Barney's Farm - Critical Kush - Phenotype Identification?

[Mike Connor]

Hey,

I currently have Barneys Critical Kush on the go.

2 Phenotypes have emerged. One which is smaller with narrow leaves and the other, larger with plump fat leaves.

I see these referred to in texts of other grows, but not clearly defined.

Does anyone know which of these two phenos performs better or what the end game differences are?


Many thanks in advance!

Cheers!

 

[Austin084]

Following. I've got a single specimen growing that popped from seed four weeks ago, and it is very much indica leaning with its gigantic broad leaves and amazingly tight node spacing. A beautiful robust shrub that I was planning to scrog, but may just lst considering her structure. Curious to see how the final product differs pheno to pheno.

 

[Mike Connor]

Following. I've got a single specimen growing that popped from seed four weeks ago, and it is very much indica leaning with its gigantic broad leaves and amazingly tight node spacing. A beautiful robust shrub that I was planning to scrog, but may just lst considering her structure. Curious to see how the final product differs pheno to pheno.

Great,

Thanks for chiming in. That looks like it might be my phenotype 2. A few questions..

Would it be possible to get a few photos in regular light?

-and-

Is the plant growing in a balanced fashion? Meaning leaf and grow tips are the same size on each side?

Ours is growing larger on one side... Ill see if I can snap a piccie.

Cheers

 

[Mike Connor]

Ok, Some photos.

First one here is my phenotype 2. I think its going to be the same as yours. Its two and a half weeks old. Note one leaf is smaller than the other. This theme is carried on thru the whole plant.

This is the new grow tips emerging from a node. Usually they are the same size. But not in this case as you can see.

This shows phenotype one and two. You can see pheno two is on the left and one on the right. Pheno one is at the same stage of development, but a much smaller. Much smaller. They don't even look like the same plant never mind strain.

So based on all this, I have two dwarf plants and a big one that grows larger on one side. So I've just germinated two more seeds in hopes of something more normal.

Cheers for now.

 

[Austin084]

Ok, so it seems we have almost identical plants. Here's some (slightly) better pics, note the absence of symmetry with leaf sizes (the two pictured are from opposite nodes), I tried to get another to display the different rates of growth on opposing node branches also, but shrub is too thick to see clearly. It is noticeable. It'll be interesting to see where it grows from here.

 

[Mike Connor]

Ok, so it seems we have almost identical plants. Here's some (slightly) better pics, note the absence of symmetry with leaf sizes (the two pictured are from opposite nodes), I tried to get another to display the different rates of growth on opposing node branches also, but shrub is too thick to see clearly. It is noticeable. It'll be interesting to see where it grows from here.

Austin,

Thank you very much for taking the time to snap some photos and share information. I really appreciate it.

Some thoughts at this point.

I'm hoping that grow tips come even. There seems to be large ones on one side, smaller on the other. I'm hoping that means each side will not have the same disparity. ie if I clone a large one, its nodes and grow tips will be of one size. Gees, hard to explain. If I take a clone on the large side, I hope that clone dosent display the size issue. This would make me happy.

This phenotype (type two) is light crazy. it can tolerate immense amounts of light like Ive never see before. So you should raise your light, your node spaces will open up some. Actually you can control you inter node space by the distance the light is from the plant too close and your node spaces are too short. Too far away and your node spaces get too big.

You have phenotype two. I have both one and two. I think its a good thing for you as phenotype one is a fussy small growing, not very healthy looking plant at this point. Maybe it will turn on later, but I've seen others complain about this type.

However the important thing is, as a community we are identifying the phenotypes and logging it. For sure we will share notes and get this sorted out. When I get there I will let you know if cloning sorted it out.

Cheers for now

 

[Austin084]

More research required. I had the same thought regarding light height, and plan on raising lights by a few inches pre sunrise. Hopefully this helps my cause. I've researched this breed of Critical Kush a fair bit, and was worried about this phenotype 2 I sprouted, as there is nearly no documented cases of it occurring. Plenty of journals displaying the phenotype 1 however...
Super keen to read your findings when it comes time to clone, hopefully the apparent indecision sorts itself out

 

[Mike Connor]

More research required. I had the same thought regarding light height, and plan on raising lights by a few inches pre sunrise. Hopefully this helps my cause. I've researched this breed of Critical Kush a fair bit, and was worried about this phenotype 2 I sprouted, as there is nearly no documented cases of it occurring. Plenty of journals displaying the phenotype 1 however...
Super keen to read your findings when it comes time to clone, hopefully the apparent indecision sorts itself out

I'm not sure of you light intensity, but maybe back it off a foot or more. Let it go for 5 days to a week. Overall growth will slow a bit, but the nodes will start spacing out. Leds tend to be very centrally intense. This is likely the issue.


Cheers

 

[Austin084]

Thanks for the advice, I'm using a MarsII 700 in a 2.5x2.5' space. Around 315w at the wall. This is my second run with led, first photoperiod plant under it. Quite different to the hid I'm used to...

 

[Mike Connor]

Update

Its a possibility that a 3rd phenotype has shown up. Stay tuned.

 

[Austin084]

Update on my type 2 pheno. Raising the light was just what the doctor ordered, growth rate intensified, as did hunger levels (quite a heavy feeder). Still tight and bushy in structure, the lopsided growth seems to have corrected somewhat, although is still clearly evident in the older branches. Decided against the scrog due to her lovely structure... topped once and lst

 

[Mike Connor]

Update on my type 2 pheno. Raising the light was just what the doctor ordered, growth rate intensified, as did hunger levels (quite a heavy feeder). Still tight and bushy in structure, the lopsided growth seems to have corrected somewhat, although is still clearly evident in the older branches. Decided against the scrog due to her lovely structure... topped once and lst

This pheno grows at an amazing speed doesn't it? It wont be long before you can change it up to 12/12

Cheers

 

[Austin084]

Another week by my reckoning. Will be interesting to see what stretch I get out of it after flip.
Will keep you posted

 

[Austin084]

So, flipped my girl 4.5 weeks ago. Flowering initiated really quickly, pistils within the first couple of days. She stretched a bit more than I expected but the bulk of it was over within a fortnight, flower development has been rapid (as I expected). Trichome production is impressive and is covering just about everything. I'll try and get a good pic to share

 

[Mike Connor]

Wow

How much vertical growth did you get in that two weeks? I'm concerned about space on my end.

Cant wait to see the photos.

Cheers

 

[Austin084]

I saw around 20-21 inches of upward growth, before I tied a few branches down to maintain an even canopy. More than I expected, but definitely manageable.
As promised here's some pics.