Photoperiod x Autoflower for mold/pest resistance

[bboybungus]

Anybody done this? I read the Biggysmalls thread, where they crossed EWS with Auto AK-47 for shorter flowering; but wondering if anybody else has messed with this type of thing. I'm mainly interested because this last summer I grew a Flash Auto Seeds Onyx in my outdoor vegetable garden on the north facing side of my house here in Colorado. Yield was low, potency, low, flavor reasonable,... but it grew among peppers, hops and flowers that were literally covered with mites, aphids and slugs (really wet June here). The Onyx didn't have a single bug or problem, no mold, nothing... and I didn't feed and only watered on occasion, and it only got 5 hours of direct light each day. Now the smoke could've been a bit better, but I was just amazed at how the plant performed, enough so that I'm thinking about breeding with it in prep for making some of my other strains pest resilient for outdoor use... anybody messed with this?

 

[aridbud]

You mean crossing photo with auto? Yes, as a breeder, have done this to several of our strains. It takes numerous generations and back pollination for stable genetics of an autoflower.

The strains mentioned are great! Location could be the reason for low yield on Onyx. Autos, having limited lifetime cycle, put in sunniest spot!! North side cuts down on needed light, even warmth in the summer. Peppers the same...warmth, maximum light in summer.

To camouflage, place autos in at least 2-3 gallon buckets and as a container garden, use tall or bushy ornamental grasses, plants/herbs/flowers. They'll blend in.

Happy plant = better harvest.

 

[bboybungus]

You mean crossing photo with auto? Yes, as a breeder, have done this to several of our strains. It takes numerous generations and back pollination for stable genetics of an autoflower..

Most interested in the first F1 cross of Photoperiod x Autoflower as far as breeding pest resistance into the photoperiod strain; not really interested on making my own autoflower strain. Is the flowering time of the photoperiod shortened at all in the first F1 cross? What do you look for in an autoflower male; size? early flowering? FYI: I popped a few Afterthought 20 gauge's with those Onyx, but they got got by a squirrel I think...

 

[hermdog]

Your F1s will vary, some will auto, some probably won't.

If you want only autoing F1s of a Photoperiod X Onyx outside You'd have a ton of phenos to sort through.
You could select desirable F1 plants to clone, male and female, I think.
You have time to make a cross, then spout those on a long photoperiod, wait for the plants that throw pistils and balls.
Clone em and discard the phenos that are photoperiod.

Since these plants are autos your time is limited, the clones will probably have to be from the very bottoms of your plant. The tops will have sexed while the bottoms have an added several weeks to their lifespan.

Running the F1s on 18/6 and the clones on 24/0 should let you see how sensitive to flowering the different confirmed autos are.
You could then make F2s, or work on a line, ever finding a plant that autos above 12/12 but also keeps as a clone could be hard.

Since the Onyx is sold in regs, they can be the male in your F1, you could select the biggest male onyx and cross with a select photoperiod clone which hopefully infuse the auto with a better flavor.
You'd probably have to start a pheno hunt with the males a few weeks before flowering their females. The auto males probably need a couple weeks into flower to produce pollen.

A select robust auto male X a clone female with good outdoor traits might yield a handful of females that auto then there's whether or not it's a good smoking new cross.
You could continue the line to bring the percentage of autoflowering up.
You could have a cross inbred to where it's more desirable in a short amount of cycles.

Take this advice with a whole lot of salt, I've only been at breeding a few years.

If you're fine with having stragglers that end up vegging out longer, the F1s could all have better smoke than the Onyx strain.
Select alike in structure photoperiod plant so the F1 phenos that take after it aren't way taller than your Onxy ladies.

Whatever you do, you're making regular seeds that need to be sexed, you probably don't want f1 males taking up space outside, and along with undesirable females that's a large amount of your f1 offspring that aren't useful if you just want better bud out of the Onyx off the bat.