The Cannabis Breeder's Bible (36 page)

Everything in breeding is relative and you will be able to find this out for yourself when you experiment with leaf traits by creating hybrids between Sativa plants and Indica plants. Lots of variations will be present in the population and you will be able to see the different results in leaf traits via random mating without any selective breeding pressures.

Maturity (Including Flowering Times)

There are different levels of maturity that a plant will grow through and it will display different properties during each phase. The three main phases of maturity are:

• seedling maturity

• flowering maturity

• vegetative maturity

Although these phases are linear from seedling to flowering, you must remember that some strains can be rejuvenated and cloning is part of cannabis cultivation. Maturity is generally used to describe the end of a phase of growth and not the start of that phase although many growers do use the term “flowering maturity” to describe the action of calyx development. In truth flowering maturity occurs when the plant is ready for harvest. Here we will use maturity to describe the end of a phase of growth.

Seedling maturity is reached when secondary branching begins to develop. If you look at the branches on a seedling that have developed four or more leaves you may notice tiny leaves developing at the stem’s node points (the start of lateral branching). This can take two to three weeks from when the seedling started to grow to occur under good growing conditions. As soon as you see these new leaves your plant is mature enough to start vegetative growth.

Vegetative maturity is reached when the nodes develop a calyx. Initial calyx development is an indication that the plant has reached vegetative maturity and is now ready to go into flowering.

Flowering maturity is reached when the flowers are fully developed and ready for harvest. Pollinated bud that is not sinsemilla should also be ready for collection.

Each of these phases is controlled by time and growing conditions. Under optimal growing conditions a very uniform strain should reach each point at equal times in the population, but plant gender will cause flowering growth and timing to be paced in their own respective ways. Male plants will grow a bit faster than the females and will in general pre-flower and flower more quickly than females. Note that clones carry the same age and maturity as the parent plant they came from and are never to be treated as plants without any maturity levels. A clone taken from a flowering mother can be flowered soon after the rooting period is over.

Different species and strains have different maturation times. Flowering maturity, seen in the ripeness of the buds, can take anywhere between four weeks and nine months depending on the strain type. Some Haze strains and Pure Sativa strains can take up to nine months to finish correctly. Other Indica plants may only take four to five weeks to complete. When breeding plants you will be able to control maturity times. If you want to keep the flowering times short in your strains then you need to introduce what is known as an “early” strain into the breeding project. “Late” strains are the opposite of this. Note, though, that late strains are also associated with an up cerebral high, while early strains provide more of a couch-lock type high. An Indica/Sativa plant should carry a mean of both high types and have a flowering time that would be roughly the mean of the Sativa and Indica parents.

In general the following flowering times are very common with regard to species type.

Breeders have noted that there is probably no specific gene for flowering times and that it is more than likely the result of a number of gene combinations. Figuring the mean between the parents’ flowering times is the best way to guess flowering times in the offspring. If the offspring lean more in the direction of one parent’s physiognomy, then it is quite likely that the flowering time will stray from the mean in that direction too. (For best results, refer to the expert harvest indication in chapter 14 of
The Cannabis Grow Bible
.)

Maturation is thus controlled by more than one gene and these genes influence maturity in conjunction with the environment, which will also have an effect on the expressed phenotypes of the maturation process. Obviously unstable offspring will show variations in maturation times.

Seed Characteristics

Seed characteristics are inherited. If you come across a very stable strain then you should find that any seeds created from two stable parents from the same strain will have the same seed shape and markings. The most common sizes are about 2-3mm in length but they can be as small as 0.5mm or as large as 5mm. Markings range from dark black to brown to light brown and even white. White seeds are usually a sign of immaturity but some white seeds actually are this color because it is a trait of the seed. Patterns range from stripes to spots to curved lines. The shape is very similar to that of apple seeds, but fatter and with a rougher texture. They also feel very dry. The more uniform your plants are the more uniform the seeds will be.

Shape

We already know that cannabis has a distinct shape and that different species of cannabis plants have their own unique cannabis features. Shape is also determined by environmental factors and the way you grow your plants. Shape is created as the result of a number of phenotypes combined. It should be clear to you by now that shape is the sum of your breeding attributes, so when you breed your plants keep in mind the individual characteristics—leaf size and number, branch length, internode lengths, height—that are going to add to the overall shape of your plant. Short squat plants will generally be more Indica influenced with lots of lateral branch growth. Single cola short plants will probably have a little Sativa in the mix, with longer internodes, less branch development and a higher concentration of bud growth on the main cola. High yielding plants will generally be taller with a mix of Indica and Sativa in the breed, which has average internode sizes; lots of branching with plenty of flowers while connoisseur Sativa bud will generally be derived from very tall Sativa plants with less than average yields, minimum branching but with quality resin production. How your strain will shape will depend on the environment you have selected the strain to grow in and the various cannabis traits that you manipulate. Almost any combination is possible..

