Well, here we go. Started with 20 Ice seeds from a place in BC, Canada. That's all I could afford. I started germinating in a glass dish with water, and got disastrous results. I burned through my seeds and only got two males. But, I'm learning, and growing them to bloom was valuable experience (and they're not a bad smoke really). I switched to the paper napkin method of germination. I fold up a paper towel in my hand, pour some distilled water on it, squeeze it out a bit like a sponge, fold it up to fit in a plastic baggie, set it someplace a little warmer than room temp and voila! 100% germination in 24 hours. I stuck my last failed seed in with one of the older males. We'll call him Bravo. He surprised me by sprouting a few days later so I let him share the pot with the older male. I didn't know he'd be a male too at the time of course. He grew, and I eventually chopped down the older male and the pot is now his. Back in March or maybe around April I started three more seeds. Two came out well, one got injured somehow and I thought it was a goner but nursed it along and now it's catching up with its siblings. They are Alpha, Charlie & Delta (figured out my naming system yet?) Alpha is my favorite. I pegged her as a female pretty early on. She's got a nice, strong bushy indica habit. She and Delta are now showing their sex, both female. Delta I had pegged as a male. She has a lighter, lankier sativa appearance with thinner leaf blades. But, my magnifying glass says "female." Charlie was the injured one. It's my second favorite only because I felt sorry for it. It's not quite showing its sex yet. Then I said "oh, heck" and started two more. Those are Echo & Foxtrot. No sex yet. If I had to guess, Echo is a female looking like Bravo, and Foxtrot is a male but maybe female looking like Delta. A few days later I said "screw it, let's go for broke" and started my last two seeds, Golf & Hotel. Too soon to guess much what they'll be. On to the pics. In the first one, that's Alpha in front. I just transpotted her two days ago. Behind her is Bravo, my volunteer male. In the second pic that's everybody. Alpha & Bravo on the left, and in the tray starting from the lower left and moving clockwise that's Echo, Delta (female), Foxtrot, Hotel, Charlie (the one I nursed) and in the white pot, Golf. Any thoughts so far before I blather on more?
I guess I should have put this in grow journals? I'm new at this and it's not strictly outdoor or indoor, so I thought it would be okay here.
I think I'll be doing both - soon. Topping to keep 'em shorter & bushier, trimming for clones. Any opinions on which to do first?
An update as of July 4. Alpha, Delta, Foxtrot and Golf are my females. The rest were male and were harvested. I've cloned all the females for mothers and additional clones for a second crop hopefully. I also started the flowering cycle for Alpha, Delta & Foxtrot on the 4th. I'm letting Golf grow out a bit more. I moved the plants onto the patio for pics, but they're usual home by day is in a Cardonnacum I've got going along a side fence where they get the most sun.