The Cannabis Breeder's Bible (16 page)

Breeders who were trying to figure out why this was happening to their clones came to the conclusion that cloning can cause a plant mutation. We know that stress factors affect DNA repair. Since a cutting damages part of the cut area of the plant, then this area may have a problem with DNA repair and if a new shoot forms at this cut point (on the mother plant) then we may find ourselves dealing with a shoot that has some mutations. Likewise the clone may mutate because of the cutting procedure. This is actually very rare, but it does happen and is a contributing factor to clone variations.

This type of cutting mutation is most common with aged mother plants. Again we know that age can cause mutations. If we take cuttings from an aged mother plant or a plant that is dying, then we increase our chances of taking a cutting from an area of the plant that has undergone DNA repair malfunction. The cure for this is a simple one. Keep generating new mother plants by cloning and do not let the mother plant from which you are taking cuttings get too old.
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Another way of preventing the mutation of cuttings is to try not to take repeated cuttings from the same cut zone. Repetitive “cut and grow” from the same zone of the mother plant may induce DNA repair malfunction in that zone. Again, the best solution to this problem is to keep generating new mother plants by cloning. This is a good practice to get into.

All variations in a clone are called “somaclonal” variation.

Transfer Techniques:

In cannabis propagation there are a number of techniques that can stress a plant to the point where DNA repair might fail. Cloning is one; another is transplantation.

During transplantation a plant is moved out of one growing medium and into another. During the transplant the roots may be disturbed, causing the plant to go into shock. Shock leads to stress and stress can contribute to the malfunctioning of DNA repair. One more propagation technique that can cause DNA repair to fail is tissue culture, which will be the focus of the next chapter.

CHEMICALS THAT CAUSE MUTATIONS (MUTAGENS)

It is a fact that cannabis plants do not mutate that easily through any of the risks we have mentioned above. Trying to deliberately induce a mutation using any of these causes is very difficult. If growers
want
to mutate their plants, they go the chemical route.

There are some chemical products on the market which can cause plants to mutate.

A good percentage of the elements on the periodic table will cause mutations in any living organism, however there are one or two products on the market that are used by cannabis growers and breeders that can mostly lead to mutations. The two products are “
Growth Hormones
” and “
Colchicine
”.

Basic Growth Hormones and Gibberellic Acid

We already know that hormones are numerous organic compounds produced by plants that regulate growth and other physiological activities. Hormones can be man-made as synthetic compounds and will have the same effect as normal natural hormones.

We mentioned gibberellic acid back in chapter 5 when we discussed selfing a plant. Gibberellic acid, or
GA,
is a compound derived from a fungus called
Gibberella fujikuroi.
This hormone is associated with growth development in plants and can sometimes speed up growth development to the point where cells may collapse under the hormone’s influence.

One influence GA has is in the early development of the seedling stage in cannabis plants. If a plant is in vegetative growth GA application can promote early flowering, but GA will more than likely produce male flowers because of the way the hormone interacts with the cannabis plant. High levels can actually reverse the flowering process and bring the plant back around to vegetative growth again.

As a growth hormone, GA has the potential to mutate genetic material, so by using GA to play with a plant’s growth cycle we may accidentally cause a mutation to occur. These mutations are not controllable by any means and the results can even cause plant death.

GA is available in most countries but in some countries such hormones are banned because of the effect that they may have on a plant’s genetic material. It is not known if GA will cause problems in humans but so far there do not appear to be any problems with its use. You should always follow the instructions on the bottle carefully before using the substance.

As you work with a particular strain you will be able to deduce how much your concentration levels should be mixed at to get the desired results. GA as a hormone can increase bud mass by up to 50%, although the application amounts of GA to get this effect are variable from strain to strain. Also the major problem with GA is its propensity for promoting male flower growth from within the female bud, so you end up with a crop that is not sinsemilla if the pollen is viable. GA is good for working on mutations but it is not good for increasing your overall sinsemilla yields.

Never smoke the bud from a crop that has undergone the application GA for health reasons. Always grow out the offspring from the treated mother and use these instead.

Other types of growth hormones that do not promote male flower growth in female plants unless the hormone is incorrectly mixed or applied in doses that stress a plant are available on the market. One famous product used by growers around the world is Superthrive. It is proven to increase yields but may be banned in some countries. You can find out more about growth hormones if you visit your local grow store. They are hundreds of different brands and types to choose from.

Colchicine

This chemical compound is widely used to produce germline mutation in plants. It actually gives rise to the polyploid condition if you use it in larger quantities with lots of seeds (some breeders even go into the thousands of seeds when using this technique but a minimum of one hundred is recommended for best results). It is a toxic yellow alkaloid found in the Colchicum plant species. Basically it inhibits chromosome segregation to daughter cells and cell wall formation. This causes multiple chromosome sets to develop. Colchicine can be poisonous and plants that have been treated are rarely ever smoked. The offspring from the colchicine-treated plants are the ones the breeders are most interested in—although sometimes colchicine-treated plants are sterile and fail to reproduce. Colchicine should be used with extreme care.

