To Sink Or Skunk? That Is A Question

[dbones]

@Guy Cavallero , @Pennywise @Jackalope and all..
Well. Today I have been mostly plucking seed pods/male flowers:
Done about 50 today
Yeah, I should give it up soon like pennywise said, I’ll have a bunch of seeds now.
Where to go? What exotic landmarks can I spill my pockets of dodgy seeds out onto gardens and shrubbery etc
The list is exciting and extensive..!

 

[loomis420]

You can dump them in my woods...lol

 

[Pennywise]

Good genetics will help a lot.

 

[dbones]

Good morning @Pennywise,
(or middle-of-the-night, depending what side of the Atlantic you’re on!)
Your mention of the all-important genetics issue has prompted me to seek advice on what strain of feminised seeds I should go for once I’ve divested myself of this present bastardised grow! So, I hope this is alright with you, as I’d like to ask your advice on the subject of genetics, if you’d be so kind.
I’m really after your opinion on what fem seeds would work particularly well in my specific grow-room environment, so I’ll have to describe what kind of space I have in order for you to get an idea of what could work best for me as I really have no idea about it at all... the only thing I’m sure about is I don’t want to grow with ‘autos’ (I just don’t like the idea of more messing around with things; we eat enough GM rubbish without even knowing it half the time! And I’ve heard nothing very good about autos. For me it’s like a strawberry; do I want a real strawberry or a kind of 3D-printed strawberry that will look and perhaps smell and even taste like a strawberry, but I know it’s not a strawberry and I’d like a real one actually!!)..
Also, I should and will apologise in advance for my wordy writing style and my tendency to digress, but if you’ve the patience I shall try to explain it all without waffling on too much! If you are inclined to offer your opinion it will be very much appreciated!
As it goes, in the UK it’s legal to buy cannabis seeds (for souvenir purposes of course!); you’re just not allowed to use them in any way..! So there is a reputable seed company here: when I went there I talked to the guy at the counter and he suggested green crack fem seeds cuz he thought they would suit my needs as far as my space (low ceiling, slightly hot temps - I’ve since sorted out the temperature and air flow problems I had) and also taking into account my wish to find a strain with a fairly quick turnaround and able to produce top quality buds with high THC content, a great taste and an overall pro-quality aesthetic..
Well, again as I’ve said, this time was my first grow with seeds; I’ve been using clones for my first couple grows, which actually went really pretty good for my first ever 2 grows but in the end result the buds didn’t have the strength and flavour I hope for, and I hadn’t even learned enough then about the importance of good nutes and adding PK or calmag, etc, so the buds were nice enough but weren’t the best quality or nice enough taste - when smoked those first two crops tasted a little bit homegrown and not the pro-standard I’ve been aiming to achieve over the last year: My last grow, which was ready after the New Year, was a lot better with a fruity taste and a lot of red colour to it, and it tasted great but had seeds galore in the buds! That last grow had hermied for two major reasons, and it wasn’t just me messing up! What happened was I waited and waited for these clones and when I finally got to pick them up these clones had been kept too long: they were huge for clones and already smelly! They were very ready to flip to 12/12 almost straight away but they were in far too-small pots for way too long and badly rootbound with huge mats of tangled dreadlocked roots coming out the bottom holes of the pots: I had to cut the pots off from around them and try to gently undo the tangle of roots out of the bottom of the pots, but there was no real gentle way of doing it and the matted-roots were damaged in transplant;
As well as that, back then I still had my environment a bit ass-backwards and didn’t know better.. I had a good extractor/carbon-filter at one end of the low-ceiling squat room (the grow space is just under a couple of metres wide and several metres long with a low ceiling) with this proper big carbon filter and fan pulling air out, and at the other end of the space there was a strong fan pulling fresh air in, with moving fans at either end: the thing is I finally realised only a couple of weeks into this grow, so just several weeks ago, that the strong fan pulling air in was just stirring hot air around the little room and at times I was hitting 35 degrees Celsius!!!.. : I finally realised the mistake and made another little intake hole for more fresh air to get in and put an intake fan up to the new hole bringing a little more fresh air in, so then I could reverse the bigger fan that I had hanging from the ceiling with duct-hose routed up to a hole in the wall for outside air - the big fan is hung because the route to air at that end of the room is up high so I hung it on a chain with air duct hose going up to the hole in the wall so it’s situated lower in the space than the air out-take at opposite end of the space..
I had to reverse the air flow instead of bringing more air in I needed the air taking out, and I stuck a small carbon filter on the fan taking air out, which turned out to be exactly the right thing to do because now, instead of hitting really high spikes in temp, which definitely helped my last grow to herm as well as the transplant shock:
Now I’ve achieved a very steady 27/28 degrees Celsius with lights on and going down to around 21 with lights off (that’s with both the metal hallide for veg and Hps for bloom, with supplemental side lighting with high watt CFLs ( the MH bulbs do heat my room up loads more than the hps too, I’ve noticed), but it’s a nice steady environment now; admittedly during the first two or three weeks of veg in this present grow was when I finally got my temps and RH right, which probably helped the hermie situation I have now to come about (though I also think it’s the clones!)
As Mentioned, this herm-tastic grow is a mix of three OG Cheese clones and five Green Crack fem seeds which I rooted in coco jiffy pots and had in a humidity dome for a bit and then under two 250 watt CFLs while I kept the clones going under the 600 watt metal hallides while I got the GC fem sproutlings up to speed, the idea being that when I flipped to 12/12 all the plants would be generally close to same size - fortunately the green crack fems really did grow up quick: it was my first time ever growing with seeds from start; it was great watching them plunge their tap roots in and rise up, throwing their little hats off and developing their first set of proper leaves..!
Anyway, this is long now!! Pennywise, you have a rough idea of my space and what I want to do, so the question I’m keen to ask you is: can you give me any guidance at all as to what strain of feminised seeds could be suited to my situation for my next grow?
I really appreciate your patience reading through this! and any advice you have on genetics for my next go round are very welcome!
Cheers!
D

