How’s everyone on this fine Sunday? I’m in my first year of growing and I’m starting new strains from seed to find mothe plants to take clones from. I’m trying to figure out how to go about these first runs from seed. I assume that I take clones from all the plants before I flip them to flower and flower them out culling the males for now (I’ll get into breeding later on), then pick a keeper from the females and cull the rest of the clones? Just want to make sure I’m on the right track.
Another question is do y’all let your first runs from seed grow naturally (no training, topping, trellising, etc.)?
I will generally run strains a minimum of 2 times. Your first run can give you a good idea of which ones to keep. Second run usually solidifies that observation…
But yes take clones, run the seed plants, cull the clones of the obvious losers, clone and run the rest again, and then make a decision…
Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 runs if 2 are similar.
Thanks for the info. I guess I’m heading on the right path.
Do you top your first runs? Ive been contemplating it so I can get a better yield in case I do get a good keeper ill have more smoke… Or should I worry more about figure out the natural structure of the plant on the this run then on the second run go for yield?
@Dewb
Cool. I’m just now coming over to photo’s from auto’s and I would top my autos if they looked like they could handle it (had great results). But I’m thinking about topping the plants at 2ft then letting them get closer to 3ft before flipping them to the flower tent.
Just remember that they will likely stretch a bit during the first 2-3 weeks of flower. Some can triple in size… but you won’t know until they do it, then make a note about that plant’s stretch in flower so you can plan for it next round.
Keeping notes on your moms/strains will help you maximize your output with them.
Yeah I’ve been keeping a pretty comprehensive journal on these. Temp and RH @ time, height, position in tent, distance of light from canopy, and anything else that I think should be noted. I never kept a journal with my auto’s because I never got enough consistency in phenotypes/genotypes for it to matter lol.
@2muchDank if you can grow a good auto then photo/regs are easier, YOU ARE GOD to your photo plants you can veg flower re-veg again and so on plus there is no time limit for regular seeds so whatever suited your style and if you feel you coulda done better now you will have the chance, just as easy (& less harsh on the elecky bill too), than auto’s … though i run both too.
You’ll find it’s not took different than auto growing…'good luck bud…
Gaz
It’s really rare to find a keeper plant in your first dozen photo plants, so take clones but focus more on getting the product you need.
For the first couple cycles you should try different experiments to learn how different types of photos work. Indica dominant stuff will have 1.5-2x stretch in flower and can be flipped at 2 foot and finish at 3-4 foot. More sativa dominant stuff will have a 3-4x stretch in flower and can be flipped at 1 foot and finish at 3-4 foot. A sativa or mostly sativa flowered at 3 feet would finish at… Way to tall to fit in a room, unless you tie it down a lot. Don’t let this stop you from trying though.
My most valuable knowledge has been gained by making mistakes, often on purpose, just to experience the challenge, so I could learn first hand what does and doesn’t work to mitigate the issue.
Describing your setup (room size, light equipment, soil\synthetic media options, etc.) would help us teach you about what challenges are ahead.
I have a a 4x4 tent with a dual 1k-600w ballast. Then I have a 8x4 with two more of the same ballasts. I started out growing autos with synthetic nutes in soil (cutting edge solutions), then i tried a couple dwc buckets (CES), and now my current run I’m trying out living soil/super soil with my first run of photos. I have a thermostat controlled fan pulling in cool air out of my central air ducting and pulling hot air out of the tents. Air cooled lighting. My rh stays between 40%-60% and temps between 67 at night and up to 80 during the day.
LOL, you just described the path I took during my first 3 years.
We can definitely help you. It takes some time to fully learn living organic soil growing and photoperiods. My suggestion is that you start a grow journal and begin the first post with as many details about your environment, soil mix and the strains your growing, as possible. That way we can admire your project as you progress and advise when needed. Even if you don’t finish a grow journal it’s still helpful to use one!!
Link it here and we’ll follow you there from the link!
I’m linking my journal so you have a couple examples, I post about once every couple weeks.