A tous ceux qui s'intéressent au breeding...

[Metanoiak 4]

Salut à tous les cannaweeders ! J'ai de longues années de culture indoor derrière moi, mais ça ne fait que peu de temps que je m'intéresse de près au breeding. J'ai la chance de parler courrament l'anglais, et au hasard de mes éscapades sur le Net j'ai pu aquérir et compiler quantité de textes de grande qualité provenant tous de breeders sérieux et reconnus parmi lesquels Dj Short, le légendaire Chimera, Bushy Old Grower (aka BOG), et j'en passe...

 

La raison pour laquelle je souhaiterais vous en faire profiter, c'est que j'ai pu constater certaines lacunes concernant le breedinng sur cannaweed. Cela va de mauvaises interprétations des lois de Mendel ou du principe de Hardy et Weinberg, à des recommandations totalement farfelues et scientifiquement infondées... ICI La goutte d'eau qui a fait déborder le vase... ( Hormis un orthographe des plus pauvres, on y recommande de partir d'individus polyploïdes... comme si ce n'était pas assez compliqué comme ça...Pire encore, on y affirme que croiser deux individus "tricotylédons" engendrerait des... "tricotylédons"! C'est FAUX ! )

 

Je trouve également regrétable que l'approche de la sélection se limite pour certains à la méthode énoncée sur le site de Mr Nice. C'est une méthode sérieuse, mais c'est loin d'être la seule...

 

Soyons clair, je n'ai pas la prétention d'avoir la science infuse, loin de là, et mon intention n'est pas de rabaisser qui que ce soit. J'aimerais juste vous faire partager les informations que je possède et en faire profiter tous ceux que ça intéresse, en ayant secrètement l'espoir d'ajouter ma goutte d'eau à l'évolution et l'amélioration génétique de notre plante préférée, car au final, c'est de cela dont s'agit le Breeding: UTILISER ET POUSSER JUSQU'A LEURS LIMITES LES LOIS DE L'EVOLUTION DES ESPECES...

Peace !

 

Allez, c'est parti pour un gros lâcher de pavés...

Commençons par une approche simple du breeding par Dj Short:

The art of selection and breeding fine quality cannabis

by DJ Short (07 Mar, 2003)

 

How to create amazing new strains with a discerning palate, careful selection and some hard work.

 

Perhaps the most important aspect to consider in the breeding of fine quality cannabis is that of selection. Selective breeding is where all of today's varieties evolved from.

 

In the past, this chore was made easier by the fact that most of the commercially available herb was seeded and imported from outdoor plantations, usually near-equatorial in origin. These "land-race" Sativa varieties were the building blocks of the burgeoning domestic productions of the times.

 

The Indica (Afghan, Kush, Skunk, etc.) genetics were specially imported by West Coast interests and available to the general public around 1978. It was shortly after this time that the variance of domestic cannabis increased exponentially, as people began experimenting with crossing these two different types of pot.

 

Beginning breeding

 

The typical way to begin a breeding program is to carefully select P1 parents of pure Sativa and pure Indica, crossing them to produce an f1 hybrid that is uniform in its phenotypic growth patterns. The next step is the crossing of the f1 type with itself, which produces a very wide variation witnessed in the f2 growth patterns and expressions.

 

It is in this f2 second-generational cross and beyond that the art of selection really comes into play. There are a number of factors to consider at this point, such as what the male and female will each contribute; and most of all, what will the overall quality of the finished product be like?

 

Defining a goal and constructing a plan to accomplish it is called "top-down" programming, and this "top-down" approach applies well to cannabis breeding. It helps considerably to have a specific goal in mind when attempting to selectively breed a variety of ganja. This simple fact I cannot emphasize enough.

 

One must at least have an idea of what one is aiming for before beginning. For me this has little to do with plant structure and much to do with the quality of the finished product, no matter what form it is in. Having an experienced and educated palate (both mentally aesthetic and physically discernable) is key in the art of breeding fine quality cannabis.

 

The "goal" at the center of most of my breeding targets would be to replicate, as near as possible, the experiences produced by the great land-race varieties of old: Highland Oaxacan or Thai, Santa Marta or Acapulco Gold, Guerrero Green, Panama Red or Hawaiian Sativa or the hash from regions such as Lebanon, Afghanistan or Nepal.

 

The indoor grow environment is too generic to fully replicate the great old legends. Therefore, it was necessary to settle for the next best thing: happy Sativa/Indica crosses that would perform well indoors. (It is interesting to note here that most of the fine land-race Sativa were hermaphroditic, though sometimes only minimally.)

 

Selection process

 

Obviously, you seek the parents that will produce the desired progeny. Paradoxically, this process requires selecting the best after they've been harvested. The solution is to keep samples from each plant of a test crop. This can be done via rooted clones from earlier cuttings, or re-greened mothers and fathers kept in a vegetative state and a high-nitrogen diet. Once you have chosen among the harvested plants, you can use the rooted cuttings for future consideration and possible breeding.