 

[dbones]

Good morning @Pennywise,
(or middle-of-the-night, depending what side of the Atlantic you’re on!)
Your mention of the all-important genetics issue has prompted me to seek advice on what strain of feminised seeds I should go for once I’ve divested myself of this present bastardised grow! So, I hope this is alright with you, as I’d like to ask your advice on the subject of genetics, if you’d be so kind.
I’m really after your opinion on what fem seeds would work particularly well in my specific grow-room environment, so I’ll have to describe what kind of space I have in order for you to get an idea of what could work best for me as I really have no idea about it at all... the only thing I’m sure about is I don’t want to grow with ‘autos’ (I just don’t like the idea of more messing around with things; we eat enough GM rubbish without even knowing it half the time! And I’ve heard nothing very good about autos. For me it’s like a strawberry; do I want a real strawberry or a kind of 3D-printed strawberry that will look and perhaps smell and even taste like a strawberry, but I know it’s not a strawberry and I’d like a real one actually!!)..
Also, I should and will apologise in advance for my wordy writing style and my tendency to digress, but if you’ve the patience I shall try to explain it all without waffling on too much! If you are inclined to offer your opinion it will be very much appreciated!
As it goes, in the UK it’s legal to buy cannabis seeds (for souvenir purposes of course!); you’re just not allowed to use them in any way..! So there is a reputable seed company here: when I went there I talked to the guy at the counter and he suggested green crack fem seeds cuz he thought they would suit my needs as far as my space (low ceiling, slightly hot temps - I’ve since sorted out the temperature and air flow problems I had) and also taking into account my wish to find a strain with a fairly quick turnaround and able to produce top quality buds with high THC content, a great taste and an overall pro-quality aesthetic..
Well, again as I’ve said, this time was my first grow with seeds; I’ve been using clones for my first couple grows, which actually went really pretty good for my first ever 2 grows but in the end result the buds didn’t have the strength and flavour I hope for, and I hadn’t even learned enough then about the importance of good nutes and adding PK or calmag, etc, so the buds were nice enough but weren’t the best quality or nice enough taste - when smoked those first two crops tasted a little bit homegrown and not the pro-standard I’ve been aiming to achieve over the last year: My last grow, which was ready after the New Year, was a lot better with a fruity taste and a lot of red colour to it, and it tasted great but had seeds galore in the buds! That last grow had hermied for two major reasons, and it wasn’t just me messing up! What happened was I waited and waited for these clones and when I finally got to pick them up these clones had been kept too long: they were huge for clones and already smelly! They were very ready to flip to 12/12 almost straight away but they were in far too-small pots for way too long and badly rootbound with huge mats of tangled dreadlocked roots coming out the bottom holes of the pots: I had to cut the pots off from around them and try to gently undo the tangle of roots out of the bottom of the pots, but there was no real gentle way of doing it and the matted-roots were damaged in transplant;
As well as that, back then I still had my environment a bit ass-backwards and didn’t know better.. I had a good extractor/carbon-filter at one end of the low-ceiling squat room (the grow space is just under a couple of metres wide and several metres long with a low ceiling) with this proper big carbon filter and fan pulling air out, and at the other end of the space there was a strong fan pulling fresh air in, with moving fans at either end: the thing is I finally realised only a couple of weeks into this grow, so just several weeks ago, that the strong fan pulling air in was just stirring hot air around the little room and at times I was hitting 35 degrees Celsius!!!.. : I finally realised the mistake and made another little intake hole for more fresh air to get in and put an intake fan up to the new hole bringing a little more fresh air in, so then I could reverse the bigger fan that I had hanging from the ceiling with duct-hose routed up to a hole in the wall for outside air - the big fan is hung because the route to air at that end of the room is up high so I hung it on a chain with air duct hose going up to the hole in the wall so it’s situated lower in the space than the air out-take at opposite end of the space..
I had to reverse the air flow instead of bringing more air in I needed the air taking out, and I stuck a small carbon filter on the fan taking air out, which turned out to be exactly the right thing to do because now, instead of hitting really high spikes in temp, which definitely helped my last grow to herm as well as the transplant shock:
Now I’ve achieved a very steady 27/28 degrees Celsius with lights on and going down to around 21 with lights off (that’s with both the metal hallide for veg and Hps for bloom, with supplemental side lighting with high watt CFLs ( the MH bulbs do heat my room up loads more than the hps too, I’ve noticed), but it’s a nice steady environment now; admittedly during the first two or three weeks of veg in this present grow was when I finally got my temps and RH right, which probably helped the hermie situation I have now to come about (though I also think it’s the clones!)
As Mentioned, this herm-tastic grow is a mix of three OG Cheese clones and five Green Crack fem seeds which I rooted in coco jiffy pots and had in a humidity dome for a bit and then under two 250 watt CFLs while I kept the clones going under the 600 watt metal hallides while I got the GC fem sproutlings up to speed, the idea being that when I flipped to 12/12 all the plants would be generally close to same size - fortunately the green crack fems really did grow up quick: it was my first time ever growing with seeds from start; it was great watching them plunge their tap roots in and rise up, throwing their little hats off and developing their first set of proper leaves..!
Anyway, this is long now!! Pennywise, you have a rough idea of my space and what I want to do, so the question I’m keen to ask you is: can you give me any guidance at all as to what strain of feminised seeds could be suited to my situation for my next grow?
I really appreciate your patience reading through this! and any advice you have on genetics for my next go round are very welcome!
Cheers!
D

