As I mentioned in the Jungle Spice F2 thread, I will embarking on a project to create a Jungle Spice IBL. If you were signed up to receive seeds, you should also be receiving F2s, and may be interested in becoming involved.
Regardless of whether you want to help with the project, it will be a good forum for us all to watch a multi-generational stabilization project in action. In the process, we will get to learn and share in the results. You don’t have to be a breeder to participate. You don’t even need to understand how it works. If you can make seeds and run several plants, you are invited to join. We’ll help each other learn everything else along the way.
What is the objective for the project?
The goal here is to create a stable version of the JS#6 pheno. Stable means that when you select a handful of seeds from the IBL population, all of the plants that grow from those exhibit nearly identical traits. Of course, I am the only one who has experienced that pheno, so in a distributed project like this, we’ll have to select based on descriptions. At times, we may need to rely on descriptions from each other to determine what to breed next.
How does it work?
We will be doing strictly filial breeding. That means just brothers and sisters having a go at each other. No backcrossing, selfing, dads with daughters, moms with sons, grandmas and grandsons. Just bro and sis, the way god intended.
We are starting from the F2 generation. F2 means that I have crossed two plants from the F1 generation F1 x F1 => F2 seeds. The next step is to make F3 seeds. F2 x F2 => F3 seeds. Simple right?
So you grow out as many plants as you are able from the seeds you received, pollinate the females with pollen from your best male(s). Then harvest the seeds. Keep the seeds from each female SEPARATE! Also keep the buds separate. Because the last part of this is to sniff and smoke buds from each plant and determine which female was the best. Of course other factors are important too, like absolutely no herms, yield, ease of growing, etc.
Finally, I will collect F3 seeds from all participants, grow a few from each person, and make F4s. Then I will send you back a whole mess of F4 seeds. After that, I’ll probably continue to work the line. You’re always free to jump in for the next round, or sit it out. It’ll be pretty fluid.
But if I pollinate my ladies I won’t get bud for smoking right?
Wrong! Keep those boys and girls away from each other. Watch your males, and simply pollinate a few small buds on each female. 95% of your buds will still be seedless. You’ll get about 50 seeds from 2 small popcorn buds.
JS#6 pictured above. It will be in the GREEN vial.
Thanks to @8k_feet, @Ftlob and @Phatlewtz for joining the cause already. Bake with spice my friends.