 

Pollen may also be gathered and immediately stored via vacuum sealing and deep-freezing. It is crucial to vacuum seal and freeze pollen immediately after it is collected and to use stored pollen immediately after it thaws. Dry seeds also store well over indefinite periods of time in an undisturbed deep-freeze, with some desiccant.

 

This process of post-harvest selection works fine for selecting desired female plants. But what about males? What is the best and most simple way to select males for breeding? Due to the fact that it is the female plants that we are ultimately familiar with, selecting males is a bit more involved.

 

The process is basically the same as it is with female plants, except with males the numbers are first limited down via a process of elimination, and selections made by comparing the remainder. Selecting males also takes a little more time initially as the quality of the male is not fully determined until after the seeds it produces are grown out and tested. As one becomes more familiar with a particular strain, the specific characteristics of the desirable males become apparent.

 

Ideally, the more seeds one starts with the better. This is, after all, a numbers game. I will assume that any basic breeding project starts with at least 20 different plants, from 20 viable seeds of high quality, professionally stabilized varieties. This would give a minimum of 10 male and 10 female plants hopefully sexed by two weeks into a flowering light cycle (short day/long night).

 

Once sexed, the process of elimination may begin. All of the females are kept and regularly examined to prevent unwanted hermaphroditism. Unwanted males and all hermaphrodites must be eliminated before they begin to shed pollen usually by the third week in the flowering cycle. The female plants need to be checked for hermaphroditism until harvest.

 

(A quick word on "backward" hermaphrodites declared males that eventually sport female flowers as opposed to the usual female-to-male hermaphrodites. These are semi-rare occurrences, usually sterile but sometimes viable, that I have found at times to be valuable in their genetic contributions. Some of the most resinous and desirable males I have encountered exhibited this trait. This trait almost seems to guarantee against unwanted hermaphroditism in subsequent generations as it also increases the female to male ratio in its progeny.)

 

Recessivecombination

 

A word needs to be said about the not-too-common probabilities of what I generally refer to as a recessive combination phenomenon. Sometimes, though not often, two parents that appear to express a common desirable trait let's say a sweet/fruity bouquet are crossed and the progeny do not express the desirable trait.

 

This usually means that one or both parents possessed some sort of recessive alleles in their genotype for this characteristic. But it could also mean that the progeny had a different environment that the parents.

 

If environment can be ruled out then it is likely that some sort of a genetic recessive combination is the cause. If none of the progeny express the desired characteristic one may want to cross the progeny with itself and see what the outcome is.

 

If a common "Punnet ratio" such as 25% of a progeny express the desirable trait, then the trait is more than likely recessive and the trait may be stabilized via crossing any two of the 25% (or whatever common ratio) that show the desired trait with each other. This process is time consuming and is generally followed only if no other alternatives exist.

 

Selecting males

 

I prefer to remove all of the males from the grow-room to a separate, isolated space shortly after they declare their sex and well before they begin to shed pollen. A small space lit with simple fluorescent light will suffice for the males for the next few weeks. During this time the female buds will fatten with more flowers while your collection of males is selected down.

 

I generally employ a simple process of elimination while selecting males. First, any auto-flowering or very early-declared males are eliminated. (Auto-flowering means that male flowers form regardless of light cycle timing.) This is mainly to insure against hermaphroditism or unwanted flowering traits, but also as a means to insure quality. The very early declared males have a tendency to be less desirable in terms of their contributions to the quality of the finished product. (If you are trying to specifically create an early-flowering strain, then your priorities may be different.)

 

Next, any male plant that grows too tall or too fast is usually eliminated. The reason for this is that most plants which dedicate so much energy to fiber production generally are best for making fiber. The exception to this rule is when an over-productive plant also exhibits a number of the desirable characteristics mentioned later.

 

The next criteria for elimination is borrowed from Michael Starks' book, Marijuana Potency, and involves stem structure. Large, hollow main stems are sought while pith-filled stems are eliminated. Backed by years of observation, I agree that hollow stems do seem to facilitate THC production.

 

Another consideration is the type of floral clusters that develop. Even on males, clusters which are tight, compact and yet very productive are desired over an airy, loose structure. These observations are most notable in the indoor environment. Outdoors, the differences in stem and floral structures are more difficult to discern.

 

The next and perhaps most important characteristic to examine is that of odor, flavor and trichome development. Again, the females will prove themselves by their finished product, but the males are a bit trickier.

 

I usually begin with a Sativa female and an Indica male. It has been my observation that the females primarily contribute the type of flavor and aroma and the males contribute the amount of flavor and odor. The "Sativa/Indica" aspects of this formula are mainly apparent in the P1 or very early filial crosses (to about f3). Beyond the f3 generation the apparent "Sativa/Indica" ratio in a given individual is less important than the odor/flavor and trichome development aspects it exhibits. Therefore, one of the main aspects to consider when selecting a male is the depth of its aroma and flavor. (If you are seeking to develop a low-odor indoor strain you might wish to begin with a low-odor Sativa male and an Indica female.)

