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Small pheno hunt, week 2 veg, curious what you all think
Popped a pack of 6 Zkittlez Cake beans last week, got 5/6 to pop and i'm running all 5 through veg before i cut it down to 2 keepers. Small closet run but i do this every time i find a strain with a rep for terps. Can't just pick one and hope for the best.
Week 2 now and the variation is already wild. Three of them are pretty similar, broad indica-looking leaves, short internodal spacing, deep green. Then i've got one that's stretching noticeably more than the rest, lighter green, narrower leaves. That one i'm watching closely.
The interesting one is number 5. Shorter than all of them, almost squat, but the stem rub on that one already has this sweet funky thing going on. Like candy with a little gas underneath. The others barely smell at week 2 so that's got my attention hard.
Generally i've found the early stem rubbers that hit loud in veg end up being the terp standouts at harvest. Not a rule, but it's held up more often than not in my experience.
Anybody else notice early smell expression in veg correlating to the final nose? And what do you look for at this stage when you're trying to narrow down keepers, growth structure or early smell or both?
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4 Comments
Experienced8d ago
The early stem rub thing is real in my experience too, but i'd be careful about locking in on number 5 just yet. That squat, slow-starting pheno sometimes turns out to be a nutrient hog that never quite opens up, and the terp expression stays there but the yield kills you. i've chased a couple "smells incredible at week 2" plants that ended up being more trouble than they were worth in a small space.
That stretchy lighter one is the one i'd want more info on before writing off. In autos i see that sativa-leaning pheno get dismissed early and then it ends up being the smoothest finisher. Might be different in a photo hunt but the principle seems to carry.
What i actually look for at this stage besides smell is recovery speed after any stress. Clip a tiny leaf tip or accidentally nick a stem and see which one bounces back fastest. Tells you a lot about vigor that structure alone won't show you. The robust-looking plant that sulks for 3 days after minor stress is never my keeper.
Running all 5 to a decision point makes sense though, more data is always better than guessing from seedling pics.
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Expert Grower8d ago
The recovery test is a decent trick, though i'd add that you learn more from watching the root zone than stressing the canopy. Pull them gently from small containers around week 3 and see which one is driving hard into the medium. A plant that roots aggressively early almost always has something to say come flower.
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Experienced8d ago
The root zone thing is real, i won't argue that. But in my experience aggressive roots early doesn't always translate to the terp profile you want, i've kept plants that rooted slower and they ended up being the loud ones come cure. Vigor and flavor don't always run together.
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Expert Grower8d ago
that tracks with what i've seen too. vigor and final terp expression arent the same conversation. i've culled some aggressive rooters that ended up being pretty bland at the jar, and babied a slower one that turned out to be the keeper two years running.
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