MadameMeduF1

@drakkon, thanks for your comment! i have checked your Medusa and great job with really detailed and helpful diary, a good example! i can see you like F1 strains and grown some types. why do you prefer them and what is the advantages as per your experience compared to normal autos? are they more predictables? thanks and cheers!

@halibo, hello. I prefer the F1 hybrids because they exhibit greater uniformity than other strains, while also being hardy and vigorous. I was originally intrigued by RQS’s F1 line simply because of the Greek-myth names, which I love, so it was a good branding move by them. But, they do measure up in my opinion, at least with my limited experience. I’ve grown quite a few Northern Lights, for example (no diaries), and they vary significantly more than the F1s I’ve tried. There’s a lot to read about how they do it online, at RQS, Dutch Passion, etc. Short version is: 1st repeatedly inbreed two entirely different strains/lines, but each with certain traits you desire. Keep going until those strains are pretty consistent. All the inbreeding means you get the trait you want, but with that comes some lack of vigor or weaknesses (like overbred dog breeds having certain health issues). Second, cross-breed one great individual from each of the two lines you just made. Now, the one generation of seeds resulting from that cross expresses the best (dominant) traits from both, while avoiding the weaknesses (recessive) of either. That’s what they call hybrid vigor. Finally, one drawback is that when F1 hybrids themselves produce seeds, the next gen goes right back to having huge variety, so you can’t keep going and breeding them. The value is in just that one generation.