 

With the remaining males I usually employ an odor/flavor test. Using males at least two or three weeks into the flowering cycle (and preferably beyond if a separate, isolated space is being used), a sort of "scratch-and-sniff" technique is first employed. With clean, odor-free fingers, gently rub one plant at a time, on the stem where it is well developed and pliable, above the woody part and below the developing top (approximately at the spot where a clone would be cut). The newer leaves at their halfway point of development may also be rubbed and sniffed.

 

These are the places that the earliest chemical signatures of a developing plant present themselves, and it is our intent to gently disturb these chemicals and inspire an odor/flavor reaction on the fingers and on the plant. By examining these various aromas in this way one may be able to determine certain desirable (and also undesirable) characteristics. After clearing one's palate and refreshing one's fingers, another plant may be tested.

 

The finalists are best compared for at least a week and at different times of day, to determine who performs best over a period of time.

 

A few of the "good" aromas which I have found to be associated with both male and female high quality cannabis are: sweet, floral, fruity, berry, wine/brandy, other savory spirits, skunky and spearmint. Some of the "bad" aromas associated with both male and female cannabis are: grassy, chlorophyll (green), celery, parsley, carrots, cinnamon, pepper-mint or wintergreen, gear-oil and gasoline. Some of the aromas that are considered "good" from females but not necessarily from males are: woody, cedar, pine, citrus, tropical fruit, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, garlic and astringent.

 

Worldwide weed

 

It is sad that due to the Unfortunate State of Assholes in the world today we herbalists are treated criminally. Sad because given saner times we would be able to produce vast amounts of fine quality herb by virtue of no more than the great outdoors, large numbered populations and trial and error.

 

Someday perhaps, but in the meantime I have few alternate suggestions. Holland, Denmark, Switzerland, Spain and other parts of Europe are opening up more and more toward herbal tolerance. It is relatively easy in these places to score some high quality product.

 

It is advisable for the newbie to a scene to buy many small samples of herbals at first until one finds what one likes. Just like in any other travel situation, special surprises await those willing to venture out from the centralized tourist areas (except in Christiania where "one stop shopping" is greatly enjoyed).

 

I am willing to bet that some of the many herbal "sweet spots" around the globe may once again be producing their specialties. I am eager to verify any rumor of such possibilities. These sweet spots would include many equatorial and near equatorial regions such as Colombia, Highland Mexico, parts of Thailand, Burma and Bhutan to name a few. Places such as Nepal and Jamaica have been ideal for herbal expeditions as well. These are some of the places one could venture in search of educating one's herbal palate and expanding one's experience. n

 

Constant testing

 

After selections are made, it is also necessary to remember to test for these qualities across a number of clone generations. Do the desirable characteristics present in a new plant (from seed) persist through the following clone generations of that plant? Does the plant from clones of the original carry the same odor/flavor quality? The same potency? Overall desirability? The answers most definitely need to be "yes" if that individual is to be considered for future breeding.

 

With much practice and years of experience it becomes apparent to those with a sensitive palate which individuals possess the most desirable characteristics from a given sample.

I suggest that your taste and smell be augmented with the use of an illuminated magnifier, either 30X, 60X or 100X power

will do.

 

Look at the same aforementioned spot on the stem or developing leaves any time after the second week in the bud cycle and look for the greatest abundance of developing trichomes or secretory hairs (hairs that secrete fluid obvious at 30X and above magnification). More fully developed trichomes with very clear heads are generally the most desirable.

 

These observations need to be done over a period of time (that is, not just a one-time look) and at different times of the day to determine which individuals perform best. Many various phenomena become apparent to those who are able to pay close attention over a period of time. To that effect I suggest you compile and composite detailed notes on one's observations, and to compare those notes over time. Detailed, comprehensive notes are the hallmark of any successful breeding program.

 

It is possible to test males by smoking or otherwise consuming them. This practice may be somewhat beneficial to beginners as it does involve a sort of obvious discretion. I suggest using only fresh tips, properly cured and rolled into a joint. Also, make sure that this test smoke is the first smoke one consumes in a day in order to best discern its qualities, or lack thereof.

 

Some other aspects to consider

 

There are a number of aesthetic considerations to consider regarding fine quality cannabis breeding, such as color, overall structure, growth patterns and various bouquets. My primary goal involves finding the finished product with the most desirable and pleasant effects. So I focus on those aspects and stabilize them first. Once stabilized, a backcross or a cross to another variety may be utilized to further improve the line and/or increase vigor, if necessary.

 

On the experimental level the finished product is expected to be either pleasant or powerful, depending on the individual. I prefer an herb that is pleasantly powerful or powerfully pleasant! So that is the sought-after goal. The range of experiences elicited by cannabis can vary from bliss to panic to stupefying. I much prefer the bliss aspects.

