Unknown & Local Strains

[Blkwlf]

I've had a little help with some of my first plants which were given to me by a couple of guys in exchange for a share of the harvest. We just began harvesting but there are 2 plants that I haven't been able to find anywhere. There used to be 3 until I found the Apricot Cush on this web site. The other 2 are SPW which is supposed to be a White Widow cross but don't know what it's crossed with and a QT. The closest thing to QT I could find was Qwirky Twerp ( please excuse if I didn't spell it right ) on Paradise Seeds web site. I use their's and Leafly for the majority of my strain research. I like that Leafly gives THC, various CB's etc.,average percentages, grow periods, good, bad and medical effects, along with plant heritage. Of course new and local strains haven't made it there. I really don't want to take clones from these without knowing their lineage even though my husband still has one of each in his outdoor grow. On the other hand, I hate to lose a strain completely. He also has a very beautiful one outside with no name at all. I've restrained myself and haven't cloned any of these because I want quality and want to be able to let patients know what we have, the effectiveness for various conditions, pros and cons, etc. as well as letting us know if they want something we don't have and being able to give them something close until we can get, grow and harvest what they request. I know I'm setting my standards for our grows high considering I'm a beginner and this is my husband's first grow ( growing for quality and medical purpose ). Any suggestions or information will be greatly appreciated. Also, I'm near Flint, need some grow supplies and want to talk to people who know what they're doing. Any suggestions as to where to go? Regarding this; web sites & phone numbers if allowed to post these. I appreciate any imput, good or bad.

[trichcycler]

in the end it really doesn't matter what strain the cannabis is, as long as it is alleviating symptoms right?   Most all are someones hybrids anyways, may as well be yours.

Names are made up on the fly, at the breeder level, dispensaries, growers and users sometimes. I've seen growers finish take finely finished plants of a particular strain and call them different than the schwaggy ones next to it, even charge more money for more better! (all of mine finish perfectly, and all are the same charge since 2009, anything less than perfect is bunny food)) Seeds are gathered, hermied, stabilized and shared some more.

 

Try it, if you like it, clone it. plant that thing and watch it grow!  I clone everything. If I find later that I don't like it, I then have to think real hard before killing a fine vegging plant. I've grown and sampled much of what attitude seeds offers and only found two strains with consistently low medical value, and even my experience is subjective, as others swear up and down about those two sometimes.   Clone, then clone some more......kill it later, if you must, and regret it possibly.

 

keep in mind leafly allows anyone to post. say a crappy grown plant is shared, and then reviewed as crappy, or renamed, or maybe the user was sick that day, or healthy even, by one person. Next guy loves it, next one doesn't. Inexperienced users report differently than ones with experience. 

   One thing we learn is that cannabis can affect a person differently, on different days, different moods, health issues, rx, alcohol, etc. If I know a person and they tell me I'd love a strain, I grow it from trust. when I hear from a stranger, it comes with a grain of salt. Some users are not discerning at all, and it depends on the experiences sought by the user, and expectations vary.

Edited July 9, 2015 by grassmatch

[Blkwlf]

Grassmatch: As I mentioned, neither my husband nor myself have any real experience with Marijuana use in any form so I won't be relying on my personal experiences for a while. I'm sure that my inexperience will cause some effects to be applified while others are diminished compared to those with more experience. Now that all of my Dr's are on board with this, I will be trying our various strains using the methods you and Wild Bill mentioned in the welcome forum along with making the butter and possibly trying a vaporizor ( not really sure about that one yet ). I AM happy to hear that I shouldn't be restraining myself just because a beautiful plant doesn't have a name or a "known" name. What I mean by "known" names are strains which are identically named, have the same history/parentage, background and lab reports across a variety of strain/seed identifying web sites as well as known labs such as in Britian, India, etc. I've been restraining myself from taking clones from several plants we have which either have no name or have "unknown" names but are VERY healthy fragrant plants....I'll be cloning them now!!! :-) Until I gain more experience, I'll be relying on input from our patients and others. I did take clones from one unhealthy looking Apricot Cush which was brought in as part of or 1st batch but didn't look real healthy. So far the clones are looking real good compared to mommy due to the care and trimming they've received.

We're not quite set up yet to be breeding our own plants and producing our own seeds. We have some further construction plus additional electrical to put in before we can expand into that area. Until then my hubby is good at germinating seeds and I've gotten very good at cloning. We each have different strengths and weaknesses which compliment each other so we can teach/learn from one another. I fully understand the regret in destroying either a plant or clone...have already begun my "triage" as I call it. As hard as it is, I finally realized it had to be done!

I just finished the 1st harvest and have already learned some things which I need to do differently for my 2nd. I figure the best teacher is experience. No matter how much research I do, I've learned a lot just from doing....winning in some areas and losing in others. Of course having such a grand wealth of knowledge from experienced local growers has helped immensely!!!!! :-) BTW... Some of my hubby's product did get a name..Chubacka..LOL, I know I spelled that wrong. I have a very small cloner ( 25 max. ) until I expand my patient base so.. I'll keep cloning but have to take breaks to keep our plant counts down since I've perfected my cloning and am now getting 100% from my cuts though some eventually DO get "triaged" if I don't like how they're turning out from babies to teens. I'm getting nice, multiple tops now that I've gotten better at trimming. I have to admit that, even though we have both high Sativa, high Indica and fairly even mixed strains, I tend to like the looks of the Higher Indica's. That may change after I've tested some on myself soon. I can't thank you enough for your wealth of advice and continued support! I hope to meet at one of the Compassion Club meeting some day! BlkWlf

[trichcycler]

Chubacka!! I love it!

