesnt look like typical thaish golden tiger pheno, it's more african and compact appearance. Maybe is not the most representative Golden Tiger F1 expression but this kind of rare phenos are usually interesting and funny to explore ... anyway you never know till you grow its progeny.

In your own words this is a rare pheno and the only way I am going to know if it is worthy is to give it a try. If it produces girls that pack the same punch but are easier to manage indoors I could like that combination.

I yanked it out of the tent and put it by itself in another room that gets lots of sunlight and faces the south. Mother Nature just switched to 12/12 in the northern hemisphere so as long as I keep this plant alive for a few more weeks I should be able to collect some pollen and hopefully dust a few branches of the girls I have going. I'll be venturing into new territory in intentionally producing seeds but this will be exciting.

Interestingly the male clone is showing a little more vigor in some fresh coco and is surpassing a clone I took from the second female at the same time. Maybe it just needed some time to mature before it was ready to start growing.

The girls are looking pretty good too. The stretch has definitely started and flower clusters are forming. The first girl has much thicker stems than the second - that is a very attractive trait to me for indoor growing. I like stems that can bear some weight.

I am a bit incapacitated at the moment and handling a camera around my girls might be a little dicey but I will get some pics up of my progress in the near future.

Thanks for looking in on me Dubi and thank you even more for making these genetics available to the masses. I'm looking forward to exploring what these plants have to offer.

 

[Peacefrog]

you are liveing my dream !
thanks for shareing
SPECICAL THANKS, DUBI AND ACE SEEDS

Yes, my friend in many ways what I am doing is exactly what I dreamed of when I first toked 25 years ago and realized that to keep doing what I loved I was either going to be at the mercy of a dealer or have to grow it myself. It wasn't a tough decision once the right opportunity presented itself.