ADDENDUM:
@Pennywise I forgot to add that because of where I live I have my grow-space a little away from my home, a drive away so not far, but I do have to occasionally leave them for a day or two, three at most, and that’s where the autopots system comes on so useful , but I need to find a strain that’s a little bit hardy too. I dunno what difference that may make but I do have to juggle a bit to get time to get to outskirts of city to my ‘garden’
Anyway, just trying to think of everything!
Cheers!

 

[Pennywise]

Your best bet would be a scrog if you have limited headroom, get them established then put a net over them and train them horizontally. You could choose virtually any strain you may be interested in.

 

[Jackalope]

50? now that's a lot. That's a hermie. Not stress related. I would bail if you don't need it as you mentioned. 2 great companies to look at are Humboldt Seed Org. or Barnies Farm. Both have a large selection female seeds of popular strains at a pretty fare price. You just got to look around for something that trips your fancy. I can say I was very happy with the 707 Headband at Humboldt.

 

[dbones]

Yeah, close to fifty! Hard effing work dude!
And you are right about it’s not from stress: I don’t think you saw my posts where I said what my plants are: basically I did a real schoolboy error and mixed plants in my space.. I got five fem Green Crack seeds from the Seed co. here and sprouted them, at the same time I was offered three clones from one of the guys who made the original Cheese over here in UK and he is well respected but. It by me any more !!!
I’m certain that there was a herm in his clones and that fucked my whole game up, man oh man. I blame myself for it. I shoulda never mixed them up together
But I’m grateful for your tips on seed companies, though I’ve heard of Bernie’s and of course Humboldt cuz I lived in San Francisco and Northern California (I used to go up to arcada and work on these farms trimming when I was 16.. well cool work for an alt outsider adolescent misfit)
I’ll look into the 707
If you see the post I write to pennywise you’ll see that I asked specifically what strain of seeds would work well in my enviro which I’ve just got good finally
Please don’t hesitate to follow my threads/posts and throw me any ideas you have! I need all the help I can get
Soon as this bastard grow is done with I’m gonna get the right seeds and do it right!!
Cheers Jackalope
D

 

[dbones]

Your best bet would be a scrog if you have limited headroom, get them established then put a net over them and train them horizontally. You could choose virtually any strain you may be interested in.

Yeh @Pennywise , I’ve been doing scrog with autopots from day one.. I use all that system, like aerating clay pebbles with a dome connected to an air-line / air pump and the whole lot.
I like scrog and it’s the only way I can deal with my headroom issues but it seems all good to go now: just the clones fucked my shit up man!!
Done soon and onto next ting y’onow
Nice one
D

 

[Pennywise]

Just gotta keep going, seems like we encounter crap every grow.

 

[dbones]

Salut Monsieur “Cent-économe“!
To address your last comment I must adamantly state with the fervour of a true blind optimist: There will be no more crap grows! In fact even my present stressful horror of a grow might be a bit shit, but crap..? Nah, man: it’s just “imperfect”..
Perfection is coming up imminently (well cupla months at most!) hehe...
Gotta keep hope alive or die crying
Big luv to y’all
D’Bones