 

now you know exactly how other strains are created most often.

never invented.

[Blkwlf]

Grassmatch: Yeah I thought it sounded pretty cool too! I'm still not sure I'm spelling it correctly. Anyhow, we've been thinking of naming this VERY healthy and potently sweet smelling line Chubacka after what you said about growers and even their clients/patients sometimes naming the strains themselves. Who knows what may happen if it catches on....maybe one of it's clones will be one of the 1st ones we seed for practice. Electrician coming to expand our breaker box so we can set up additional indoor rooms plus putting more electric in our new work barn. A tornado last year relocated our old work barn and tore up most of our property. We have a sister plant to the one outside in our flowering room and she's looking very nice with 8 strong tops on her. I've been reading a lot and watching quite a few videos about proper trimming and topping after our first plants went in to flower without being trimmed up or topped. The sister in the flowering room has begun smelling REAL sweet and they look to be a mixture of Sativa and Indica leaning closer to the Sativa line. Planning on doing as you suggested and taking some clones from them. If the one flowering now ends up not being very good I'll "triage" ( my term for killing a plant ) the clones I took from it. I like my little cloner and use Clonex in the cloner plus a little Clonex gel on my cuttings but was thinking of trying the individual blocks. Have you used the blocks for cloning? I need to read and learn more about seeding and breeding as well as setting up a good place for it so nothing I don't want pollinated is in danger. I also need to do more germinating of seeds. As I said: Tons to learn! Thank you again for your support! Blkwlf

[trichcycler]

I've used chunks of insulation, a sponge,  rapid rooters, rooting cubes, dirt and bubbles to clone successfully. I settled on rapid rooter cubes. Its important to me to use something I can easily dispose of, making those cubes a no go.
Plant in the flowering stage should not be trimmed or topped. Remove only damaged, yellowing leaves, or those necessary for horticulture finesse. 
Female cannabis plants can and will show both sexes. Genetic and environmental factors are involved. Its best to avoid plant stressing in the flowering stage.
some causes of environmental hermaphrodism:
◾Changes in the photoperiod, specially interruptions of the dark period during flowering
◾Too much heat wrong environmental conditions
◾Harvesting too late, when the grower misses the deadline for harvesting his/her plants
◾Mechanical stress: broken branches, damaged roots, pruning during flowering,…
◾Irrigation issues (lack or excess)
◾Over-fertilization
◾Insects, mites, diseases…
◾Thermal stress
◾Use of phytotoxic products (pesticides, fungicides…)

Edited July 19, 2015 by grassmatch

[Blkwlf]

LOL, I too tried squares of sponge once when my cloner was full. It didn't work out for me. I also prefer the least amount of waste possible. We have a bit of land and already have a compost and burn pile for clean organic waste. As for trimming flowering plants, I'm very conservative about it due to my inexperience. What I meant was, due to the 1st plant that were put to flower having never been trimmed or topped, I'm doing much more trimming/topping of those going into flower. My 1st harvest consisted of many plants having lots of tiny branches coming off the bottom of the main stem and the top buds weren't as large or well developed as I would have liked. My reseasrch of trimming/topping has helped me produce plants going into flower with 6-8 nice tops and no "stickers" which is what I call the thin, underdeveloped lower branches. My husband has several years experience on me but I have helped him with his plants. The only trimming I do once a plant goes into flower is to take clones ( very rare ) remove damaged branches and all the reasons you mentioned above. Thank you for the advice on the cubes. There are so many different types from so many companies. The rapid rooter cubes were on my top 5 list for those to try. Some companies say you can plant their's directly to soil. No matter how much I read, I'm still going to make mistakes. I great to know that someone like yourself is out there to lend their experience. My meds have been making me sick for years. I was just waiting until I could get all of my DR's to agree before trying this myself. Since my husband's filled up with patients I decided to expand his grow with plants of my own. We haven't had much use for pesticides or fungicides yet. We've had a tiny problem with spider mites but a little neem oil and cleaning seems to be keeping them at bay for the most part. The only tempurature related issue we've had was a couple plants being too close to the lights and getting a little burned and I recently added a couple fans which has helped quite a bit. Until the electrician comes out to expand our breaker box and wire the new work barn I can't do everything I want to upgrade my growing rooms. My husband has a strict nutrient, organic only, and watering, Ph, acidity, etc. tested, schedule which I've been learning from him plus any further info. I gather online. You've been a wealth of information for me which I can't thank you enough for. Plus, it seems, ppl on this web site genuinely want to see others like myself do well. So many posts/forums, far too little time. :-)

[AbominableDro-Man]

Han shot first, always let the Wookie win. Dear Ol' Chewbacca. Gotta get that Starwars. (Anyone else geeked for Battlefront in November?)

Edited July 20, 2015 by AbominableDro-Man