picking a pheno?

Hey people, just about to start my first grow. I have 7 beans (vanilla kush) but only room for 2 to flower. I plan on growing all my beans then picking the best 2 for flowering. How early can good pheno's be spotted and what sort of traits should I be looking for apart from the obvious... It's healthy! Any help appreciated guys and girls! Cheers

Really finding a keeper pheno is all about personal preference, it may be in your case one has a high you like/ prefer more or one grows better/ easier in your particular setup then the others. Once you have grown them out and smoked them you will have no problem deciding which one to keep.

Pheno types consist of everything from leaf formation to potency to taste to the way it stretches.

When I have a small amount of beans and want to pick a phenotype to proceed with next grow, and don't know how it smokes/smells/taste, I will pick the best structured plant for what type a plant it is. If I plant 2 beans of an Indica dom. plant, and one looks stretchier and one looks more compact, I'll aim towards the compact one. There is a lot in play when picking phenotypes.

A good pheno is hard to judge early on depending what you are looking for. Typically you want to see it start to flower to judge it, the best would be after harvest when you smoke it. A lot depends on what you are looking for (yield, taste, quick maturing, stays short etc.) If you are just looking for a plant that stays stocky and branches a lot look for those with short internodes and aggressive growth. Those will be your best bet for phenos.

The truth lies in a good Pheno after it has been cured in a jar. Take clones off both and name them 1 & 2 on both the flowering plant and clones. Harvest your flowers and give them time to at least cure a bit and take your pic. Guy's running a strain they know well will be able to tell the various known Pheno types described by the breeder or from runs of it they have done before by looks and smell before harvest.