I’m curious as to everybody’s approach on pheno hunting in limited spaces. To me, the ideal way would be to pop seeds, clone those plants, and either immediately flower the clones or flower the moms and keep the clones in veg. That way I would have those genetics growing in veg while still flowering out all of the phenos. The only problem I see is space. If I’m working in a limited space this does not allow me to easily do large pheno hunts. Does anybody pheno hunt and then reveg once they find something they like? Is that effective? I’ve done it the way I first described but I’ve never tried to reveg a plant so I don’t feel confident in that method. The thought is that if I could grow out a ton of phenos in solo cups and then reveg my favorite one, that could probably save me some space. What do you all think? What methods have you found to be best when trying to do larger pheno hunts in limited space?
Not me personally (sorry), but @Mithridate describes a space-saving method here:
I think a veg room should be planned larger than a flower room. That’s what I think after doing the seed to seedling to clone to flower method you described. My space saving method uses 2" pots for seedlings and rooting clone cuttings. Less space, less potting mix but same amount of time spent growing sexing and up potting.
So many seeds. So little time AND space. Plant juggling is not easy.
This is precisely the issue. I have limited space right now, I want to grow out multiple varieties at a time but I also want to do sizeable pheno hunts on varieties I intend to use for breeding. I want to do it all but have to be realistic.
When I am searching seeds I start in groups of three. Small space = small numbers. Small plants in small pots in reduced lighting can help with the search, but it still comes down to having space.
When I say small space I’m talking like a 4x8 and a 4x2. One for veg, one for flower. My space isn’t tiny but not nearly as big as I’d like.
Speaking from experience, space is king and for the vast majority of us, comes at a premium. In most cases, its just not feasible for the average home grower. Taking clones off veg plants right before you flip is a good way to keep that pheno without having to dedicate space to a much larger mother. Keep cutting back the veg clones, or making clones of clones to minimize taken space.
Early flower clones are ok, but again from personal experience, i wouldnt recommend late flower clones. Its not worth the headache and its not guaranteed. Plus, now you also have to stress testing of any seeds that result from monster crop breeding. Huge pain in the ass!
Ive always found that if your gonna pheno hunt you have to pick a goal, and stick to it. Running multiple strain is gonna take up more room, so sticking with 1or 2 cultivars and working through those is probably the best bet. Easier said than done, i love variety too, as does the vast majority of everyone else.
Im currently trying a new style, with an automated cap mat and bottomless fabric 1gal. I plan to have my wife make even smaller bottomless pots. Might even go down to a solo cup size just to pack them in. Definitely gonna be a learning curve, but once im dialed in, i should be able to dramatically maximize my efficiency will staying within a limited space.
Thanks. This is what I’m after. I plan on cloning while still in veg, I just wanted to see if there are any alternatives that would work. Like we talked about before, I farm, so I know how valueable space is. It is often a limiting factor. Thats why I want to make sure I’m utilizing it in the most efficient way possible. My plan has basically been to pheno hunt one variety at a time, clone, flower them out, pick out the best pheno, if I find one I like. Keep only that pheno and then move on to the next, to basically build my mother stock from. Proper male selection is really where I see space and time getting eaten up the most. Thats where running enough of the progeny is going to be important. I’m considering reversing males to look at flower attributes to see if it will pass on cetain characteristics I’m after, that way I can toss out any males that don’t give what I’m after. I’m after a very specific terp profile which might not be discernable without reversing a male or testing all resulting progeny. What I’ve been doing is handing friends beans that I want to try without adding to my breeding projects. That way I can have diversity of smoke but don’t have to use my own space.
I like your plan!! Reversal of the males is a big one, otherwise its not really a targeted goal, moreless just pollen chucking and hoping for the best. Anytime you incorporate a male to the scheme, now youve generally got a broader pool to sort through.
I believe a lot of people that hand out seeds to other growers free here do so for just this reason, it’s difficult with limited space but if 10 people are helping out it becomes much easier. It’s a matter of finding people that can grow well and you trust to share the genetics back when they find a keeper.
For a small home set-up, I have found DNA sex testing from Farmer Freeman to be invaluable. I have a small veg tent and a 2x4 for flowering, so with sex testing I can ensure I’m only holding female genetics in my veg space while evaluating them in flower. If I had to also hold male plants until they were sexxed in my flower space, I’d essentially be moving half as fast as I am only evaluating females.
I have not did any serious pheno hunting yet, but have been giving a lot of thought to how to most efficiently do it in a small space.
@low_and_slow makes a good point about making room by sexing plants early.
I don’t know what it costs to send samples to a lab, nor do I know how long it takes to get results, but I can do it at home and have results in 10ish days.
Just take a cutting and stick it in a plastic cup with some nutrient water in the bottom of it, and put it in 12/12.
It doesn’t have to be rooted or anything.
I have a thing about searching through males, its my absolute favorite thing and you dont have to reverse them to get the terp profile you just got to let them go and flower longer than most choose too 
and through this ive found more resin males than most good luck my friend
Ps it takes longer but its definitely worth it
This is something I have also been wanting to address for awhile now. Yes individually most here only have a very small limited space but if we combine our small spaces we can search through alot more just gotta find a few on here trustworthy and willing to join your quest
Furthermore, just for those that dont know, i highly value @Mithridate 's input hes very knowledgeable and unlike most will share his knowledge in a mostly unbiased manner and from the years ive delt with him he has not steered me wrong yet (i have trust issues lol) and from what i can tell he likes helping us grow . Thanks @C_in_CT for adding this to the conversation my friend it is appreciated
What I plan on doing:
Pop 4-6 seeds and get 2-3 females, take a clone off each plant & a couple extra cuttings for fridge storage. Flower the seeded plant while holding the clones in a separate tent, monitor the “keepability” of the flowering plants.
What I usually end up doing:
Pop 4-6 seeds, damp off one or two & replace with something random, keep no cuts, flower the seeded plants & then kick myself for not keeping cuts 
oh and usually one of the mixed-in plants is an auto, getting (probably) insufficient DLI
I appreciate everybody’s responses on here. I know how I like to do things and how I see it working best, but having outside perspective can be incredibly helpful to glean information and techniques that I might not have considered.
At what stage are you revegging? How late into flower? Are you taking cuttings to reveg or just revegging the how plant? Are you harvesting and then revegging?
harvest and re veging