So then of the chems youve grown is there anything youve found that is a trend with the best of them? As far as growth patterns or other determining factor? Obviously the healthiest ones are in the keeper pile, but of those how do I choose who to keep a copy of? I ask since i dont have the room to clone them all and flower them all. At least not yet. As of now, besides the 4x5 I have just my small grow box that only has room for 3 plants max. Small ones. But who knows, there's a good few of them haven't got preflowers yet. At least the 3 confirmed ladies are the healthiest. Lol. If there's a way to have an idea of what you'd look for that'd help. Don't want to lose another choice plant just because it's finicky and I haven't figured out it's needs yet. I guess I should let my dog choose again. She chose the dankest of them to munch on. Lol. I'm spacing out in the greenhouse and hear munching. Wtf I think. Then I look and OMG, plant was about 8 inches shorter. Lol. Named it after the dog. My fav nugs ever and the dog picked it. She knows what she likes. Ps, about 12-16 oz a year is grown for her canna butter medicine. She's 13 now, had arthritis for last 4. Does 100% better with meds. So do I. Lol hahaha.
Well, by most people’s assessment, all the Chems are “good”, so it would come down to your subjective preferences to decide which Chem is the best. Some like the buzzsaw ‘91skva others like the "
all systems down sledgehammer" Chem D, so answering which is the best would be like answering what’s the best food.
When considering what to keep/cull, your scenario is a bit different in that there is no background info on the genetics (
other than a Chem was involved) and you’d like to make the keep/cull decision pre-flower. Unfortunately, even if I could tell you definitively that Chem leaners all have some trait in veg, there’s no guarantee that will translate to purely Chem level flowers. Some traits can pass along independent of others, while some traits can be linked.
To me, your predicament sounds like making a keep/cull choice of males. You only have veg info to go off of and will not be able to see final flowers to know what female specific traits you have. So I would treat this like a male selection. What are your preferences for your plant other than final flowers? Would you prefer a bushier plant or taller less branching? Would you like a more sedative indica effect or soaring sativa? Have you done stem rubs on them to see if there is a particular smell that you find desirable? I would think of what other plant traits you would like to prioritize and assess to what extent these plants express them. This would probably be your best bet if you had to make a pre-flower decision. We know the plants have equal chance of expressing desirable potency
(because without solid genetic inheritability info about the parents involved, we can’t say either way what the potency will most likely be), but the other observable traits have manifested that you can use to make your decision.
Another metric to keep in mind is your grow space. If you’re working out of a smaller space with low height, then the bushier plant will probably work best. Now this next part may seem like a tangent but I think it is an important thing to chew on with decisions like this and future genetic choices.
I came across this concept when reading through Vic High’s many posts about genetics and breeding. It concerns hitting a plant’s genetic potential for potency. I will try to convey this info while making it applicable to your situation.
When you are deciding on a plant to grow whether it is an IBL of known high potency potential or an F1 hybrid of unknown (
most likely less than high) potency potential, consider the vigor of the plants.
An IBL will give you a greater chance of finding the exact potency expression you would like, but due to the inbreeding required to guarantee this, the vigor and susceptibility to grower error/environment will make hitting the potency potential very difficult.
Whereas a very vigorous hybrid, while not having a potential potency like that of the IBL will more reliably reach its potential because of the hybrid vigor.
For example using 1-10 scale for potency:
So if your IBL can hit 10 but because of environmental factors only hits 6, then it is in practice (
assuming no improvements are ever made) less potent than the F1 hybrid that can only hit 8 but b/c of vigor can hit 7 reliably.
So we could use this principal in deciding which plant to keep by considering your grow space. If you’re in a tighter space, then the plant whose stature would best perform in that space may be the better choice, even if you culled a plant with higher potency potential. So even if I could tell you definitively that your #4 pheno would be strongest, it may not hit that potential relative to a lesser potent plant that can hit the potential more reliably.
Hopefully this didn't confuse the situation further.