 

The best descriptive dichotomy in this case would be comfort vs. discomfort. I also suppose some personality types may enjoy a more exciting experience perhaps only once in awhile a feeling somewhat akin to the entertainment of a roller coaster ride or a horror movie.

 

Cannabis is unusual in its varying effects on our vascular-circulatory system. Some cannabis strains seem to act as a vasodilator and others as a vasoconstrictor. A vasoconstrictor is a substance that constricts blood vessels. It tends to elicit tension, excitement, anxiety, and even panic. A vasodilator is a substance that dilates blood vessels and tends to relax a person more easily into a blissful state. Therefore, I tend to prefer cannabis that seems to act as a vasodilator, simply not to the point of couch lock sedation.

 

I have nothing against powerfully stony herb. It is just that as long as my breeding space is limited, I will choose to work with the more pleasant varieties those that elicit a generally happy experience. Someday I look forward to working at stabilizing many different varieties of herb. After all, to each their own.

 

Tinnitus and dyskinesia are common symptoms of a vasoconstrictor reaction. Tinnitus is ringing in the ears, and dyskinesia, in this instance, is usually felt as a tingling in the extremities, especially the little fingers, toes and ears. Another bad sign would be any form of tension headache or unwanted body load. If these symptoms occur regularly after indulging in a particular herb, the herb may be contributing to the sensation.

 

 

Et voici une étude de cas concret avec pour exemple les origines de la Blueberry de Dj Short:

On the origins of Blueberry

by DJ Short (01 Sept, 1999)

 

A case study on how to go about breeding fine marijuana.

 

Choosing your parents

 

The place for breeding to begin is with choosing the parent plants, called the P1 generation. For best breeding results you use true-breeding stabilized strains as your P1's. Different breeders have different standards as to what qualifies as a P1. I have very high standards for my P1 generation. For me, the P1 must be either a fully acclimated, region-of-origin land-race variety, or no more than one generation removed, and crossed with itself or another highly similar, region-of-origin land-race variety.

 

I used three P1 strains to breed Blueberry, Flo and others. They were the Highland Thai (also called Juicy Fruit Thai, a first-generation Thai seed grown in the Pacific Northwest); a cross called Purple Thai which was a first generation land-race Chocolate Thai crossed once with a first generation land-race Highland Oaxaca Gold; and an Afghani Indica which came to me one generation removed from Afghanistan via the California/Southern Oregon growing community.

 

The Highland Thai was a joy to grow and behold, despite its hermaphroditism. This plant grew fast, filling in any empty spaces with lush, green growth. It was a very slow finisher, 12 to 16 weeks and beyond in the bud period for most. It had the longest and skinniest leaves out of all the plants I have worked with. Thick side-branching is another characteristic of this variety.

 

The plant only periodically produced any kind of "tight" bud structure. Most of the buds were very loose, with some sporting long, slender shoots of widely-spaced single female flowers in a row (especially when grown hydroponically under halide lights.)

 

This bud structure is known as "spindly". Many of these spindles resemble threads protruding from a semi-formed bud. Each single thread averaged anywhere from five to ten inches long, some even longer, and consisted of a row of evenly-spaced female flowers and their corresponding bract leaves, anywhere from a quarter inch to one inch apart, alternating bract and flower in single file.

 

The entirety of the "thread" and bud structure was coated with sweet/fruity aromatic resin glands.

 

The overall plant color was dark, while the bud structures matured a lighter shade of green, sometimes green/yellow.

 

I was never able to get a Juicy Fruit Highland Thai to "over mature". I took one to almost twenty weeks into its flower cycle and she just kept pumping it out. Outdoors, one was taken in early-mid December from a greenhouse. The only difference was that the later harvest was a more stony, body high.

 

The finished product from the Highland Thai was an all-around champion herb. Though difficult to trim and cure, the outcome was fully worth the effort. It was a powerful, long-lasting and exquisitely flavoured herb with little or no ceiling. The high could last up to seven hours! The flavour, aroma and taste were a totally sweet tropical punch tutti-fruity all the way.

 

The Purple Thai was the other sativa in my repertoire. This was a first generation cross between the Highland Oaxaca Gold and the Chocolate Thai. This cross grew medium/tall and was very symmetric in structure. The side branches were shorter and, if left alone (untopped) the main stalk (meristem) remained the dominant shoot.

 

The entire plant of the Purple Thai was very dark-coloured and would express a deep royal purple colour at the slightest exposure to cold. It did not exhibit any of the spindly bud syndrome of the Juicy Fruit Thai, and the finished buds were a medium and compact sativa type. The finished product was equally as fruity and strong as the Juicy Fruit, also without ceiling.

 

For whatever aesthetic reason, I preferred the Purple Thai to the Juicy Fruit Highland Thai. I believe that the Purple Thai was emotionally kinder or gentler than the Juicy Fruit. At larger doses the Juicy Fruit could evoke quite a terror, especially when combined with psychedelics. Though no less potent, the Purple Thai seemed easier to handle, including when tripping. The Purple Thai was one of the first to show resin gland production in the early bud cycle, at roughly three to four weeks into the cycle. It also matured at 10 to 12 weeks indoor, and early to mid November outdoors.

