By Luke Sumpter Reviewed by: Andreu Francés


There’s a point in the life of every grower when suddenly questions arise. Most of the time, this moment of confusion comes right after completing the first couple of grows, and at the latest, when the same strain is repeatedly grown using the identical set-up.

Why in the world does every single cannabis plant grown from seed look slightly different?

When these or similar questions remain unanswered, a logical reaction for a rookie grower would be to switch to another breeder. The more experienced cultivators know that this phenomenon, meaning variations among different plants of the same strain, is inherent and won’t get any better by changing the seed supplier. We have to keep in mind that seeds are products of living organisms and the outcome of a crossbreeding process; thus they are as unique as any person, animal, or plant on Earth. Although it’s tempting to characterise everything around us, we’re quick to reach limitations when dealing with nature.

Genotype, Environment, Phenotype

Every living organism is the result of evolution that works by the same basic principle. The genotype or genetic code carries all the genetic information regarding growth, appearance, and all the characteristics we can later observe.Genotype is determined by the genes a plant inherits from its parents. It’s crucial to understand that a the genotype defines a specific range of possibilities. The expression of the genotype also depends on the environment the organism lives in and what specific bits and pieces of the genotype will be expressed. The interaction between genotype and environment results in a phenotype, meaning the physical expression of specific genes activated by the environment.

phenotype
(P)
genotype (G) +
environment (E) +
genotype and environment interactions (GE)
  • Quick Example: Purple Strains

Let’s examine a cannabis related example to get a better idea. You purchase seeds from a reputable breeder and intend to grow a purple strain. Instead of growing all plants in your indoor grow tent, you’ll decide on moving half of your plants outdoors. Besides the fact that no plant seems to be identical to one another, you’ll notice that the plants in your outdoor garden are much richer in purple colours compared to the ones in your indoor grow tent. Although the genotype carries the information to produce purple hues, it’s the environment, and in this particular case, the temperatures of the environment, that allow two different physical expressions (phenotypes) from seemingly the same genetic code (genotype).

Quick Example: Purple Strains
  • The Common Misassumption

We got the idea that the environment is the determining factor influencing a genotype to express different phenotypes, but this doesn’t answer the initial question why every cannabis plant grown from seed appears to be slightly different, even when it’s grown in a constant environment of an indoor grow room.

How can a strain possibly express different phenotypes when the environment doesn’t change?

Well, it’s maybe an inconvenient truth, but every single cannabis seed has its unique genotype. Many growers assume that seeds from the same cannabis strain share an identical genetic code and understandingly expect homogeneous growth. Unfortunately, this is a common misassumption. There are lots of people using the term phenotype to describe the variations of plants they get from the same strain grown from seed. In fact, and what they usually don’t know, they’re talking about different genotypes. It’s not only the environment that determines phenotypic expression, but logically also the genotype itself.

When you purchase seeds of a certain strain, you’ll receive “family members” of this strain that share a large percentage of genes with thousands of (inbred) siblings, but they’re not identical twins. The genotype is usually very close between plants from the same strain, but there are still differences, comparable to siblings in a family if you will. That’s the main reason why every cannabis plant grown from seed expresses slight variations regarding characteristics like plant height, yield, flavour, etc.—the genotype of seeds is usually not identical.

Pheno Hunting

Cannabis cultivators and breeders pay close attention to phenotype when deciding which strains to grow and cross. The practice of "pheno hunting" allows one to quickly sift through a large quantity of genetics to identify traits that suit their desires and growing situation.

The method involves sowing a variety of different strains (or many seeds belonging to the same strain), growing them out, cloning them, and hunting for key characteristics.

Pheno hunting enables you to test and trial a bunch of genetics at one time. However, some growers choose to pheno hunt by starting out with seeds from the exact same mother plant. This process allows them to scout out the best phenos within a narrow range of variability to hone in on the finest traits a particular strain has to offer.

Once a grower finds a desirable pheno, they can “lock in” these desirable traits by continually cloning the specimen. While adding more genetics to the equation creates more variability once again, breeders can draw out and stabilise—the traits they like through techniques such as inbreeding or backcrossing.

Video id: 733881361
Traits desired by pheno hunters?

Pheno hunting doesn't include the creation of new traits, or the development of extreme attributes; the features you are looking for should already exist within the strain's genetics.

