We plan to top the plants and root the tops, does that seem a good idea?
I just did that on my CM run and had close to 100% success.
2 out of 40+ stragglers still look healthy though, just haven't seen a root pop out yet while some others already had foot long roots.
It worked much better than my last attempt with the too small clones I took from the bottom of plants.
The only drawback is that apparently tops take longer to root. But they do root and do so well, just takes a while.
I cloned them with powder hormone and jiffy pucks and it took almost 2 weeks but almost 100% success and they look quite healthy.
Also I innitially thought I would not top my plants for pheno hunting to "get to know the plant better" but I kind of disagree after 2 runs.
I also have some untopped ones standing next to the topped ones and I believe topping is fine, even when pheno hunting.
First of all, the structure below the point where you topped doesn't change so you can get an idea about node spacing etc. from that. Even if you top very early and very low on the plant, up to that point, you get to see your node structure etc.
I also don't think all these things play as much of a role in selecting keepers/pheno hunting.
As far as I am concerned, the main decision making factor are still 2 things (which one takes priority is personal preference then again):
1) Effect
2) Yield
Sure it's nice to have a plant with a golden ratio node spacing, thick stems pleasant leaf structure etc. etc. but you will throw that plant and it's beautiful sisters in the garbage if you find one that knocks your socks off in terms of effect and yields well on top. Agreed?
Now yield plays basically no role for myself in terms of pheno hunting. It is all about potency for me. And since reading the whole chemdawg story and seeing what its legacy has turned out to be, I am inclined to look at any cripple, mutant, stunted looking straggler as a potential holy grail.
Because it all depends.
My plan is to reserve judgement until after curing and sampling the final product. I plan to take out my notebook during that time and while sampling, looking at the notes and reminiscing about that grow and remembering what stood out etc.
But that is all secondary, the judgement will come by way of the effect on myself and that can turn everything upside down.
In my first round, a strain I had "just thrown in there" and had 0 expectations for, NLxSkunk, blew all the rest away, safe for Critical Mass.
I was much more into the Blueberry, the C99, even that great smelling MasterKushxSkunk or the White OG from Karma or the Malawi or the Mango Haze.
But after curing and testing, the NLxSK and CM were the best so far.
On a secondary level, the NLxSK grew very "straight up" and yielded better than others but not as well as the CM which had the christmas tree shape.
The CM was on par with the NLxSK while the NLxSK was more grapefruit/citrusy, the CM was more in the berry direction and yielded better.
Potency/effect wise they were on par and not far apart (which makes sense, given their genetic makeup).
That's why ultimately I decided to pop the near 50 beans of Critical Mass instead of any other hype strain like Malawi etc.
It's because it was among the best smoke I had in the first two rounds while also yielding well, being tasty, easy to grow and overall nice to look at.
Having topped all of them now, I can say that after topping you still notice and can definitely clearly see which ones are looking "ahead" in terms of veg. Some are simply a bit more bushy, you also note which ones reacted better to topping and not or which ones rooted better/pushed more root mass and faster etc.
But again, to me that is all just mental notes, not to be discarded but also not to use as a base for judgement.
I regard this information as a supplement to the big kahuna of information that is the sampling after curing.
Stay frosty bros
Broseidon