The Tale of the Accidental Grow Greetings fellow Grasscitizens. This is not a full grow journal per se but I will provide you with the details preceding the point when I started taking pictures. About 5 months ago I threw some Skunk bag seeds out the window; just as an experiment, to see if anything would emerge from the soil directly beneath it - This soil containing no added nutrients of any sort. To my surprise, about a week later a little seedling emerged (after heavy rains) and I let it grow there until it had approximately 6 sets of leaves. Now considering I live with my parents still (don't worry I'm 23 and they're fine with my habits) I decided to move the plant to a more discreet location in the garden out of respect for them and the plant's illegality in my country. I decided to transplant it in the rockery in the corner of our front garden because it would blend in best in this location. As this was an experimental grow, and because I'm unemployed and cannot afford any prepared soils or composts, I transplanted it straight into the untreated soil. It took about a week or so to stabilize but after that it started growing... Slowly. 1 February 2015 By this stage I had implemented LST to keep it low to the ground but, as a noob grower, I had done it too late and pushed it too far. This is when tragedy struck. I went out one day to find that my beloved plant had snapped cleanly in twain at the joint between the two main branches. I attempted to mend this by using a plaster to hold the severed limb onto the remainder of the stem and it fared well for about a week until half the plant started to wither away. I assume my mistake was attaching the plaster too tightly; hindsight 20/20. 16 February 2015 At this point I had no choice but to chop it off so that the rest of the plant could push on. It was a sad moment indeed. The remainder of my miserable Sativa-dominant continued to grow and my efforts were not in vain as she began to display her glorious pistils. 18 February 2015 During this time; owing to the lack of nutrients in the soil I started giving her small doses of old rose food to help her along (it's all I could find lying around) and well... This is her now. 9 March 2015 You may laugh at my dismal efforts at producing one handicapped plant, but I must say I'm quite proud of how far she's come; considering the circumstances. I will keep you updated on her progress as her sweet buds (hopefully) fatten up. The smell is intoxicating and jumping spiders seem to be lured in by her charming odour. For those of you who read this - Thank you. It's an honour to belong to this community and it's a privilege to have shared this with you.
Badass dude! Ive got some african landrace sativa! South African Kwazulu! World of seeds carries it! Imagine growin that in your backyard! ~ poke
I just so happen to live about 50km or so from the Drakensberg; where those seeds reportedly come from. It's a truly breathtaking area. I can't believe people pay £21.49 for 3 feminized seeds though. But suppose if you gave them some love the yield would be more than worth it. I'd be interested in seeing what your plants look like.
Being sativa landrace from world of seeds, they were prone to hermie. I chopped the kwazulu as soon as sex showed. Pure hermie. Was unfortunate. I read a lot of landrace sativas are prone to hermie. I assume this is because there is no one there to remove the hermies in nature, so the gene becomes dominant. This particular plant didnt like being indoors either, its much too large. I dont buy fem seeds, nor did i pay that price. I got them super cheap, like 18 beans for 20 bucks i believe. I think they would do much better outdoors than in, being landrace. Unfortunately outdoor grows have been banned in my area of california (and most areas for that matter in cali) I will give the S.A. kwazulu another outdoor shot one day though. You should get some landrace and put them away. I promise in about 30-40 years it will be nearly impossible to find landrace almost anywhere, and youve got them right in your backyard ~ poke
Ah it's unfortunate that you got a hermie man. Putting all my hard work into a plant and then having to chop it is a feeling I want to delay for as long as possible. So far I've been lucky though. I would try to track some seeds down but it's harder than it sounds.You have to really have connections because the land is so vast. I'll just stick to bag seed for now and see what kind of phenotypes I can randomize. I've got some seedlings going too that look to be predominantly Indica, and the seeds came from the exact same bag as the previously-posted plant. I planted them in a mixture of potting mix, peat moss and sand with some small rocks thrown in for good luck. They're looking strong but winter is drawing near so I doubt they'll reach maturity before it hits. They're ± 26 days old now: I also forgot to mention that I have this strange little runt that never quite developed properly (probably due to lack of nutrients), however it's a girl and it's growing a cute little bud at the top: This thing is about a foot tall, it's adorable.
It looks great so far! Friendly FYI, I learned from a dispensary owner and outdoor grower that bagseed can be anything if its outdoor. Cross pollination happens so easily! If youre interested in Breeding plants here a thread i started. http://forum.grasscity.com/medical-cannabis-breeding/1329289-plant-sex-art-creating-new-strains.html If you pollinate one branch you can get 3-100 seeds on one cola easily. I bred about 13 different strains last grow on one branch per plant and ended up with 150+ seeds of new variety unavailable elsewhere. The first time you grow out your own strain is a great feeling! Also, even though youre outdoor look into LST to significantly increase your yield and keep your plants short bushes for stealth! ~ poke
Thanks for the info dude. I just got my daily requisite of learning. I'm going to try LST the little girl and the seedlings (the seedlings are almost bigger than the runt after 26 days) tomorrow and I'll post the results. I'm too afraid to even attempt to LST my big lady because the stem is already compromised as it is. It's almost 4 foot tall now and is about as stealthy as a burglar dressed in a white jumpsuit. Anyway thanks for the help Poke. I'll keep you posted.
