New DJ Short Article Part 1

[budrunners]

great information thanks for posting it

 

[Dr/\SaW]

I'm not sure whats more complicated to understand DJ Shorts research article or my tax forms

great info and a better understanding to whats involved from a growers perspective for sure...

 

[Rodriguez]

top read

 

[Guest]

well done and thanks for the insight.

 

[GanjaJedi]

Something that lies in my future...

 

[sambosimpson420]

That is exactly what I been saying! Thx for the info

 

[The Dopest]

Smart Guys

Smart Guys

Hey Red and DJ,

thanks for the great info. you guys sure are some "smart guys". I bet there are other "smart guys" out there who, given this info, could put it to work in a Windows Excel, or Access program or something so you could easily add notes and comparisons. and then make it uploadable for those of us that arent as smart.


I know people that could do it easily but, not really the ones i want in my business. ya know?

 

[Guest]

What an awesome article to run into while you are growing Flo, heh. I have never grown a strain and had phenotype info from the breeder before.

 

[guineapig]

Good things come to those who spend a little time digging around the IC archives......

Some real gems are being re-examined and re-discovered for a brand new audience....

-kind regards from guineapig

 

[Guest423]

i love dj's genetics, bluemoon was a great grow!! nice read!!

peace

 

[tufatoku]

thanks for the info,keep up the good work.peace

 

[zamalito]

Very useful article. Thank you soooo much red! I always wondered why he didn't know which of the blueberry strains were mothered with the JF thai and which were mothered by the OP thai. I guess its because he never kept track of where it came from only what it was. Its an astonishingly simple way of keeping track given all of the work he does with light cycle to milk different phenos from the sativas. Djshorts articles have saved me from losing 10 years of breeding work. Its unfathomable for me to imagine how he bred blueberry and flo from good but inconsistent landraces all while living in oregon in a shorter season climate like oregon. And its disgraceful that soma charges twice as much for his bagseed diesel f1 that was bred from strains that were already consitent and indoor acclimated as djshort does for something that can be used to produce more seed of the same strain without much or any loss in quality not to mention the many excellent f1s that can come from blueberry and flo. Flo is an amazing breeder plant. When I flower flo it normally takes 10 weeks not 7 like dj says and it has a nice but subtle perfumy hashy flavor but if I cross it to just about any 10 week indica it the offspring finish in under 7 weeks and have the most intense wonderful sweet perfumey flavor. I've never had a strain that when crossed its offspring finish that much quicker than both parents and have that improvement on flavor odor and resin over both parents. This is the mark of a great breeder strain although I've only beeen able to hurt the high by crossing (probably because it can't get much better)

 

[phillykid]

What a great read, thank you red and dj for that. I have often been a bit leary of many so called breeders. We've all seen em, the folks who take a prized clone and just cross it with everything under the sun and then charge too much for beans that they didn't even bother testing. I just don't think it's possible to come up with 10 strains every single year. Every breeder should have a working knowledge of genetics, too many folks out there are crossing stuff based on name. I think the great breeders need both a scientific knowledge of genetics along with the experience that comes with working with fewer strains for many generations and practicing selection.

I've been very impressed with DJ's article and also with some articles by Chimera. As someone who's studied molecular biology and genetics at a college level it's nice to read a more science heavy article that delves into the process of breeding. Kudos to DJ for being so open with his process.

 

[UmphreyMcgee420]

Great read red.... thanks for the other links as well jlp...

 

[RollmeoneKenobi]

Good read!

 

[AinSophAur]

Got my hopes up. This aint new Very old thread

 

[Guest02345]

anyone have the link to part 2???

thanks in advance

 

[Guest58392]

,

 

[Guest02345]

thanks bohempian!!!

but when i click on breeding part 2 link it comes up invalid

 

[budderz]

Hey everyone! DJ Short has just released his first new article in some time. I hope that you enjoy it!


My Cataloguing System

c. 2004 DJ Short

Perhaps one of the most useful devices used in a quality cannabis breeding project is that of catalogue techniques. This refers to the method used to categorize various traits for future reference, or how to best label traits from a given population. It is also a means to track who came from where (generational references).

First and foremost, I cannot begin to describe the level of complexity involved with a breeding project that extends from the f-2 to the f-5 range. It took me over a decade and a half of trial and much error to fully comprehend and develop a system that actually works to this level and beyond. It starts out simple enough, until the f-2's, then the complexity expands exponentially with each generation.

The P-1's are simple enough, they are the original breed-stock and labeled for what they are, i.e. Highland, Purple or Chocolate Thai, Oaxacan or Santa Marta Gold, Pure Afghan, etc. The f-1's were equally simple as they were of uniform expressions and I simply chose to label them “The Cross”. The f-2 generation was equally easy to identify with the label “Double Cross”, or the progeny of the f-1 cross. However, when the f-2's were grown out, extreme diversity ruled the making of the f-3's (or the descriptions of the f-2's selected to breed further with) a tougher call to make.