Colchicine use is very unstable for producing viable seed numbers. Sometimes a minor percentage of seeds will germinate—1% to 4%—because of the effects that colchicine has on the individual seed’s embryo. Any seeds that do pass through have a good chance of being polyploid and/or mutated. Colchicine mixtures are best used at less than 1%, 0.5% being the most common percentage used. Seeds are steeped in the mixture for 24 hours and then planted afterward. If none of the seeds germinate, then slowly reduce the time down to 6 hours. If still no seeds germinate then reduce the strength of your mixture.

From 100 seeds you may be able to produce one or two polyploids. Ideally you should undertake this process with 1000+ seeds to get better results. Remember though that colchicine is also a mutagen and so other mutations may arise aside from the polyploid condition.

Colchicine can be found in gout medicine, autumn crocus bulbs, winter crocus bulbs, meadow saffron or as raw colchicine. Garlic crushers can be used to juice the bulbs. The juice is then mixed with water.

Common polyploid mutation. This mutation is not exclusive to the polyploid condition.

The application of colchicine should be carefully investigated before you attempt it. Technically you are using a poison, which does affect human health, so make sure you read the instructions carefully before use. Wear rubber gloves and try not to get the stuff on your skin.

WHY MUTATE CANNABIS ?

There is no need to use chemicals for mutating plants unless we have the money and equipment to study our findings. The home grower does not need to mutate the gene pool and neither do breeders. Cannabis breeders can develop very potent strains with good yields and great vigor by breeding alone. This is important to remember.

Mutations are odd factors that crop up in breeding programs. Experiment all you want but do not go flooding the gene pool with a great new strain that actually contains harmful genetic material. If you do mutate a plant do not release it onto the market unless you know more about it. This is essentially what we have been explaining all along.

Do not be confused about mutation somehow being related to potency. It never has been and all such related material is simply propaganda. The most potent strains that true breed for potency traits are the result of plants being selected for these traits that are found in large plant populations and not through a breeder forcing mutations.

Most modern (not to mention sudden) breakthroughs in the discovery of some highly desirable traits in cannabis are found in the phenotype of a hybrid through simple breeding practices. Any trait that you would like to find in cannabis is already probably there in the gene pool. There is an abundance of variation in flavor, smell, taste, looks and potency. You just need to go looking for these variations in large populations.

LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING

Over the years I have seen breeders produce pictures of plants that are high-yielding monsters. The breeder introduces the strain to the market by advertising with pictures all over the place. Then they set about getting their friends to pretend that they have obtained these genetics and have grown them out for themselves with great results. The market takes notice and growers put up their dollars for this latest great strain. Then the growers find out the truth after wasting bulb life, electricity, nutrients, grow space and a lot of precious ‘grow time.’

Hermies

Hermaphrodite strains can produce large bud quantities. Breeders can be very clever in the way that they present their hermaphrodite strains. They take a small pair of clippers and proceed to clip away any male flowers for the photographic presentation. In reality the strain will not provide a sinsemilla crop and any offspring from this strain will carry the same hermaphrodite trait.

If the hermaphrodite is introduced into someone’s breeding project, then the hermaphrodite condition will probably breed into the offspring. This contaminates the gene pool and is a huge problem that the cannabis growing community is faced with. Be very careful when buying something new on the market. Sometimes the old saying “If it sounds too good to be true…” has a lot of merit.

Image Altering

Image altering is another huge problem that breeders and growers are faced with. Software packages like Adobe Photoshop can easily enhance an image, color buds and remove male flowers. Always keep this in mind. Photographs on the Internet and even in print can be fakes.

Perspective

Another problem with plant size is that some photographers can use perspective to make their plants look bigger than what they are. Their strain might only grow to 14” high but using perspective with proper location and lighting they can make their plant look 48” high. Using Photoshop a grower or breeder can even reduce the size of a pencil or coin in the foreground of the picture, making the plant lying next to it look massive.

Knock-Offs

Something new may in fact be something that already exists. A breeder just might take another breeder’s work and give it a new name. The plant is then distributed under this false name at maybe twice the price. People with experience in growing different strains might recognize the plant as being a knock-off but the average Joe will not know what this plant is. Always research a bit about the breeder’s background before you purchase a strain.

Size and Potency Are Not Related

Size does not equal potency. Potency and size are two different traits in a plant, and are governed by different genes. You can have a plant that is 6’ tall but very low in potency and you can have a plant that is 1’ high but extremely potent.

PROPER NAMING OF STRAINS

At one time there existed a protocol for the proper naming of strains that has since been left behind, but you would do well to help reestablish this protocol. If you cross Northern Lights by Skunk#1 then the offspring will be known as Northern Lights x Skunk#1, but this does not tell us which one was the male parent and which one was the female parent.