What helps makes a special strain.

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Frankster

Frankster

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I really think behind genetics, that conditions, or micro-environments are the real drivers behind phenomenal cannabis strains. When someone know's a little about what their doing, and selects a few standout strains to work with, then starts to combine the different genetics the results can be interesting and new plants emerge. When these "micro climates" and unique conditions are maintained and improved over several generations, a synergism occurs which is greater than the two sums, and something new is born.

I really think that nutrient selections, specific light spectrum and enhanced techniques for stimulating oil production and excellent plant vigor really makes some "magic" occur.

Now sure, the next greatest "award winner" might not be done so easily, but what I'm saying is that even the small time growers and breeders have much to contribute to diversifying selections, and create some really exclusive products. IMO, cannabis diversification is vast, and there's lot's of great smells and flavors out there, lot's of different cannabinoids that we haven't even discovered or named quite yet. More chemical analogs just around the corner. The combinations in genetics, nutrients, conditions and spectrum seems almost infinite.

I've got this one grass we grew outdoors this year, and it's a special form of Kush. It didn't grow real big or anything, and the condition weren't even the best they could have been, (more sunlight) but the product was simply out of this world. It's not dense, it's not anything standout just looking at it, but the smell, taste and potency, and the "feeling" you get while smoking it, it's exhilarating, it's simply the most intoxicating cannabis I have ever grown.

All the buds above it are dense, wonderful, potent, top notch in every respect. What makes this stuff different? Is it the sunlight? The conditions? The Genetics? (all, one or whatever.) I wish I could put my finger on it and grow like this every time. Maybe what threw this stuff up over the top was our ability to drag it out as long as possible, letting it ripen until the very, very end. And it thrived all though those very last weeks. We used advanced nutrients overdrive and guano on that plant. Very, Very sticky stuff.
 
What helps makes a special strain
Frankster

Frankster

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To put it simply in order of importance in my opinion.

Environment>Grower>Genetics


I put genetics last because 2 growers can have wildly different results from the same cut.
tend to agree, I think all things considered, and the vast variety of excellent strains to choose from, your correct. It's not taking away from the importance of what the potential is in a strain, but I sometimes find "new" notes in strains I've grown over and over, because I did something a little bit differently, and it highlighted something that simply wasn't there during prior grows.

I was either able to elevate it too another notch, and I think the genetic potential was simply there, all along, it just wasn't teased out properly.

Also, I think it takes sometimes a few tries to get a specific strain down and doing everything specific to the environment to really make a particular strain thrive, because they certainly have a few variables, and I've noticed this more as I've got several different plants sitting side by side in various stages of development.
 
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BodaciousG

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I agree that growing talent plays the biggest roll, just like anything else you try to do well. Practice, practice, practice. Trouble is most people can’t grow well because they are not willing to put in the time it takes to learn. Heaven forbid their first crop fails.

Nutrients are next. How many times have you changed nutes over the years till you found what worked best. I have a friend who grows organic, accomplished grower, weed tastes like crap and all the same. How do you know if your weed tastes right? Even dispo weed might not taste as it should. Practice / trial and error is the answer.

Water is another potential problem, shitty water makes shitty tasting weed so use reverse osmosis to eliminate the bad taste.

Change your light bulbs when you should.

Remember, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn sometimes.
 
growsince79

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To put it simply in order of importance in my opinion.

Environment>Grower>Genetics


I put genetics last because 2 growers can have wildly different results from the same cut.
IMO its genetics> grower> environment.
I put genetics first because if you plant dirt weed you get dirt weed. A good grower with a perfect environment gives you more dirt weed. On the other hand, I've seen great genetics totally ruined by bad grower and environment and it's still very potent.
 
MIMedGrower

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IMO its genetics> grower> environment.
I put genetics first because if you plant dirt weed you get dirt weed. A good grower with a perfect environment gives you more dirt weed. On the other hand, I've seen great genetics totally ruined by bad grower and environment and it's still very potent.


I should put “decent genetics”. I never think to because every seed i have purchased has been pretty good. I dont think i have grown bad ones.