How to Pheno Hunt: Step by Step

Pheno hunting allows you to personalise the cannabis growing experience. Before you start the process, you need a good amount of space, enough pots to house several waves of clones, nutrients and light to keep them all healthy, and an area in which to dry and cure your harvests. Once you have these in place, it’s time to start hunting down your dream phenos.

So you have an idea of the timeframe, it can take a commercial grower several plant generations until they get the desired pheno.

Roughly speaking, pheno hunting can take at least 6 months. This includes germination, growing, cloning, phenotyping and selection of the best specimens.

Step 1: Sow Seeds

First things first; you need to select and sow the strains you want to grow. However, ensure that you label your cultivars so you’re aware of exactly what’s growing, where. If growing lots of different strains, just label them with their appropriate name or initials. If growing multiple plants of the same strain, let’s say Royal Gorilla, for example, then label them RG1a, RG2a, RG3a, and so on. Going forward, you’ll simply swap out “a” for “b” to indicate which plant your clone derives from. If you decide to clone your clones, you’ll switch to the letter “c” in the labels to keep track. You can use wooden lollipop sticks as labels in or around the corresponding pots, or switch to plant labels when your specimens are big enough.

How to Pheno Hunt: Step by Step

Step 2: Clone Your Original Crop

After germination, you’ll raise your plants as usual. Within 4–6 weeks, they'll have packed on some size and developed plenty of healthy “true” leaves; these signs mean it's time to clone. You can make biological copies of each plant using several methods/substrates, including soil, Rockwool, and water. Don’t forget to label your cutting as soon as you take them from the mother plant to avoid any confusion further down the line.

But why bother taking cuttings from your recently seeded crop? Because doing so will give you direct biological copies of each individual plant. As long as they remain in relatively similar conditions, they’ll display the exact same traits as the mother plants from which they came. While your mother plants continue to grow, you can experiment with the clones to see how they adapt to experimental procedures such as pest exposure, training, and temperature shifts.

Step 3: Grow Out the Clones Separately

At this point, you’ll have doubled your plant numbers. If you started out with 10 plants, you’ll now have 20 at your disposal. Next, you’ll want to create a separate growing area in which your clones can thrive.

Indoors, this will allow you to switch your original plants to a flowering light cycle while keeping your clones in a vegetative state. Your mother plants will start to develop flowers that you can sample to see which phenos you like best in terms of taste and effect. When they start to bud, you can put your clones through their paces to see how they react to the future stressors you're likely to subject them to.

Step 4: Switch Original Crop to Flowering

Change the light cycle to 12 hours on and 12 hours off to force your mother plants into flowering mode. Depending on the strains you’ve chosen, it will take anywhere from 8–12 weeks for them to fully mature. Different strains will also reach maturity quicker than others, so look out carefully for signs of when to harvest.


Free RQS
Grow Guide!

Stay cultivated! Gg_book
Get free guide

Step 5: Remove Males

After switching to a flowering light cycle, keep your eyes peeled for signs of males. Whereas female plants produce resinous buds packed with terpenes and cannabinoids, male plants produce pollen sacs. When these balls open, they release pollen grains that fertilise female flowers on contact.

However, you can catch male plants early by keeping an eye on the preflowers. These small structures begin to form at the nodes (the points where branches meet the main stem) just before flowering begins in earnest.

If you identify a male, remove it from the growing space as soon as possible. Unfortunately, you’ll also have to get rid of the corresponding pheno clone.

How to Pheno Hunt: Step by Step

Step 6: Look for Desirable Traits

The hunt is on! You’ve removed all of the males (if you encountered any) and have a tent of budding mother plants, and another space filled with vegging clones. It’s time to do the real work.

Before harvest, you need to carefully monitor your mother plant phenos during the flowering stage to look out for desirable characteristics, including:

Desirable traits

While you patiently wait to taste your phenos for the first time, you can get to work on the vegging clones. Now is the time to watch them carefully, and look for the traits you want your future crops to possess.

