How I pheno hunt

[shishkaboy]

Bout time I did an actual journal on this forum. Figured this would be a good way to introduce myself.
A little backstory,
A buddy of mine came to me with 2 seeds from some "sour". That really doesnt say mush since just about everything is called "sour" around here. I never tried the bud so I cant even say if it was fire or not, but trust his opinion and have a fun time pheno hunting. So...


From the 2 seeds I got 1 boy and 1 girl, the male was way more interesting to my nose than the female. In fact before they showed sex I figured I had a "keeper" just from the smell of it. I knew between those 2 seedlings, the smelly one was prolly the "keeper".

The female was short with small bud sites close to the main stem.
The male was more branchy and lanky, with way more space between the internodes.

I decided that the male was worth testing out, collected his pollen and made some f2's of the bag "sour".
I also got some spluff to a homie to sprinkle on some of the previous selections I made.


A test pack of 10, yielded 7 healthy seedlings.


At some point I had to try and differentiate between the plants somehow. I ended up placing them into 3 groups based on the leaf pattern/smell.
Even tho I had a trifoliate phenotype, I still placed it into a group based on the leaf pattern/smell.

Throughout the veg cycle I would do stem rubs of them and note the differences. On the day they were grouped I noted
#5=dank
#4=sour
#7=slightly sour
#3= oily feeling like turtle wax(i.e. Lemon Skunk/Tangilope)
continued .....

 

[hup234]

...

 

[shishkaboy]

Sexing stage

Sexing stage

1,4,5

2,3

6,7


After sexing, I found out the trifoliate was a male as well as 2 others (#'s 4,5,6).
Since #4 was the mutation, I was going to keep him as a male, but it was a he-she so it had to go.

I got rid of all the males and the clones from them, so I was left with 4 females to flower out, (1,2,3,7) and the rooted cuts.

After thinking about it a little, I believe its reasonable to say that the bag seeds were not the results of something s1'ing. It also could not be an accidental cross of two females, where one hermed and hit the other, since there were males in the bunch. That leaves me with it either being the result of rouge pollen(most likely outdoor), or an intended cross. But since I do not have the time or space to flower out the males to make sure they stay males, and I never even saw the size of the bud with the 2 seeds in it(to know if it was fully seeded), I must leave it at that. Either way I should have something brand new.

In the 4 females it seems as if the males traits are more dominant in the f2 offspring. Out of 4 females only 1 resembles the mother (bud structure, plant structure, lack of resin).It is almost a carbon copy of her, just a little leggier and slightly more smelly.
The other 3 all have a similar structure to what their father had. They all got some smell from the male, because the mom was very faint sour smelling.

Seems like the f2 generation has opened up a bunch of variations.

From what I can see at this point, it looks like 2 of the girls most likely wont make the cut. One of them looks way too much like the mother just with a little more smell to her. The other one just looks like it will be all air and hairs.

The other 2 both seem to have a better bud structure, with one my favorite being a little less hairy and a little more frosty with "resin taco'ing" bud leaves.

 

[shishkaboy]

The 4 ladies

The 4 ladies

Group Shot

#1 #1 is just way too hairy and fluffy, no mass at all. Hopefully its a haze and will just take longer to fill out, but I doubt it.

#2 Looks just like the mother, which was low smell. Identical copy of the mom.

#3 Is the second best so far, it looks more sativa leaning still, but at least looks like it will make actual buds. The frost is about average, smell is onion/garlic. Very earthy, like seasonings or herbs. Kinda reminds me of how neem oil smells with a twist of beef/deer meat. Gamy,umami.


#7 Is my early pick, the frost on it makes it worth a run, but it also has a nice swollen bract kinda look. The smell is still garlic seasoning, but with a twist of sour dankness.

 

[shishkaboy]

The #7

The #7

I feel strongly that #7 would be the keeper, but imo the peculiar smell of #3 may just unleash something worthy.
Back to #7 tho
Just something about the way it "towers" up, kinda like what I have seen in the pics of gg#4.

 

[shishkaboy]

...

