I could use some advice. I am starting from seeds and will grow 1 female in a hydro dwc bucket system. 1000w HPS; air cooled lights with a cool tube; 5gal bucket w/ expanded clay; using advanced nutrients. I will start about 12 seeds in rock wool. I need help with how I should go about going from 12 seedlings to 1 good female. Should I plant them in large rockwool cubes and wait until I see pre flowers and pick the nice female? How big will they be once I finally figure out their sex? I could use some advice regarding this process. I would like an efficient process to use for going from 12 seeds to 1 female. Any advice is appreciated.
It's going to take 3-4 weeks before you know what their sex is - they will be quite large by then. I recommend getting some soil or coco and running them in small pots - you can find your females, choose which one(s) you want to use and then take clones from them.
Use feminized seeds if your growing conditions are optimal, Then you can only waste one seed. If they are not optimal, it has very bad effect's on feminized seeds and seeds in general. If this is not an option, you could flower the seedlings early and revert them back. A much better option if you have the space is to take a clone of all 12 plants, flower them, and keep the females. Are you saying if one were to use a smaller pot, the plants would pre flower earlier?
Nah, it's a matter of saving space as well as money on the materials - you would also be left with a nice small mother plant that wouldn't need much light; with that you wouldn't need to worry about this situation again. Feminized seeds are a good option, but without that there's going to be a waiting period here. He said he wants to grow a single plant in a bucket - to run multiple plants in buckets is going to be costly and you'll be left with buckets and pumps you don't use. Having them in small soil/coco pots has you buying a single bag of medium and a dozen cheap pots, about the cost of a typical air pump.
Thanks for the helpful advice. I think I will take Virtuoso's advice and grow the seedlings until I determine the sex and use a clone from the one female I choose to grow in the hydro bucket. I have access to free soil and pots and my space will allow for this. I would like to start from feminized seeds but I don't have that option. The seeds I have are regular. The last time I grew I used feminized seeds so this is the first time I've been in this situation. Thanks for the help
So I would like to reassess/revisit this topic. My seedlings are 5 weeks since germination and have about 4-5 nodes. They are starting to grow pretty vigorously. They were however delayed for about a week and a half due to overwatering where they had very slow growth but now they're doing great. Since they are regular seeds I am waiting until they show preflowers then I will take cuttings from the vigorous female(s) to use for my hydro bucket. I would like to get an understanding of about how far out am I from determining sex? I only have 1 light and 1 grow space so this is the only method I see that works for my situation to determine sex. So about how long from seed is it until they show sex?...or how much longer you think I have until they show sex? It is bag seed so I do not know strain. I can post pics later today of plants.
Can I get some input here? My plants are about 5 weeks old and recently transplanted into larger pots. I would like to know how long I have until I can determine their sex. Go to the link below to see pics of them. http://forum.grasscity.com/sick-plants-problems/1182444-help-drooping-leaves-pics-3.html