Consider the following characteristics of your vegging clones:

  • Morphology: You want to keep an eye on the distance between internodes, as this means more potential bud sites and better growth symmetry.
  • Training: Do they bounce back from low-stress training and high-stress training well?
  • Growing speed: Do you have time to let them grow and veg slowly? Or do you want a pheno that puts on size quickly?
  • Cold and heat resistance: Have you set your temps low to find a cold-tolerant pheno? Some plants will fare better than others.
  • Pest resistance: If you’re pheno hunting outdoors, how are your clones performing against insect threats?
  • Food and water demands: Do some plants need more water or nutrients than others? How do they compare to less resource-hungry examples?
  • Root vigour after transplanting: Once you've transplanted a plant, did it grow back quickly? Or did it take more time to recover, if at all?
How to Pheno Hunt: Step by Step

There’s one final test left: you need to sample the goods from your mother plants! Look for the qualities you love in a cannabis flower, such as:

  • Yield: How much of those delicious buds did you harvest? Was it a light harvest, or were you rewarded with a bumper haul?
  • Terpene profile: Do you prefer notes of lemon, fruit, sugar, diesel, earth, pine…?
  • Effects: Do you want flowers that make you feel relaxed and stoned? Inspired and motivated? Creative? Philosophical?
  • Smoothness: Does the smoke irritate your throat or feel silky smooth?
  • Smell: Do the flowers smell pungent and pleasing when you take them out of the jar? Or simply underwhelming?

We recommend using the RQS Grow Planner to jot down your thoughts while sampling your buds, and to record any important notes during the entire pheno hunting process.

Step 7: Discard Undesirable Phenos

The purge begins. After picking out your favourite phenos, you need to eliminate the mother plants and corresponding clones that didn't live up to your expectations. Of course, destroying cannabis plants sucks, so we recommend giving them to a friend to help clear out some space.

Step 8: Repeat the Process

Congratulations, you’re now a pheno hunter! You’ve narrowed down your search to your favourite phenos. From here, you have a few options. First of all, you need to create new clones from your first wave of clones. These cuttings will once again bear the exact same traits as the previous clones. Label them correctly and get them into a veg tent.

Next, you can either flip your first wave of clones to flower or remove them to make more space for fresh clones to experiment with. You can dedicate a few more growing cycles to exposing your weed phenotypes of choice to different environments, lighting conditions, pest pressures, and training techniques.

Once you find exactly what you’re looking for, you can continuously clone your prized pheno to keep a consistent supply of the weed you love the most. You can also raise some of them and cross them with other strains to make new varieties strains and subsequent weed phenotypes that match your preferences perfectly.

End The Phenotype Dilemma: Seeds vs Clones

If you want to take homogeneity to the next level, you have two different options. The first option is to germinate more seeds as you intend to grow, and simply select the ones that express the desired traits at an early stage. But if you’re aiming for maximum efficiency and consistency, your best option is to select a mother plant to take clones from. These clones copy the genotype of the mother plant 1:1 and you’ll continuously end up with the same phenotype assuming a constant environment. Let’s say you grow one of these identical clones using a hydro set-up, and one in organic soil. This varying environment might result in different phenotypes of the same genotype.

Lastly, a recent alternative for achieving homogeneity involves the utilisation of F1 hybrid seeds, where all plants will exhibit the same genotype, resulting in identical phenotypes when cultivated in the same environment.

Cookies settings

We are requesting your permission to use your data for the reasons stated below:

Functional cookies

Functional cookies help our website to function optimally and allow us to personalise certain features.

Preference cookies

Preference cookies allow us to remember information that influences the way our website looks, including your preferred language based on your region.

Analytical cookies

Analytical cookies give us insights into website traffic and customer behaviour, including how many people visit our site, how long they browse for, and which parts of our site they visit.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of data from a particular website that get stored on a user’s computer while they’re surfing the internet. Cookies have several different functions. Some of them track browser activity that enables businesses to deliver targeted advertisements. Other cookies serve to remember user login details to different websites to make jumping on social media, or other sites, a more fluid process. Because each cookie has its own unique ID, these pieces of data allow website owners to measure the unique traffic coming into their site.

Why do we use cookies?

Cookies come in handy when you visit our website. They ensure you stay logged in, that you can shop safely, and that the items you add to your cart stay there before you make a purchase. But cookies also help us. The data they provide allow us to improve our website and enable us to present you with targeted advertisements that are compatible with your interests.

What kind of cookies do we use?

Functional cookies

Functional cookies help our website to function optimally and allow us to personalise certain features.

Preference cookies

Preference cookies allow us to remember information that influences the way our website looks, including your preferred language based on your region.

Analytical cookies

Analytical cookies give us insights into website traffic and customer behaviour, including how many people visit our site, how long they browse for, and which parts of our site they visit.

How can I disable or delete cookies?

Not a fan of cookies? No worries. You can disable them (with the exception of necessary cookies) in your browser settings. However, blocking cookies may impact your browsing experience and prevent you from enjoying all of the technical features of our site.

Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: