Please help me out with this logic. Two plants. Same strain. Two different phenos. Right? Two plants cloned from mother. Same strain obvi. Two of the same phenos? So I could say these are the same pheno..right?
Excellent question....phenotype is a word which is horribly bastardized in the MJ community. Phenotype is defined as the outward expression of an individual organism's set of genetic traits (GENOTYPE) as determined both by genetic code and environmental response. In other words, no. Distinct organisms of a given species will on at least some level have a technically different phenotype from every other organism simply by virtue having their own individual set of environmental stimuli and influences. Even if these two organisms are genotypically identical, their environments will exert different influences on them. As a result, gene expression will be slightly different between them. How different is the pertinent question? We may be talking about a mere difference in the concentration of a certain type of molecule in some cases, all the way up to distinctly noticeable physical traits. Just depends. (BTW For an interesting read which will at least open your mind to the possibilities of what plants are capable of perceiving and sharing try "The Secret Life of Plants" by Tompkins and Bird (sp?). Some might call it new age crap, but there is legit scientific study in there that yielded eye opening results) As a great for instance, take the human case of identical twins. Although two children born with indentical genetic material will look similar (aka have similar phenotypes), there will be distinct differences between them due to the different environmental circumstances they have experienced (physical, emotional, spiritual, social, etc). Same thing in plants. In the case of your clones, it's the GENOTYPE that is identical. The job of maintaining a consistent PHENOTYPE from that genotype from generation to generation boils down to maintaining consistent environmental conditions. A lot of people might say this is too technical a view. I personally don't give a fuck. It's the scientifically correct way to view it.
Two plants of the same strain may or may not be different phenotypes. The chance of getting one or two of a certain pheno varies with strain. Clones are the same plant as the mother; same strain, same pheno, same sex, same DNA.