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How Did You Decide on Your Current Strain(s)?

quietlybinary

New member
Happy Weekend Everybody,
When we look at all the seed options there are many factors that drive our decision as to what we grow including price, indica vs. sativa, height growth, brand names, uniqueness vs. land races and so on. I think that we all go through the process of choosing what strains appeal to us and which ones we grow. This choice is a big one as we are dedicated to the growth for 1/3 of a year! Many of us are limited to one or a few plants for each season whether it may be due to laws, costs and/or space limitations. Many of us are limited to one or a few plants for each season whether it may be due to laws, costs and/or space limitations. I am curious what factors are personally most important for all the growers on the board, specifically for what you are currently growing or perhaps even something in the past. Are you captured by specific breeders? Do CBD and THC percentages sell you? Maybe you look for cool names of strains? Or perhaps height plays a huge part for you? Fast flowering times? This post was just sparked by my own curiosity and here are my top factors for choosing at the moment

1. Strain Breed - I like to take into consideration what I have tried in the past and also strains that I have smoked that I really like. As a new grower, I have been liking to try strains that I have never really had access to and have never grown. When doing this research, for me I do wonder how much is smoke and mirrors and how accurate seed labeling and descriptions are. There are multiple phenotypes for each strain so what we get sometimes and how it will turn out can be unpredictable. During this, for me, I think that how strains are labelled does affect how I think of it. For example, I tend to not be attracted so much to the foundational and common strains like Northern Lights and White Widow and am attracted to things with cooler names - like Gorilla Glue or Cinderella 99. I am not ashamed to admit this - I love the awesome names and cool marketing of strains. I also find that sativa strains have much more appealing names, pictures and descriptions. Thus, many of my previous grows have been sativa dominant. So far, it has not wrongly steered my decision making process but really if the seeds pop then it has already made me happy. Lately I have been leaning toward 50/50 hybrids because of the shorter flowering time though I prefer to consume sativas, this may be silly because in the grand scheme the difference may be only 2 weeks difference.

2. Price - Price has steered my strain selection. There are many strains and brands of seeds that I would never consider because of the price tag attached. When browsing sites, I do order available strains based on price. I am curious as to what many of you think of this, also this is making an assumption that most of you are purchasing seeds rather than using clones or bag seeds. One may believe that the more expensive strains are of a higher quality strain, bred with more care, more rare or something like this, at least this is what I am led to believe. In the case that we are popping for our personal use, do you think that it is worth it to pay more for seeds as the return on the investment will be reflected in the crop? Perhaps the seeds are more likely to have a higher yield or a higher chance of germination. I have so far grown strains one at a time and have leftover seeds that I store for the future or maybe I will never do a double. In reflection, I think that I may try to pay less attention to price tag and more to what I am actually interested in growing. It is such a long period of dedication that ultimately we should be 100% happy that we are taking care of a strain that we are really happy about checking out.

3. Photoperiod - My first grow was an auto because of the resources that were available to me at the time. It was a free seed and turned out okay considering it was outdoors and had very limited direct sunlight.I was just messaging a grower about regular seeds. Now with limitations in space as one of the big factors for me, I am curious about specific strains (see #1) that are only available in regular strains but I am intimidated by the idea of having to germinate multiple seeds in a limited space and how to sex the plants. Hence, all the strains I have grows so far have been feminized. In comparing feminized to autos, I prefer feminized due to the amount of control we have over the plant with LST and light variations I feel they leave more room for errors and mistakes that we may not anticipate but will make. As a side note about my experiences, I once tried to pop an auto in a 12-12 cycle at the end of another plants flower period and the result was such a small plant it was quite sad because of the potential of the plant - I think the strain was a Devil Cream.