 

The Afghani Indica plant is short with large, wide leaves, stout and thick-stemmed. It has early to very early maturation, producing large, dense buds that smell earthen to skunk, with a strong smoke that is generally sedative or "down" in effect. Though consistent in its growth and overall effect, its appeal is somewhat limited in my opinion. I believe more indicas should be made into hashish, which is where the finer qualities of the indica appear.

 

 

The sinsemilla Afghani Indica first showed up on the market in 1979. They were huge, green, stinky, sticky, dense buds of potent, pungent herb that smelled like a skunk and produced a narcotic-knockout stone that was tremendously novel, when compared to all the sativas that had come before. This was right after sinsemilla herb hit the market with big appeal.

 

The triad of sinsemilla, indica, and the advent of high powered halide and HPS lights, all wreaked havoc on the breeding programs of most pot-entrepeneurs. Few people maintained their sativa lines, and the strains virtually disappeared from the commercial markets. The short, dense, early-maturing and body-powerful indica has dominated the scene since 1983 a matter of disjointed economics.

 

Such were the three main P1's I used for my breeding lines.

 

 

The f1 cross

 

The f1 cross is the first cross between two distinctly different P1 parents. The "f" stands for filial (child). I cannot overstress the importance of the two P1 parents being as genetically different as is possible. It is this initial genetic diversity that leads to the most possibilities in succeeding lines.

 

If the P1's are sufficiently diverse, then the f1 will be a true hybrid, expressing a near total uniformity and great vigor. It is in the crosses beyond the initial f1 (especially the f1xf1=f2 cross) that specific traits are sought. There will be a tremendous amount of variance in the f2 crosses of f1's obtained from a female pure sativa and a male pure indica.

 

The Blueberry (among others) was discovered and stabilized from an f1 cross between the P1 parents of a female Juicy Fruit Thai or a female Purple Thai and a male Afghani Indica. Thus there were two possible routes to essentially the same finished product. Blue Velvet and Flo seem more accessible via the Purple Thai route, while Blue Moonshine seems more accessible through the Juicy Fruit lineage. That is, there is a higher probability of occurence of the specific traits which I'm seeking, and so they're easier to "find".

 

Oddly enough, the opposite cross (female Afghani indica crossed with pollen from male Thai sativa) was not nearly as interesting. The f1's from this cross were more leafy and less desirable. They were also more hermaphroditic and subsequent breeding revealed them to be less desirable. It has been my observation that in a successful cross, the (usually female) sativa contributes the type of aroma and flavour, while the (usually male) indica contributes the amount of aroma and flavour to the prodigy. So far this observation has proven fruitful.

 

So the Thai female is pollinated with the Afghani male and an abundance of seed is produced. The seed is uniformly sized and shaped; small, ellipsoid and mottled with dark stripes upon a grayish brown shell. A single female is capable of producing thousands of seed, leaving plenty for experimentation. This is the f1 generation, which I called simply "The Cross".

 

The plants of The Cross grew uniform, medium-tall "spear" structures of many competing side-branches around one main (meristem) stalk. Large, long buds formed along the branches. There was a wide palate of colours, especially among the Purple Thai cross. The buds were lighter, almost yellow to the centres, wile the outer leaf, bract and calyx tips showed red, purple and blue hues. The maturation rates were uniform as well, with a wide window of harvest being between weeks eight to eleven in the bud cycle, indoors. The finished bud had a very strong "astringent" chemical/terpene aroma that bordered between pine, gin, licorice and paint. Only a very few of The Cross expressed hermaphroditism, about 1 out of every 25 females.

 

The f2 cross

 

The f2 is the second filial generation, simply a cross between any two of the f1 stock. With my f2 crosses the outcome was extreme, with almost every characteristic of the cannabis plant being expressed in some of the plants. The diversity was spectacular, both in structure and aesthetics. From sativa to indica, short to tall, dark to light, early to late maturation, wide to narrow leaves, along with an extensive array of flavours, aromas, tastes and highs. The f2 seeds collected were equally diverse, ranging from large to small, plump to slender, striped to solid, round to oval.

 

A grand amount of time, energy and money was spent from this point to isolate and stabilize the desired traits. There is a tremendous amount of work between the f2's and the f4's and f5's. Trial and error is the rule; certain paths prove futile while others bear further examination. On average, there are about nine errors to each success. Coupled with the difficult clandestine aspects of the trade through the 80's and 90's, it was a difficult task to accomplish. Many sacrifices were endured by my family and friends.

 

It was however, a fun and worthwhile occupation to sample all the research material. It was hard work and dedication to record the findings and attempt to create useful categories and find patterns and traits to specific characteristics. Then there's the wait for the cured sample. If the sample passed "the test" then the plant was kept for further consideration. The most desirable samples were used for further breeding to f3, f4 and f5. The harvested plants, cut above the lowest few nodes, were placed under a vegetative light cycle to stimulate new growth for cloning.

