Quest for mold-resistant strains, Hawaii outdoor greenhouse grow

[PurpleGunRack]

Thanks for the tip. Platinum hadn't come up on my radar because I couldn't find any terpene profiles for it. That could be because terpinolene isn't dominant, and that's what I was focusing on.

Platinum Jelly is a 50/50 hybrid.

This is the best terpene profile I could find for Platinum Jelly, showing significant ocimene and pinene. There's only a trace amount of terpinolene. So this is very interesting... a case where there are significant pine terpenes, but not terpinolene. First really I've seen of this.

There appear to be several phenos of Platinum Jelly, with at least one having terpinolene dominant. I just can't find other terpene profiles, nor any information about the known phenotypes. Some phenos could have either indica or sativa effects, while one or more may have a balanced combination.

Platinum is UW Hashplant X Perma Frost.

Platinum Jelly is a Indica leaning hybrid, the effect is definitely not sativa, all plants I've grown of it were full on mind and body melt, extremely powerful and amazing effect
Terps are mostly baked goods and/or gas, but some phenos are like a sherbet ice mouth feel with a faint fruit taste.

There are lots of Platinum crosses available. Platinum Jelly is just one of many nice Platinum crosses, all Platinum crosses I've grown were 100% mold free, while other plants got mold in the same grow.

Sugar Cane (Platinum X Slurricane) is getting quite popular among outdoor growers in Thailand, also one of the few strains where Platinum is the mom, so it should produce more Platinum dominant plants than the strains where Platinum is the dad.

Many growers have experience with high mold resistance in Platinum strains.
I would always put more sway into practical experience than theory and numbers (even if you're lucky enough to find a representative population size from a reliable source there are still many unknown genetic and environmental factors that affects mold resistance).

But really, the only valid test is growing it out extensively in your specific microclimate (which any grow setup actually is) and see what happens, and then breed with the best phenos to create your own crosses and a perpetual supply of free seeds

Grand Daddy Purple (indica dominant)

The one from Grand Daddy Genetics has mediocre mold resistance at best.
You might be able to find a nice clone that has decent mold resistance but if grown from seed, you'll be disappointed (on more factors than the mold resistance).
Biggest tease strain I've ever grown

 

[cbdhemp808]

Platinum is UW Hashplant X Perma Frost.

Platinum Jelly is a Indica leaning hybrid, the effect is definitely not sativa, all plants I've grown of it were full on mind and body melt, extremely powerful and amazing effect

I'm not at all doubting that it's a great strain, and thanks for pointing it out. It's a 50/50 with both indica and sativa effects. Some phenos could show a bit more of one or the other effects.

Terps are mostly baked goods and/or gas, but some phenos are like a sherbet ice mouth feel with a faint fruit taste.

It seems to me that virtually everyone in the cannabis world right now, including breeders, rely on experience and subjective interpretation of odor, taste, and perceived effects. Seed sellers rarely even talk about phenos. Terpene profiles are usually not provided.

I totally appreciate that people have their experiences of particular plants that they have grown, and buds they have consumed, from whatever breeder and seed seller they acquired the seed from.

That said, terpene profiles are sort of like fingerprints of the phenotypes. Yes, there can be some variation based on the grow of the pheno, but mainly only if there are environmental stresses. That's my understanding.

So, this is why I'm focusing on terpene profiles.

There are lots of Platinum crosses available. Platinum Jelly is just one of many nice Platinum crosses, all Platinum crosses I've grown were 100% mold free, while other plants got mold in the same grow.

Do you mean bud rot, leaf mold, or both? These are different organisms. Even PM and leaf spot are different, and one can show up while the others don't. The HI-BISCUS pheno that I'm growing, from Humboldt Seed Company is a 50/50 with sativa effects. It's 100% bud rot resistant, which is stellar in my super fungus/mold prone environment here. HI-BISCUS, however, is not 100% leaf mold resistant.

Sugar Cane (Platinum X Slurricane) is getting quite popular among outdoor growers in Thailand, also one of the few strains where Platinum is the mom, so it should produce more Platinum dominant plants than the strains where Platinum is the dad.

Very interesting. I found one terpene profile for it, very similar to the one I showed above for Platinum Jelly. Once again, the presence of significant amounts of ocimene and pinene, but not terpinolene.

Many growers have experience with high mold resistance in Platinum strains.