I am interested to hearing from you and what is important to you in making this decision that really impacts a big chunk of our time!
Have a great day and hope you find time to relax and recompose yourself after the past week.
QB
 
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For me the decision was about what kind of effect I wanted. I haven’t smoked any weed for several years as it became impossible to get anything other than high THC strains available on the black market here in the UK. I don’t really like that kind of high. I’ve also got a few pain issues due to an arthritic disease and I’m tired of taking prescription pain meds. A high CBD strain seemed to make the most sense for me so I picked CBD Nordle from CBD crew, I have also planted a couple of Blue Mystic auto’s alongside my main plant which have a little more THC but are still high in CBD. I’ll see which I prefer when they’re ready.
 
I think the description "excellent for beginners" was what really sold me on Nirvana's Northern Light. It did not disappoint.

For the seeds I got for future grows I made choices based on things like word-of-mouth, price, height (staying away from the 8-footers!) and descriptions of effects. Unlike many of the folks on this site, I am not a seasoned smoker (I did it a fair bit in my youth then drifted away from it for decades) and definitely not a connoisseur, so I'm looking forward to checking out a wide variety of strains. I'm also interested in checking out these autos I've been hearing such good things about!
 
I was looking for the highest CBD I could find. I also wanted a secondary plant that had a low THC content but had enough that I could blend with the high CBD plant to get desired entourage effects. Strictly Medical but also with a bit of fun. price did not factor in for me. reviews of effects and growing success did.
 
Where I live, way down South in the country, we tend to mind our own business, we been swapping seeds with each other for years of off the plants we grew, never heard anyone complain about it either, it did the trick.
We didn't even know you could purchase seeds , till a buddy told me about GWE a year or 2 ago, like I said we live in the country and are kinda behind in times, especially about the internet, but since I found out about autoflowers, that's all I plan on growing from here on out, there is plenty of folks on GWE that train their autos just as aggressively as any photos,
Plus it's illegal where we live an autos grow so damn quick, that's all I'm gonna be growing, I could care less about the names
 
Hi QB, and welcome to the forum!!

What I've learned over the past year and a half of growing has had a great impact in what I'm looking for in seeds. On my first purchase, I just went for the high THC content, but now that I know so much more about cannabis chemistry, I choose strains based on medicinal properties, hybrid qualities and size of plant. I have two DWC grow boxes (one small and one pretty good-sized), so I have to be mindful of the stretch and the girth of plants.
 
My very first grow was basil- yup. It gave the opportunity to practice cloning/topping etc.
Once I got those to thrive I grew a medium difficulty seed with limited success.

I did OK with clones next (see basil note) and then I ordered seeds which grew easily. see GWE for strain suggestions.

When I was able to grow consistantly, (about 7 months)- I bought seeds in medium price range on sale.
After a about a year- I started looking at strains with decent yields.

Now,, I pick seeds based on my needs Thc/CBD content and don't care about yields-too much.
I'm still not willing to spend $$ on expensive seeds-but have started to look in that direction.
 
I was extremely high on sissor hash and like the look of the bud. What is funny is I already had plans to grow pinapple haze but me being high as hell decided to call an audible based on a pic. So I really have no real reasoning behind what I grow.
 
Hey there! it's hard to pick a particular order, but I'll give it a go.

Taste/appearance/yield - these 3 are tied at the top. If it doesn't taste good, the overall experience is diminished.
​​​
​The appearance played a big role in my first grow. I grew red poison, buds that are pure purple. I liked a strain my buddy grew called green poison for the taste and smell, and i found an auto version called red poison.

I found out that they taste nothing alike, but the bag appeal is amazing.

I also have grown strictly autos so far, so I suppose that's another thing that would tie with all of the aforementioned qualities. The quickness they finish in and not having to worry about changing a light schedule is great for me. Not to mention they are done in almost half the time as a photoperiod (76 days from seed for my first grow).

​​​​​​​I like the question! It's a great discussion topic!
 