 

I like to do one backcross somewhere between the f3 and f5 generation. Exactly when, where and how that is done remains a trade secret for now. Another trade secret is the art of selecting the best males for breeding. These topics and others will be covered in future articles.

 

Have phun!

 

 

Select the best, reject all others

 

Mendelian procedures are fine for sweet peas, but when it comes to herb I much prefer Luther Burbank's philosophy: "Select the best and reject all others!" This simple phrase is worth much consideration. Mendel's work is useful, especially concerning P1 and f1 crosses. But beyond the f2 and f3 cross, Mendel's theories add copius complexity to the equation.

 

 

Your friend the freezer

 

A benevolent tool in our trade is the refrigerator and freezer. The fridge is extremely useful in extending the longevity of seed and pollen. The trick to successful freezing is to freeze deep (-10 to -40 F/-20 to -35 C) and then keep the seed undisturbed. Hard frozen objects are very fragile. The slightest shock may shatter crucial, delicate cell structures within the seed. Double wrap the seed in paper; little manilla envelopes work great.

 

I like to do small amounts, in one-time-use packets, to keep waste to a minimum. Then place the wrap into a plastic freezer bag, then place the freezer bag into a plastic tub or tupperware container. Now the seed is ready for the deep-freeze. In the fridge, storing seed in airtight, brown glass jars with a little rice or other non-toxic desiccant seems to work best.

 

I have had pollen last for years in a deep freeze. It must be frozen immediately after fresh collection from the plant, in as low a humidity as possible (preferably 0%). I like to shake the productive male flowers over a flat and clean piece of glass. The pollen pile is sifted to rid the unwanted plant material from the pure powder.

 

It is also useful to cut pollen with flour to stretch the amount. A pollen-to-flour ratio of 1:10 or even 1:100 works best. The cut pollen may then be separated into small, one-time-use amounts, stored in a flap of paper and frozen the same way as the seed. The frozen pollen must be applied to the live female flower immediately after thawing to increase viability.

 

 

The sweet sativa room

 

I recommend the creation of a special "sativa room" for indoor breeding of such strains. This room needs to consider and satisfy the unique needs of the sativa variety. The goal is to replicate the equatorial conditions of the world s various "sweet spots". Some of these conditions include: a different light cycle than the standard 18/6 vegetative 12/12 bud cycles, a higher angle of light (using a straight track shuttle instead of a circular one), humidity control set on low for the highland and high for the lowland, and variations in soil composition and depth.

 

Light cycle is one of the key considerations for those wishing to breed truly fine quality cannabis indoors under lights. The 18/6 veggie and 12/12 bud cycles are perhaps the main influence towards the indica dominant strains and generic blandness of the indoor commercial product. A true equatorial sativa will require closer to a 13/11 vegetative and a long (four to six month) 11/13 flower cycle. Different variations may be tried, such as 15/9 veggie and 10/14 flowering cycle. Be prepared for much fine tuning.

 

Equatorial strains also experience a higher arch of sunlight than those grown beyond 38 north or south with a sunrise almost due east and sunset nearly due west. Therefore the sativa room will edintense overhead lighting with a straight track mover. Keeping the plant in a stationary position, especially through the bud cycle, may positively influence the outcome of the finished product.

 

As jungle (lowland) herb requires only a thin layer of nutrient soil, perhaps a four-to-eight inch layer of soil over clay or concrete (with some form of drain system) would encourage lateral root growth, stationary plants, and a more lowland sativa-friendly environment.

 

If successful, the sativa-friendly room can be used to acclimate an indoor sativa variety, which expands the possibilities of your breeding operation.

 

Bon je crois que ça ira pour aujourd'hui, ci ça vous intéresse faites-le moi savoir et j'essaierais de poster quelques textes régulièrement, j'en ai énormément, et ça va du niveau débutant au génie génétique poussé...

 

Si vous avez des questions sur les sujets traités n'hésitez pas, je serais content d'en discuter, mais pitié, NE ME DEMANDEZ PAS DE TRADUIRE. J'espère que ces textes en aideront certains et éveilleront la curiosité des autres. A bientôt...

 

Peace !

[RedLightDistrict 1]

Merci beaucoup Metanoiak

 

J'ai pas encore eu le temps de tout lire mais ça parait trés interessant

 

Peace

[Invité]

hi metanoiak

NE ME DEMANDEZ PAS DE TRADUIRE

tu m'étonnes Simone ....

moi sur ma barre internet j'ai le "traduire" certes il faut un peu recaser les mots dans la phrase....

mais cela peux le faire ,....

pour l'instant j'ai commencé a lire un peu mais bon ; là il faut prendre un peu de temps...

merci de ton intention,@+

[Invité]

hepp

 

mouais ...bof bof quand meme....

