important facets c m and a planes shown in fig1 in one instance a method for growing group iii nitride crystals includes a growing group iii nitride ingots on original seed crystals by the ammonothermal method c using wafers taken from the nitrogen polar side of the original seed crystals as new seed crystals for subsequent growth of ingots by the ammonothermal method the original seed crystals may be formed using a heteroepitaxial deposition process if desired the method may also include slicing new wafers from the subsequently grown ingots and using these new wafers as seeds in subsequent ammonothermal growth of new ingots improvement in the bowing of crystallographic lattice along the slicing direction as compared to the initial seed crystals bowing of the crystallographic lattice along the slicing direction is inverted from the initial seed crystal bowing of crystallographic lattice along the slicing direction is improved over the initial seed crystals strain in the new seed is reduced from the initial seed crystals and or in any of the instances above wafers may be sliced from the ingot in a plane misoriented from c plane of the grown crystals by 3 to 15 degrees bowing of crystallographic lattice along the slicing direction is improved from the initial seed crystals strain in the new seed is reduced from the initial seed crystals and or a growing group iii nitride ingots on original seed crystals by the ammonothermal method until some cracking occurs b separating.