It is at this level (and beyond) that some form of labeling system becomes necessary to catalogue all of the different variations found. Beginning with the plants grown out from the f-2 seeds I chose to utilize an alphabetized system with each letter corresponding to a specific trait. For example, the letter “B” came to signify the “Berry” characteristic, “F” stands for “Fruity” (sometimes “Floral“), “G” is for Grape, “C” for Citrus, “O” for orange, “L” for lemon or lime, “K” equaled “Kush”, “S” for “Sativa” “P” for Purple, “X” for extreme glandular trichome production, etc.

I must confess that it took much trial and error to finally get it right. Therefore, if one were to look at my early notes many exceptions to what developed as “the rule” can be found. I left these early “mistakes” as they were so as not to over-complicate what came next. It is also very important to note that most of these observations were relatively subjective and that no more than two traits, or characteristics were ever assigned to any one plant. Therefore, the label “BK” came to stand for “Berry Kush”, or a Kush dominant plant with outstanding berry attributes. It is also important to note that only the most outstanding plant of any given attribute was selected for future work. So the plant that ended up with the “BK” label was the most Berry-Kush of the lot.

So, my f-3 stock became labeled with a two-letter code indicating what the most outstanding characteristics of it’s parent (primarily mother) were, and only those with the strongest expressions earned their label. When the f-3's were grown out and crossed to make the f-4 generation, these labels were coupled to indicate the parents of the f-4 progeny, i.e. BK/FS would be a cross between an f-3 Berry-Kush mother (I always list the female first, male second with a back-slash in between) and an f-3 Fruity Sativa father.

F-4's and Beyond

Consider the label number: 4/5 3 96-2. This is the type of numbering symbol I use to label F-4 and beyond plants. Before we dissect this number I need to point out a few rules that I follow in a breeding project beyond the F-4 generation.

First, I only grow out no more than six varieties at any single time. The reason is to avoid too much confusion. Six is about the maximum number of varieties an individual can realistically keep track of. These six (or five, or four etc.) varieties are then labeled as “1" through “6" (or the number of varieties used). Let’s say the 6 f-3's I use are: 1. “FK/FK”, 2. “BK/PK”, 3. “FK/FL”, 4. “GK/GK”, 5. “PK/FP” and 6. “XP/FK”. Notes are made to record this fact and the seeds are then sprouted and grown using these simple, single digit identification numbers (1 through 6 in this example).

Second, I select only one male from any single breeding project. Again, this simplifies things and avoids mistakes enormously. That male is generally selected at about the third week in the flowering cycle, unless it is a clone from another project. After the single male is selected the other males are removed and the remaining females are numbered according to their variety category (i.e. if there are seven #1. females, five #2 females, etc. they are labeled #1–1 through 7, #2–1 through 5, etc.) The male simply retains the number from its variety label, in our above example the number “5" (in the 4/5), or the “PK/FP” male.

Now we may examine the above example: 4/5 3 96-2. The first two numbers, “4/5" are the variety number of the female first and male second. So in this case that would be: a “GK/GK” female crossed with the “PK/FP” male. The third number in our example, “3" means female #3 from the #4 (“GK/GK”) batch. The next number in the example, “96" is merely the year and the final number is the crop number for that year. So, translated, the number 4/5 3 96-2 is the third “GK/GK” (or #4) female crossed with the “PK/FP” (or #5) male grown from the second crop of 1996.

Please note that the “/5” male-used indicator will be /5 for all of the seeds labeled from this batch as the #5 (“PK/FP”) male is the only one used. If a male clone from a past crop is used it may be indicated by using the #7 in the initial notes (if six varieties are sprouted) and described as the male-clone-used in the #7 description. Likewise, if any of the six varieties tested are from a past clone (female), they may be selected as one of the #1 through #6 varieties, labeled and described accordingly.

It seems complex at first, but I assure you that it works great. The same system is used for the F-5 generation, and beyond. The system merely requires that dated notes be kept and catalogued. That way, any crosses may be backtracked and referenced via one’s notes and a simple, six or seven digit code is all that is needed to label and catalogue one’s plants.

Finally, this system works best for forward crosses mainly. Backcrosses will need another connotation to note their use . The “clone-used” labeling described prior works well for backcrosses involving clones.

This system is good for only one grow out at a time. If multiple grows, or facilities are used then they will need to be noted as well, perhaps with a lettered “A”, “B”, “C” etc. appended onto the catalogue number. Also, detailed notes of each individual plant are necessary to fully utilize any cataloguing system and are obviously required for success. Other than that, I have found this to be a relatively simple and foolproof system for cataloguing one’s breeding projects beyond the f-3 generation.

wow man I had to read that twice to fully understand it .
easy to see how breeding can get very complicated but to use a simple code and backlog of notes and pics makes a project so much easier
a good read no doubt il be back to read this again in the not so distant future thanks for posting