 

en lisant ton introduction (un peu arrogante au passage))j ai crus a un moment que ton post aller envoyé du lourd ,mais finalement.... jai ete plutot deçu:-?

 

 

je vois pas trop ou est l interet de faire un copier coller de ces textes sans traduction .

 

 

personnelement je m interesse aussi pas mal a tout ce qui touche au breeding et j ai collecter pas mal de texte ,dont ceux que tu a poster , mais j ai un mal fou a les traduire etant donné mon faible niveau en anglais

 

en resumé je trouve ton initiative vraiment au top car c est vrai que c est un peu le desert sur cw niveau breeding,

mais je pense que ceux qui s interesse au breeding voudraient plutot une bonne traduction plutot qu un texte en anglais trouvable en 5 minute sur ic mag ...

 

++

[Metanoiak 4]

Merci à tous pour vos réactions !

je pense que ceux qui s interesse au breeding voudraient plutot une bonne traduction plutot qu un texte en anglais trouvable en 5 minute sur ic mag ..

 

Tu as tout à fait raison Alpha520, mais je pense que c'est déjà mieux que rien, de plus les pays les plus impliqués dans le breeding sont tous anglophones, il faut se rendre à l'évidence, quiconque veut s'intéresser sérieusement au breeding doit impérativement maîtriser un minimum l'anglais...Certes il existe des ouvrages sur le cannabis et sa culture en français, mais les oeuvres faisant autorité en matière de breeding sont quasiment toutes en anglais !

 

mouais ...bof bof quand meme....

 

en lisant ton introduction (un peu arrogante au passage))j ai crus a un moment que ton post aller envoyé du lourd ,mais finalement.... jai ete plutot deçu

 

Sincèrement j'ai du mal à voir où tu vois de l'arrogance dans mes propos...Si je me suis montré arrogant je m'en excuse, ce n'est vraiment pas dans ma nature ! Tu admets toi-même qu'au niveau breeding c'est la misère sur cannaweed, franchement tu as lu le guide "sélection génétique" ?!?! La honte...

Si tu as toi aussi des textes intéressants n'hésites pas à les poster, ce thread pourrait devenir un recueil de textes traitant du breeding en général, même si l'anglais en rebute certains, je suis sûr qu'une partie d'entre nous y verrait un intérêt. Je veux juste faire tourner l'info, c'est tout.

 

Peace !

[Invité basstard]

Salut,

 

Certains articles avaient déjà été postés par Skar il y a un an en gros, si je me souviens bien, il s'agissait de la ségrégation transgressive chez la Blue Family et la séléction des mâles. Tous ces articles sont intéressant mais c'est vrai que sans traduction ça ne sert pas à grand chose sur un forum francophone.

 

Par contre tu cites le guide tout pourri mais plus bas dans la page tu aurais trouvé Génétique / Breeding et là c'est du sérieux...

 

Cordialement.

[Metanoiak 4]

Bon, élevons un peu la barre ! Voici un "petit" extrait d'un texte sur le breeding de Greg Green, où il explique le principe de Hardy & Weinberg :

 

HARDY-WEINBERG EQUILIBRIUM

Introduction:

An understanding of breeding concepts requires a basic

understanding of Hardy-Weinberg’s Equilibrium. Breeding depends

upon the knowledge of population genetics. To understand the value of

the H/W Equilibrium, you may have asked yourself a question like this

before...

 

“If certain diseases are a dominant trait, then why haven’t

large sections of the population got this disease?”

The same question applies to cannabis breeding. If purple bud

color is a dominant trait then how come my offspring from the purple

bud strain do not have purple buds? Or, I have been selecting Indica

mothers and cross breeding them with mostly Indica male plants but I

have some Sativa leaves. Why does this happen? Hardy-Weinberg’s

Equilibrium will help you to understand these questions and there

answers.

 

Okay, first of all these questions reflect a very common

misconception. That misconception is that the dominant allele of a

trait will always have the highest frequency in a population and the

recessive allele will always have the lowest frequency.

There is no logic behind the idea that a dominant trait should

show a tendency to spread over a whole population. Also there is no

logic behind the idea that a recessive trait should die out.

Gene frequencies can be in high ratios or low ratios no matter

how the allele is expressed. The allele can also change, depending on

certain conditions. It is the changes in gene frequencies over time that

result in different plant characteristics.

Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium will show us whether or not

gene frequencies have changed in a population.

A population is a group of individuals of the same strain or

species, [such as cannabis Indica or cannabis Sativa (species), or

Skunk#1 and Master Kush (strains of a species)], in a given area

whose members can interbreed with one another. This means that they

share a common group of genes. This common group of genes is

known as the GENE POOL.

Each gene pool contains all the alleles for all the traits of all

the population.

For a step in evolution to occur some of the gene frequencies

must change. That is why we have different types of cannabis plants.

The gene frequency of an allele refers to the number of times

an allele for a particular trait occurs compared to the total number of

alleles for that trait.