LOL, thats awesome! Please do brother! Im always down to help anyone grow anything! And i love to learn from others as well! Ill sub up! ~ poke
Looks healthy to me. Really Healthy. Maybe just a slow start? That's nice. The leaf structure looks a lot like my Haze Extreme. I'm guessing it's a Haze of some sort? What are your strains? I don't remember seeing that. Your ladies look nice and healthy for sure. That "runt" is pretty much flawless, lol. Take care, Love watching Outdoor grows. Plaid
Thank you for your interest. All of these plants come from the same bag seed. Over here it's just called Skunk. In my town there are only three varieties you can get: Swazi, Durban Poison (which is most often very poorly grown and is referred to as "local") and Skunk. My best guess is that the Skunk is basically some sort of hybrid between Durban Poison and some other unknown Indica from the north, which lends it it's skunky aroma. I honestly wish I knew which Indica strain was originally used to create it, but it's impossible to say. Each seedling displays it's own unique characteristics and you never really know what you might get; it can swing either way. The "runt" must be at least 3 months old now. It barely has the strength to produce one bud, but bless its little heart - it's sure trying. I'm just hoping that my newest Indica-looking seedlings can veg for long enough to produce some small buds, granted they're female.
Hey guys. I just thought I'd give an update on the flowering progress of my main female. It's been about a month now since the first signs of pistils and it's looking pretty good to me. I'm not sure how much longer to leave it though. I know Sativas are pretty slow-flowering, but the nights are getting fairly cold now. Any ideas?
MMMM mmm Mmmm! That Haze looks absolutley divine! Looks like you have a hearty specimine there. She's got a long way to go me thinks. How cold are you talking? And which growing season are you in? ANd how long has she bee throwing out calyxes and stigma's for? You're gonna want to wait until she stops growing new calyxes and the stigmas die and turn orange/red. It looks to me as if she's just starting to pick up speed. Some 100% Sativas' will take 16-24 weeks to flower in extreme cases. Some take 12-14. Tell me some numbers in terms of how long she's been flowering from the first time you saw stigmas(white hairs). Also, what strain is she again? lemme know mate Plaid
Oh, a month. I just read the a post that said that. Well, at 4 weeks she's just getting into the most productive portion of her fruiting phase. She'll be throwing out pistils left right and center. Looks like your gonna have some sweet braided foxtail action goin' on! Do you have a short growing season and one long ass one? I dunno but if you're in your short season, things may not end favorably. They strain you're growing will take at least 12 weeks to finish flowering, though I suspect it will take longer than that. If you are in the short season, what kind variation do you have in daylight hours? I think your days will start to get longer slowing down or stopping flowering altogether. If this is the case, you could cover her up in the evening at the same time each afternoon, and then uncover her in the morning. This way you can keep the hours of light where they need to be, and it will keep her warmer. Let me know your specifics Plaid
I bow down to your superior plant knowledge. As for nighttime temps, I'd say it's starting to drop to about 12 degrees Celsius but it will slowly begin dropping to 8 and lower as winter nights here get pretty nippy. Day time temps are still quite warm for now. The days are getting shorter and the nights longer, as we are moving into winter. Sunrise is at 6:03 AM and sunset is at 6:15 PM so it's approximately 12:12 of day light with a 11:48 dark period. This plant, being a Skunk strain, is mostly Sativa but it does contain some Indica traits. Now I don't know if the Indica in it would make it flower a bit faster than a pure Sativa would, but judging by its (fairly) quick progress I'd say that might be the case. Some of the stigmas toward the top of the buds are already starting to turn a darker shade; as you can tell by the pictures. This was the first picture I took of her flowering: 16 February 2015 And these pictures were taken today: 17 March 2015 Thanks again Plaid. Your input is greatly appreciated, and I'm learning more and more as I go.
Hello to all. This is an update on my large female. She is spawning trichome-laden calyxes at an alarming rate now. The buds are a bit on the airy side, but smell extremely pungent and indescribably earthy.: 20 March 2015 Anyway. Just a little update, for those who are interested. Cheers for now.
Hey C-Log it's good to see things are progressing. They look like they are in early flower stage, you got a ways to go yet
Lookin good man, you're a few weeks out still. Next time you need some help quote me and Ill be here! I never saw your mention of me til I seeked out your journal! You able to get any redworms over there to build your own worm bin? Those plants could surely benefit from using worm castings! ~ poke
Hey! Looking good! Some really nice trichrome production. Poke^^ is very extremely knowledgeable and equally helpful. If you can't find me he's a great substitute, I learned a lot of what I know through him.=) It looks like you have at least 2 weeks remaining, probably closer to 3. The buds will be airy and lanky. That's okay as it is supposed to be like that. Most of the very best Sativas look like ditch weed. Looks can be very deceiving. Poke could give you a more accurate estimation I think. He's grown a lot of Sativa. Landraces and the whole but. His knowledge is first hand. What types of scents are you detecting on that beauty? Keep it up, looking great! PLaid
Thank you for the kind words plaid. I really appreciate that Theyre a ways off imo, still a few weeks from the final swell.