Size

Size is determined by your growing conditions and strain type. Plants that have a gene for long internodes will in general grow very tall. Haze strains and any other Pure Sativa species are good examples of this. The length of the internodes can be controlled via breeding with plants that have shorter internodes. Skunk#1 has long internode development and these have been cut down in various Skunk#1 breeding projects like Sensi Skunk, Super Skunk and Mazar.

Bushy strains branch a lot. These bushy strains, such as Kush strains, push plenty of side branching outward without pruning. Kush strains do not grow very tall in general but can be bred with Sativa plants to gain extra height.

Stem thickness is also a trait that can be controlled by breeding. Some strains have thicker stems than others and can support a very tall plant with lots of branches. A good example of a strain with a very thick stem is Bubblegum from Serious Seeds. Some growers even say that stem thickness means larger colas. This is not completely true but does hold some water because stem thickness is a general characteristic of plants that produce high bud quantities.

Vigor

When we talk about vigor we are talking about the liveliness and activity of the plant. A good vigorous plant will flourish but only in an environment that meets its requirements.

The other aspect of vigor is in the plant’s ability to adapt. Again, this is not important with uniform strains that are created to suit a specific environment but instead applies to hybrids that show variations in the population. Those variations will display various types of vigor when they try to adapt and compete in an environment.

Yield

Yield amounts are genetic and do have a threshold so it is up to you, the breeder, to get the most out of your strain before you can determine if a strain is high yielding or not. Growing conditions are of prime concern when trying to reach the plant’s yield level. There is no evidence as of yet to suggest that calyx/leaf ratios, internodes, branch numbers or plant heights are genetically linked to final yield results although they are very important in reaching the maximum yield threshold. This can be seen in stable genetics that have heterozygous genotypes for yield. The variations in this sort of population will produce plants that are uniform in growth for all characteristics except yield. There is no other visible difference except for the overall yield quantities per plant.

This type of analysis clearly indicates to the breeder that yield is a genetic quantity but there is more than likely some unknown linkage to other genes that contribute to the yield’s phenotype. Although all genes interact to some degree with one another to express the final phenotype coupled with environmental influences, a plant with a trait for high yield capabilities can pass this trait on. Yield is a trait that can be inherited.

Every trait can be altered through breeding to suit your environment. The key to breeding for these traits is to find suitable donor parents for each trait that you want to stabilize in your breeding project.

19

ADVANCED FLORAL TRAITS

FLORAL TRAITS ARE BY THE FAR the most important aspect of any breeding project because this is exactly what the market is after. Some strains may look extremely ugly during vegetative growth but when they flower the plants show their true worth. Some Berry strains such as Blueberry are noted as not having the most beautiful stem development, branching or leaf traits but when it comes to producing buds and flowers they put on quite a display.

Overall floral traits are governed by their respective parts and those parts can be influenced by the breeder to create stunning results. We won’t be focusing on staminate floral clusters of the male plant because these aren’t really what growers want to see (although you can breed for these if you wish). Instead we will concentrate on the floral clusters of the female plants, the area that concerns breeders and growers the most.

STAGES OF FLORAL DEVELOPMENT

Floral traits develop in stages, from pre-flowering to maturity, and each stage may display many different attributes. The basic shape of the flowering cluster is determined by calyx numbers, the size of the pistils produced and how those pistil clusters develop.

The distance between calyx development and the number of calyxes per node region will also determine the density of the floral clusters. This distance is referred to as the “internodes flowering distance” because inside the bud cluster the main floral axis will have multiple branches on a very small scale. You will see these branches if you manicure your bud. Buds that are not closely packed are referred to as “airy.” Pure Sativa plants tend to be more airy and Indica plants tend to be dense, although a breeder can swap these traits. Carbon dioxide used in the grow room can also make buds more airy than usual so carbon dioxide + airy buds can equal extremely airy buds. Also keep in mind that a plant that needs to stretch to compete for light will increase length in its floral internodes.

Look at the donkey ears on this top cola. Strain is American Dream by Sensi Seeds.

BOG breeding nuggets so dense that the frost is falling off in chunks. This strain is called ‘Blue Moon Rocks’ for that very reason.