Bud rot, leaf mold, or both? I'm in a warm, wet tropical environment, with a heavy load of mold and fungus spores in the air. My greenhouses are literally little pockets of sunlight surrounded by jungle and huge tropical trees.

I would always put more sway into practical experience than theory and numbers (even if you're lucky enough to find a representative population size from a reliable source there are still many unknown genetic and environmental factors that affects mold resistance).

Due to the severity of the fungus/mold problem in my location, I'm attempting to move more toward the known and away from the unknown/just-try-it-out way of doing things.

Clearly, it's known that "pure" sativas, and tropical sativas, are more bud rot resistant, and I think generally accepted that a marker for this is terpinolene and the pine terpenes. High amounts of terpinolene are generally associated with sativas (Durban Poison, Trainwreck, etc.) Again, terpene lab tests are like fingerprints of the phenotype. This is something that can actually be measured accurately, just like cannabinoids. A lot of growers don't have access to this type of testing, so it's not in their tool kit.

Having a terpene profile for a pheno moves us away from the unknown to the known. Yes, there can be some variation in the profile depending on how the pheno was grown; however, given more-or-less ideal growing conditions, you'll get pretty much the same profile. Probably the most variation will be in resin production, meaning you'll get some variation in the amounts of the terpenes, overall, but not too much variation in the ratios.

The best case scenario is this: Find a strain that is promising based on available terpene profiles. Then find a high-quality seed line source for the strain. Then ask to see their terpene profiles for the known phenos. Terpene profiles will show info about: odor, taste, fungus & mold resistance, medicinal value, and effects (indica/sativa). The profiles will also show total terpenes—the higher the better, because this implies overall resin production. The higher the resin at harvest time, the greater the off-gassing of fungus-killing terpenes.

Terpinolene and the other pine terpenes (pinene, terpinene, ocimene, terpineol) are generally known as anti-fungal.

But really, the only valid test is growing it out extensively in your specific microclimate (which any grow setup actually is) and see what happens, and then breed with the best phenos to create your own crosses and a perpetual supply of free seeds

Agreed. The only way to confirm the terpenes in the pheno that you're growing is to have it tested.

I haven't done any breeding yet, but would love to sometime in the future. For now, I'm reliant on clones... what I call N-generation clones... clones of clones.

The one from Grand Daddy Genetics has mediocre mold resistance at best.
You might be able to find a nice clone that has decent mold resistance but if grown from seed, you'll be disappointed (on more factors than the mold resistance).
Biggest tease strain I've ever grown

Grand Daddy Purple is a popular strain, so I think it just depends on the breeder. The reason I'm considering it is because of its high terpinolene content, and also from reports of it being fungus/mold resistant.

The bottom line is, for any potentially great strain "X" that's supposedly highly bud rot resistant, one needs to find a high-quality source for the seed line, and then grow out the seed and see what phenos are produced, and then focus on the pheno that's the best bet for the bud rot resistance. This is where it really helps to have information about the known phenos, and terpene profiles for the known phenos. From my experience thus far, it's somewhat rare that a breeder will have complete information about the known phenos, and even more rare for them to have terpene profiles for the phenos.

In the case of the Humboldt Dream and HI-BISCUS that I'm growing, Humboldt Seed Company is specifically breeding for bud rot resistance. This is a huge plus... stable seed line that's been bred for fungus/mold resistance.

 

[cbdhemp808]

Just a shout out to @PurpleGunRack for mentioning Platinum Jelly strain as being very fungus/mold resistant.

I've been cruising for months on the terpinolene-dominant vibe for bud rot resistant sativas, and significant amounts of terpinolene for indicas and 50/50s. (I even researched Atomic Northern Lights to be terpinolene-dominant, and advertised as indica, but on closer inspection... it looks like there could be 7 known phenos, of which only 2 of those are indica, and 3 being 50/50. Plus it's an old strain, so... if I try that one out, I'll be pheno hunting. It could be that only the sativa phenos are terpinolene-dominant.)

Platinum Jelly and Sugarcane show significant amounts of ocimene and pinene, but not terpinolene. They are both 50/50 hybrids.

So, I'll be on the lookout for sativa-dominant and indica-dominant strains/phenos that have significant amounts of ocimene and pinene, but lower terpinolene. So far I haven't seen that, so this may just be a 50/50 phenomenon... we'll see.