Legal weed seems to be bringing a lot of crappy genetics.
 
gorillaglueaaron

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The problem is that when seed companies pick phenos, they pick the ones that thrive best in their conditions which are often very different than the conditions of the average home grower. For example some strains do a lot better under hps but not as well under LEDs and that is likely because the facility that produced the seeds used hps or more red oriented lights. So when people just look for the coolest looking or highest yielding strain, they are often disappointed because the have different conditions than the producer of the seeds.
 
linde

linde

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Genetics is by far the most important part of cannabis cultivation. Good genetics will basically grow itself with little effort. But quality is getting harder and harder to come by these days so if you've got something really killer...DONT LOSE IT! keep it going and give all your friends cuts in case you lose it and need it back.
 
Dirtbag

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To put it simply in order of importance in my opinion.

Environment>Grower>Genetics


I put genetics last because 2 growers can have wildly different results from the same cut.

I rank it Genetics>Environment>Grower

The best grower with the best environment and shit genetics is gonna grow shit.

But a new grower with a half assed environment might pull dank from good genetics.
 
gorillaglueaaron

gorillaglueaaron

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I think it's grower>lighting>environment>genetics. Genetics only really matter if you already have the other variables dialed down.
 
Anthem

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I rank it Genetics>Environment>Grower

The best grower with the best environment and shit genetics is gonna grow shit.

But a new grower with a half assed environment might pull dank from good genetics.
I would have to agree with you on this one Dirtbag. Shit in Shit out.
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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I would have to agree with you on this one Dirtbag. Shit in Shit out.


Have any of you actually purchased bad marijuana seeds? I would only deal with an established quality breeder but i have never seen shitty pot. Just bad grows.

I mean even 7% thc columbian from the 80’s got us toasted.
 
Anthem

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Have any of you actually purchased bad marijuana seeds? I would only deal with an established quality breeder but i have never seen shitty pot. Just bad grows.

I mean even 7% thc columbian from the 80’s got us toasted.
I had some stuff that was not up to snuff from DVG, Dr. Gonzo was the strain.
But let me ask you a question on this subject, if strain and quality were not so important. Why do you miss the chocolate diesel.
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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I had some stuff that was not up to snuff from DVG, Dr. Gonzo was the strain.
But let me ask you a question on this subject, if strain and quality were not so important. Why do you miss the chocolate diesel.



getting into specific effects from different strains is beyond the discussion we are having i think.

I miss the cd because it reminds me of an old flower we used to smoke in high school.

Some people like intense hit and couch lock. I like trip weed.
 
gorillaglueaaron

gorillaglueaaron

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The environment, nutrients and gardening style have as much to do with the final flavor and potency as the genetics imo.
But the ratio of each terpene dictates the effect of the weed which is only caused by the strain/genetics.
 
Anthem

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getting into specific effects from different strains is beyond the discussion we are having i think.

I miss the cd because it reminds me of an old flower we used to smoke in high school.

Some people like intense hit and couch lock. I like trip weed.
agreed!!!
 
Frankster

Frankster

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The problem is that when seed companies pick phenos, they pick the ones that thrive best in their conditions which are often very different than the conditions of the average home grower. For example some strains do a lot better under hps but not as well under LEDs and that is likely because the facility that produced the seeds used hps or more red oriented lights. So when people just look for the coolest looking or highest yielding strain, they are often disappointed because the have different conditions than the producer of the seeds.

Yea, that's kinda one of the things I've addressed in my frankenstein strain, it's made to grow well under most any conditions (wet, humid, and cold tolerant), although I don't know how well it would do in an type of extreme heat environment, or drought conditions, probably not as well at all, as say the thai lines might. Anyhow, mold and the wet was a big consideration of mine while I've been cultivated this strain, and the overall potency and size.

As for the plants that are really fussy, I've begun to notice that many sativas appear to be the fussiest strains that I come across, as long as there's some indica dominance in a strain, I think, it's generally going to be a more resilient and easier to grow. For whatever reason, it's usually some type of sativa genes that are the origins of most of my problems. (certainly not all of them, but some).

So I just steer clear of some of those more unpredictable lines. For instance, Alaska thunderfuck, or Matanuska thunderfuck, I've never met a stable strain. I really like the strain TBH, but I've never found a completely stable cultivar so far. I'm sure it would be fine under very tightly controlled conditions.
 
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