I tend to buy strains I recognize ,then its by bud appeal ,I recently bought for outside grow and I only bought seeds that would finish by the middle of Sept,this years grow was dismal to say the least because of bud rot , for inside grow I like to try new strains as well as old favorites
 
I bought a pack of 4 mixed seeds because they were labelled for indoor growing and I was concerned about height.
I have since also grabbed a clone of something that is fairly new because of the red/purple colours and the allegedly awesome flavour. Its about 4 weeks away from being ready.
My wishlist for seeds is largely based on flavour, mostly diesels, though top of the list is Trainwreck for the effects!
 
I mix new strains and old favorites in my grow room, I like trying new strains, but still want the yield, so if the new doesent produce, I can always count on my favs. To come thru and if thay all do....... winner, winner, chicken dinner😎
 
I have tried over 75 different strains in the last year or two to find ones I like and am just starting my first grow as I just got my grow liscense at the end of the year. I first looked for strains I liked but some I cannot find (eg. DNA Sour Tangie way better than any other tangie I have tried). Grizzly Purple is one of my standby ones and am growing a few of those. I actually ordered from TNSB because they had that strain then the rest were add ons. I also had to look at height as I am limited on that factor but can always top as needed which I am doing already. I did try a couple of strains I have not tried because they are either better suited for a new grower or shorter in height. All but one are fems as I did not want to waste time getting a male on my first grow but will next time around. One is an auto because I just put it in the room this weekend. When summer comes around I will be trying ones better suited for outdoors. Mostly based on flavors and effects from trying them. Currently also growing GG4, GSC, SLH, Grapefruit, AK74, NL & G13. I keep looking for others that I like but dont think they are available in seed form so will try new strains.
 
Interesting reads, thank you for this post!

The reasons for me:

So, personally I dont care ;) If it gets me high it works for me.

However due to illnesses with my spouse... there are several factors. (Some of you can relate: C-PTSD, Severe Anxiety, Severe Depression, BPD just to name a few! But the list goes on)

1: What works for her. There are a few strains she has ordered through MOMs that she really enjoys. Sometimes an added bonus of seeds. (Those are the free ones). Where I have 30+ strains, it will take time to figure this out. I want a go to 5 strains and alternate between them.

2: Sativas, they give her energy for her bad days (bad BAD days). She dosnt get "High" anymore unless she is smoking like an oz in a day. So THC is not a huge concern, although higher = better for me.

3. She enjoys the lemon/fruity the flavors the most. (She dosnt like diesel at all)

4. I go for the photoperiod plants (Regular or Fem as I am now making feminized seeds, new but its pretty easy, and a never ending supply is a huge plus!). With photos, I feel I can fill the tent out (5x5) with my limit of 4 plants (May increase to 25 soon!). I will take the extra month to do this as i feel in the end it will give me a larger yield in the end vs time on another crop.

5. Ordering seeds I look at all of the prior factors (including yield, flowertime, and where they came from [genes].)

6. Price is a large factor. I will wait and wait for a sale and look around on different websites. I feel even 5$ is too much for a seed. I will be giving away a lot of seeds I make to friends and family. However if the wife finds a strain that works for her, I will buy it for an increased cost (I am currently looking for a quality heirloom sativa with no crossing of another strain.)

7. Pictures occasionally play a role, I know this is an advertisement tactic however, I try not to invest in them. (Except Dark Devil Auto I just got.)

Overall, Quality and quantity. I dont want something that puts me in a negitive deficits. I figure, If I get a lb off my current grow, it works out to be $32/oz. (Everything factored in, elect, nutes,water,soil,ph up down etc etc) If this goes up to the LP prices of 250$/oz I am doing something wrong and need to reevaluate.

She has her M.M. at 5g/day. If she has to buy this through LPs, it is far worse than paying a few dollars for a seed!


Side Note: Anyone who has similar issues to her that has the same likes, pm me. I am curious what strains work for you.

Current Go To's:
1. Twisted Citrus
2. Snow White
3. ?
4. ?
5. ?
 
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