Is breeding worth the effort?

[Obsvr]

As a new grower I am having a blast and connecting with the plant in new ways. I am finding that landrace strains are extremely fascinating and the thought of breeding them to create something new sounds really interesting. That said, it seems like when it comes to landraces, most of the hard work has already been done in regards to breeeding, so why bother when the cross you are looking to make has already been done.

I did recently see a video where a guy was saying that making hybrids is a waste, and that rather than cross two plants, he keeps indica's and sativa's on hand and mixes the flower into the same joint and it gives the same effect, which I thought was also an interesting way to go about it.

Curious to hear what others think on the topic of breeding landraces.

[crucialbunny]

It seems to me that crossing landraces defeats the purpose of having landraces and you end up with just another of the thousands of hybrids out there.

[GroBuddy]

It's not just about crossing uppers and downers. For me it's more so about getting a good strain that helps my daily life for free. One can continually pay 30-100$ for a set of seeds or you can make your own, honing in on strains and effects that benefit you most. Would be fun to create a og like gdp from scratch starting with the landraces it came from. Besides crossing, you can just use tiresias mist or colloidal silver to make your own seeds from purchased seeds. Just choose a plant you like in stature, bud formation, effects etc. Seeds made will represent plant used.

[SoOrbudgal]

Obsvr I've grown photoperiods for 40+yrs outdoors during summers until i found this site and learned about indoor tents. Anyway over the years i've grown many a sativa and indica these at that time were bag seeds handed down from old timers we had to grow several of each strain to be able to sex them out boys from girls and then we'd clone those. I've always had old seeds and will grow them sativas an indicas mix the ground buds. I like making my own tasty blends. Just experiment with them lots of folks grow and blend it together.

[crucialbunny]

A couple years ago I was rolling AK-47 and GG4 together and the combo was amazing. Blending grinds together is a great way to get a fresh perspective instead of the same old same old.

[SoOrbudgal]

Yep having such abundance after summer harvests man i could'nt grow all one strain, i love having 4-5 different strains to blend. Sure i'll smoke a single strain and then it's becomes meh. That's when you get a whole new high from blending. I'm with you on that crucialbunny mini dispensary LOL

[Rwise]

I Luv growing my own seed, and seed from friends.

[SoOrbudgal]

And you do it so well Rwise great growing this summer to ya

[grouchyoldman]

Very good question Obsvr, mostly because there are so many ways to be a "Breeder." Some are relatively easy and fun, other's are a "Life's Work" endeavor.

One approach to breeding is to focus on the low hanging fruit, big payoff for a modest effort, and in my case that is a seed run to preserve a cherished strain by cloning a female plant then reversing the clone to produce pollen and using it to selectively pollinate the mother plant. That produces a "Selfed S-1" generation of feminized seeds.

You can tuck those in a freezer and effectively "Preserve" that genetically specific cannabis strain many decades. I think, technically, you are actually creating a "Cultivar" in the process.

I think that is the Sweet Spot for a newly minted Craft Cannabis Breeder. Anybody can do it and the payoff is that you can grow your favorite plant anytime you please. Forever.

Regards,
-Grouchy
PS, for any advanced breeders listening, one big name commercial breeder (TG) sez "if you continue RIL breeding S1 - S4, you'll have a true IBL stabilized line, the holy grail of breeding...