Jul '24 (edited) • Custom Connoisseur Cannabis
How to identify desirable traits in cannabis strains.
So let’s say you have some landrace genetics you’ve acquired and want to search for phenotypes from. Using the example of landraces is a great way to understand how to identify desirable traits as landrace’s often haves high percentage of undesirable traits you need to eliminate while refining and increasing the expression of desirable traits.
So I’m this example it is great to have an idea of what the ideal expression of that package looks and smokes like, however it is not critical in selecting great phenotypes, you may however stumble upon an unusual desirable phenotype and not realise, depending on your goals that may or may not matter.
Anyway, first you plant as many seeds as you can. The reason being, the more plants you have, the more chances you have of finding desirable phenotypes. For example in landrace genetics, in my experience I’d say about 10% show very desirable traits for breeding, with 5% special traits. That’s a fully rough estimate Bear in mind. But you bet the idea. So then if you plant 100 plants, you may find 10 decent ones, and 5 of those you may select to breed with.
M as son as the seedlings start you can start to get some indications of winning or losing traits, let’s call them that. Winning traits would be big fast growth. Losing traits, slow weak growth… Have a look at the general population of baby seeding. Anything seedling that looks stoned at this stage will almost never produce a vigorous plant (it can happen in some situations however it may consume valuable time or attention) and can be culled immediately.
The ones you’re hoping turn out good are the big strong phenotypes obviously. Sometimes something extra special expresses from a slightly smaller phenotype however. Intact I’ve found that most times the giant phenotypes often produce b standard flower traits and are a bit less refined. Refined is what you want! The majority of times the highly special flowers came from specimens that were just a bit smaller than the jumbo phenotypes but not “small” phenotypes by any means.
Sometimes combing these types can prove successful and one can find a special phenotype that expresses the buds from the special slightly smaller mother but the size of the jumbo phenotype father.
As the seedlings grow, observe the structure of the plants. Refined growth internet of leaves and overall structure often translate into refined flowers. Messy leaves and plant structure often translates into messy flowers. Messy flowers are often loose and leafy. That’s great to keep in mind moving forward.
Once the plants are past the 4 week old mark they are near ready to flower. Before stimulating flowing, ideally take cutting off each document and label clone to mother. Depending on practicality, either flower the mothers or cutting. As they bring to show sex, remove males. Monitor females as they flowers grow. Looks for signs of stretch in the first 2 weeks of growth. Stretch can’t be either a good or bad thing depending on your chosen outcome. In theory big stretch equals more yield as whatever size the plant is when initiated into flowering, it will increase in size that much more but fully flowering. Some varieties literally double in size in the fists 2 weeks of flower. Who wouldn’t want that? Well tight space indoor growers maybe. Outdoor growers would be laughing. So think about that too.
Other early signs into flowering to look out for is the first sign of trichome onset. The early the better but not always an indicator of high trichome amounts, but a good chance. The appearance of our sticky smelly Chrystaly friends is expected to start at about 2 weeks in to flower as a good standard. As the first trichomes appear, give them a little squeeze and have a smell. High Terpene production at this early stage is great indicator of potential powerful terpene profiles.
Once the stretch stage has stopped after about 2 weeks, start looking the length of the last stacked nodes that make up the top flowers. The more nodes together forming one flower, the bigger the buds will be. Look too for calf to leaf ratio. Are there many or few bud leaves? How far do the trichomes cover the flowers and surrounding leaves and stems? I always prefer expressions with trichomes that cover the bud leaves generously. Some stains however may not do that much but still holds plenty crystals on the calyxes.
Great trichome producing varieties will produce trichomes all the way to the tips of the fan bud leaves and even on the stem between bud sites. Another aspect to start looking for as the bud start to fill out is density. Ideally we want as much density of calyxes as the genetics of the variety can express. Try to steer away from loose, fluffy flowers if you can help it. There are strains however you may choose to grow that produce puffy buds, however a good phenotype of that strain may still have the tightest buds that it can possibly have.
Finally as the flowers mature, Pay careful attention to the terpenes as they will continue to change the whole flowering period. What started off smelling insane may completely change by the end. Once the flowers are harvested, pay attention to the smell whilst trimming each phenotype. After trimming weigh the flowers of each phenotype. After the flowers have cured, not the final smell of each phenotype. You may be surprised how much the smell changes until it’s finally cured.
Sat last, smoke each phenotype nothing it’s smells and flavours, and of course the all important high. Only after all of this can you weigh up the tryouts and compare them, can you decide which specimens you will choose to breed with. You may also come up with strategies to blend chosen phenotypes together.
In the next instalment we’ll look at creative breeding techniques to blend and preserve traits
Warrick Duncan co-founder
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How to identify desirable traits in cannabis strains.
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