Setting up my breeding lab

[pop22]

I've converted one of my cabs to use just for breeding.
I found a tray that will hold 20, 4 inch pots and fits well in my cab. I replaced my DIY light with a Horticultural Lighting Group QB 288 COB in board form. These are powerful, thin and light weight lights that are perfect in height challenged environments.
specs can be found here: https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/pages/qb288-board-guide

I'm using a Mean Well HLG80H-54A driver. I'm running the light at very low power, 28.7 watts from the wall with the dimmer turned down to lowest setting. It will go up to about 80 watts. the output is 3.02μmoles/joule or about 205Lm/watt!

The cab is 34.5" wide, 20" deep and 24" tall. I'm keeping the plants small to make room for more plant.
Selective breeding can be difficult in this small environment but can be done.

My first project will be to simply make some fem seeds of my Blue Dragon and Mossy's Dragon's blood, which I have been working for sometime now. This is to give me fem seed to make bud with as I'm working my strains to be more selective.

I'm starting with 1 seeds of each of these 2 strains. 2weeks I'll start another 10 of each. I'll kill the males in the first batch and at the onset of flower, will spray them with STS. when the second batch are in flower, I'll pollinate from the STS plants. I'll have to move one strain to another cab before the plants begin making pollen. After all are pollinated, they'll be moved back to the breeding cab.

 

[namvet25]

Good luck with your project Pop.

 

[hairyman]

Very interested , taking notes

 

[JanSteen]

In my humble opinion it sounds unwise to use fem plants for selection. They tend to have an elevated hermie chance, which causes serious difficulties in later stages (what if the entire F1 population is ruined with hermies?). For me, only the last stage of breeding allows for FEM production. Since the stress tests have been done before that, to prove the plants don't go hermie by some growers' mistakes, and the final product will be a pure lady with no hidden downsides that might pop up.
Pollen can always be stored in the freezer, so by cutting down males it seems to me that you'll be just limiting the possible gene pool to work with. If you have two cabins anyways, I would make use of them.
But again, that's my view on the plan. I tend to be overly careful sometimes.

I wish you good fortune!

 

[pop22]

These are seeds from plants I've already taken to F5 at least. This run is strictly for me to grow for bud and not have to deal with males, not for selection. Also, fem seed is no more likely to herm than regular seed as your not creating a genetic alteration, your interrupting. the process of creating female flowers, which triggers the plant to create male flowers, as all cannabis can become either sex.

 

[iWumbo]

sweet thread man , cant wait to see how it turns out

 

[pop22]

Planted 10 Blue Dragon and 10 Dragon's Blood. I soaked more than I needed so I threw them in a pot lol! The Dragon's Blood seed wasn't great, not expecting a good germ rate with them. I'm missing a container of Dragon's Blood seed so I really hope at least a few of these pop!

 

[pop22]

Forgot to mention, the medium is organic soil. Isabelle potting soil, 7 gallon mixed with 1.5 gallons of coco coir.Added: horse manure, Grow More Palm Food ( just a blend of dry organics, and a good mix overall ), blood meal, lime and epsom salts.

 

[bushmasterar15]

This will be nice to watch how it all turns out @pop22 . I've never done any breeding but want to learn so I can always have meds.

 

[JanSteen]

Also, fem seed is no more likely to herm than regular seed as your not creating a genetic alteration, your interrupting. the process of creating female flowers, which triggers the plant to create male flowers, as all cannabis can become either sex.

Forcing 'dormant' genes to express is not genetic alteration in my book either. But I have learned that these kind of expression tactics can in fact wash down to the next generation. I'm hoping I'm dead wrong. But as long as I'm not 100% sure, I just don't do feminizing on strains I intend to breed with.
I think I kind of missed the point, as I figured you were going to breed with them. But you're not.
Anyways, best of luck!