Breeding for Dwarf Size - Step by Step

Jaymes' Dwarves

[Editor's note: This how-to article was written by Jaymes Bennett (aka lawfulnutria97), one of our most experienced breeders.]

To prepare for the switch from Version 1 plants to Version 2 compatible plants, growers must breed down any Version 1 female plants into Version 1 male plants.  My goal was to exploit the "pulling into inventory" pausing of flowering plants in order to breed down a group of normal pure strain big bud female plants into dwarf sized male plants.  To achieve this goal I will need ONE dwarf male pure strain Big Bud, as well as a dozen or so pure strain Big Bud females.  Note if growing more than 15 females, separate them into two groups.

Crop Cycle 1: Female plants should be at 1.130m tall. The male plant will be 0.678m tall (standard dwarf male), which is 60% of the normal size for Big Bud plants.

Set out plants under lights and feed them if you want them to grow more than 1% per 90 minutes.  Once the plants reach maturity, and the male is within range of the females, you can harvest.  To ensure you do not harvest the male, right click the plant you wish to harvest and select 'touch'.  When the plant's menu pops up, select 'Harvest;.  Repeat with all females, making sure to ONLY move the MALE if a plant is out of range.

Once all females have been harvested, PICK UP the male into your inventory.  I keep mine in a folder labeled Dwarf Male Big Bud Flowering so I can find him easier later.  This storage puts a 'pause' on his flowering cycle.

One by one, germinate the seed bricks, leaving them in their positions.  if any are male, pause them and pull them into inventory in a folder marking them for later use or sale.  If you notice the plants should now be smaller than normal.  Feed them if needed.

Crop Cycle 2: Female plants should now be 0.904m, the male should be in inventory.

Once females have reached maturity, pull the same 0.678m tall male big bud out of inventory and set him in range of the females.  harvest the females using the right-click method to ensure you dont harvest your dwarf male.

Once they are harvested, pull the male back into your inventory.  Germinate the seed bricks again, pausing and picking up any that have turned into males, and placing them into inventory.  Again if you look at stats you should notice the plants are yet again smaller.

Crop Cycle 3:  Female plants should be 0.791m tall,

Follow the steps in cycle 2.  be sure to pull your male back into inventory.

Crop Cycle 4: Female plants should be 0.735m tall,
Crop Cycle 5: Female plants should be 0.706m tall
Crop Cycle 6: Female plants should be 0.692m tall
Crop Cycle 7 : Female Plants should be 0.685m tall
Crop Cycle 8: Female plants should be 0.682m tall
Crop Cycle 9 : Female plants should be 0.680m tall
Crop Cycle 10: Female plants should be 0.679m tall
Crop Cycle 11: Female plants should be 0.678m tall ... full dwarf size

NOTE:  This cycling can be done with dwarf or giant MALE plants of pure strain variety.