Gene frequency is calculated as follows.

The number of a specific type of allele, divided by, The total number

of alleles in the gene pool.

The Hardy and Weinberg principal describes a theoretical

situation in which there is no change in the gene pool. This means that

there can be no evolution.

 

For a test example let us consider a population whose gene

pool contains the alleles B and b. Assign the letter c to the frequency

of the dominant allele B and the letter d to the frequency of the

recessive allele b.

[in most cases you will find that c and d are actually notated

as p and q by convention in science, but for this example we will use c

and d.]

The sum of all the alleles must equal 100%.

So c + d = 1.

All the random possible combinations of the members of a

population would equal (c x c) + 2cd + (d x d). Which can also be

expressed as:

(c+d) X (c+d)

We will explain this in detail in moment, but it is best to know it for

now.

The frequencies of B and b will remain unchanged generation after

generation if:

1. The population is large enough.

2. There are no mutations.

3. There are no preferences. For example a BB male does not prefer a

bb female by its nature.

4. No other outside population exchanges genes with this model.

5. Natural selection must not favor any specific individual.

Let us imagine a pool of genes. 12 are B and 18 are b. Now

remember The sum of all the alleles must equal 100%. So this means

that the total in this case is 12 + 18 = 30. So 30 is 100%.

If we want to find the frequencies of B and b and the

genotypic frequencies of B, Bb and b then we will have to apply the

standard formula that we have just been shown.

f ( = 12/30 = 0.4 = 40%

f ( = 18/30 = 0.6 = 60%

Both add to make 100%. Now we know their ratios.

So,

c + d = 0.4 + 0.6 = 1

We have proven that c + d must equal 1.

Very straightforward, yes.

Remember that all the random possible combinations of the members

of a population would equal (c x c) + 2cd + (d x d), or (c+d) X (c+d)

Then, c + d = 0.4 + 0.6 = 1

And (c x c) + 2cd + (d x d)

= BB + Bb + bb

= .24 + .48 + .30 = 1

This means that the population can increase in size, but the

frequencies of B and b will stay the same.

Now, suppose we break the 4th law about not introducing another

population into this one.

Let us say that we add 4 more b.

b + b + b + b enter the pool. This brings our total up to 34 instead of

30. What will the gene and genotypic frequencies be?

f ( = 12/34 = .35 = 35 %

f ( = 22/34 = .65 = 65%

f (BB) = .12, f (Bb) = .23 and f (bb) = .42

Oppss, .42 does not equal 1. This means that the Equilibrium law fails

if the 4th law is not met. When the new genes entered the pool it

resulted in a change of the population’s gene frequencies. However if

no other populations where introduced then the frequency of .42 would

be maintained generation after generation.

However we would like to point out that we used a very small

pool in the above example. If the pool were much larger then the

number of changes, even if one or two new genes jumped in, would be

insignificant. You could calculate it, but the change would be on an

extremely low level 0.000000000001 of a difference in reality.

This is just as basic example to get you started. It may not

make complete sense at first but if you read on then it will fall into

place. Some of you may be asking the question.

How do I know if a trait, such as bud color is Homozygous Dominant

(BB), or Heterozygous (Bb) or Homozygous Recessive, (bb)?

If you have been given seeds or a clone you may have been

told that a trait, such potency is Homozygous Dominant, Heterozygous

or Homozygous Recessive. However, you will want to prove this to

yourself. Especially if you are going to use that plant in a future

breeding plan. You will have to do what is called a Test Cross.

J'espère que ça en intéresse au moins certains, sinon faites moi signe et j'arrêterais le carnage !

Peace !

[Metanoiak 4]

Salut Basstard !

Par contre tu cites le guide tout pourri mais plus bas dans la page tu aurais trouvé Génétique / Breeding Génétique / Breeding et là c'est du sérieux...

 

J'ai déjà lu ce guide et il est plutôt complet, et très bien expliqué. Mais alors pourquoi laisser ce guide "selection génétique" en ligne ?! Je trouve juste dommage qu'on laisse côte à côte du médiocre et du très bon....

 

Pour ce qui est de l'anglais, comme je l'ai dit plus tôt, on a pas vraiment le choix, même si on est sur un forum francophone y'en a bien quelques-uns qui parlent un minimum l'anglais non ?

Parce-que les lois Françaises elles, ne sont pas près de changer, et la France a toujours été, est, et restera un "parent pauvre" du Cannabis ! Les leaders sont les Californiens, les Hollandais, les Cannadiens (y'en a d'autres qui pointent le bout de leur nez, je pense notament à l'Espagne et à la Nouvelle Zélande) Personnellement j'ai pas envie d'attendre que les lois changent, et qu'enfin ces ouvrages puissent être traduits dans notre belle langue, pour pouvoir me mettre sérieusement au Breeding, c'est un sujet qui me passionne beaucoup trop pour que je laisse la seule barrière linguistique m'en priver. Alors je fais avec...

 

Peace.