Welcome, thanks for your interest. This will be an ongoing thread where I will be popping packs and showing the results. Feel free to post any relevant info picks or ask any questions. I am here to be social, since I cannot talk about my passion in my real life.

 

[Spread_Head]

Howdy shishka, how many days into flower are those last pics?

 

[shishkaboy]

Howdy shishka, how many days into flower are those last pics?

Welcome,
The last 3 pics were the same #7 at different times during week 4. The very last one was at around 35 days in. They are a little slower than the rest of the girls but I have seen worse.

 

[shishkaboy]

Next up

Next up

Testing a variety for a friend, here is the info I got.

Spider was a Jesus OG clone that was very branchy like a spider. She was straight TGA Jesus OG (HAOG x JTR)

The males that this plant was exposed to include:
LoveChild (Mulanje x Ace of Spades) - exposed slightly and early
Jillanje HR (Mulanje x TGA Jilly Bean) - exposed excessively
I generally expect the seeds to produce offspring from the Jillanje HR male.

This was my first time crossing with this Jillanje HR male. He was covered with flowers from head to toe and he was very xmas tree bushy.

His children are all growing in my garden this season and there are definitely some keeper phenos! That Jesus OG was a spectacular super sticky girl!

13 in water today.

 

[Spread_Head]

Any updated pics of the group? I have a feeling those others are going to start filling in nice.

 

[bigtacofarmer]

Nice. I pheno hunt by growing each plant with love. Then drying and curing. Not until all samples have been repeatedly smoked and checked for lasting flavors and great effects do I choose anything.

 

[BadRabbit]

Nice. I pheno hunt by growing each plant with love. Then drying and curing. Not until all samples have been repeatedly smoked and checked for lasting flavors and great effects do I choose anything.

Yeh, take a cut or two from every female, then wait it out until the final smoke tests ... my mid-grow guesses have proven to be wrong way too many times to do it any other way.

I send everything that shows any potential to a 2nd round grow as a clone to verify how it will produce - flavor, potency, yield, bag appeal and true finish time - in the long run before making any final call ... some never make a 3rd round, some go on for years.

 

[bigtacofarmer]

Yeah. I've noticed my nose does not have the psychic powers I wish it did.

 

[Betterhaff]

Same thing here, I’ve had phenos that were similar at harvest but one would shine after some curing.

 

[shishkaboy]

Not an early keeper pick, a ranking.

Not an early keeper pick, a ranking.

Any updated pics of the group? I have a feeling those others are going to start filling in nice.

Yea, but they aint pretty.
#1

#2

#3

If I were only using my nose to choose a keeper,it would be #3
It has a very complex gamy, spicy smell that reminds me of how neem oil smells.

I have cuts of all of them so no need to worry, I just know what traits I want and #1 and #2 are displaying the unwanted traits from the parents.

I made this cross so the keeper would depend on what standards I measure by and with the stable of mothers I have now, anything ugly would need to be extremely special.

Its not just my nose, its the resin glands that I can see on one plant and not any of the others. Its the way the bud is structured, compared to the rest.

Its really not that hard, of course you keep copies of them all, but after popping plenty of test crosses, I should be able to spot a dud half way through flowering.
I take different notes on what I think about the plants throughout its life cycle.

 

[HerBnGorE(illa)]

Shishka. Consider me subbed. Hope you find the gems that you are looking for

 

[shishkaboy]

Shishka. Consider me subbed. Hope you find the gems that you are looking for

Good vibes right back at you, welcome.

 

[shishkaboy]

 

[Spread_Head]

Nice. I pheno hunt by growing each plant with love. Then drying and curing. Not until all samples have been repeatedly smoked and checked for lasting flavors and great effects do I choose anything.

I do the same thing. It's a little bit of a pain in the ass because you have to essentially grow the same plants for 2.5-3 cycles but it's much better than kicking yourself for not getting/saving a cut of something that turned out to be phenomenal after a good cure.

 

[Spread_Head]

Sorry double post, didn't know you can't edit. But yeah, those couple look pretty spindly for being 5 weeks in. Either they're super long sativas or they're one-and-done suckas. What are those last pics you posted of... #7? That appears to be coming along.