Finally took clones this weekend, so the next crop is decided.
I took clones from 3 strains and 4 mothers. 19 Blueberry, 9 Bubba Kush, 8 and 9 of each of my 2 AK-48 cultivars. I haven't entirely decided which of the AK's I like best, and by taking clones of both, I was able to take all BIG clones. I have lot of Blueberry clones, but they aren't the biggest. Oh well. I made 45 clones and only have 36 buckets to put them in, so some will get culled anyway.
I'm actually not all that impressed with the AK48's smoke. It's strong, but I don't like the flavor too much. I'm attributing it to not as nice a cure on the first round, so hopefully this new batch will taste better. They produce a good size yield though, so that was one of the primary factors. I was leaning towards running my TGA strain, but I'm not happy with the buds from this last crop. I'm not culling the moms, but I'm not gonna run any of that gear for the next crop.
I don't have final weights yet. The last 3 plants are still on the string, but they should be coming down tonight or tomorrow. It got a lot colder and more humid here in the last week, so the buds are drying slower then when I first started harvesting. I'm excited to weigh everything and see where I'm at!
FYI, I LOVE 1 gallon jar for curing! I thought the half gallons were nice, but the large jars are great. My plants are only 2-4 ounces, so I can usually fit a whole plant into a single jar.
Someone asked after the previous harvest, so I'm currently burping ~45 jars. I don't have enough 1g jars yet to hold an entire harvest, so I'm still using some smaller jars.
I ordered some Boveda packs, but they haven't arrived yet. I think I'm curing the buds well enough without them though. The stuff from the first harvest smokes real nice now.
I haven't smoked much of the new harvest because I'm spoiled now. I don't want to smoke buds that aren't fully cured anymore.
I have sampled some just to see how it came out. I think they smoke better then I remember the first batch smoking right after jarring. Even the AK-48 tastes pretty good (more reason for me to think I may have messed these plants in the first batch).
Speaking of taste, and smells... the Blueberry is, by far, my favorite from this harvest. Everytime I burp one of her jars I make an audible moan they smell so good! She is absolutely living up to her name. There are clear notes of blueberry in the wonderful aroma.
The smoke is tasty, but not as smooth as the stuff from the first harvest. Yet! I do think it smells better this run. Not just stronger. The aroma has become 'clearer' if you will. I go back and smell the first batch, and you can detect those phenols that give the strain it's name, but they are more pronounced in this new batch.
I haven't done a formal analysis of the high type for this crop yet. I've been pretty baked since harvest (oh so much hash... ), but as soon as the harvest is finalized, I'll do a formal test, ie take notes instead of smoking whatever sounds good that day, of course, with some hash on top.
My initial impression is that each strain's high profile is about the same as last time, though. The AK is a real strong body high, couch lock, type of high. While I certainly enjoy that, I also like the more mental highs that allow me to still get things done (other than eating). It's the big yielder though. Although maybe not by much this time. Blueberry might beat it, but I won't know for another day or so after I can crunch my numbers. Hopefully my analysis doesn't make me regret the menu for the next run, but it's set in motion now.
The contrast to the AK48's high is one of the things I really like about the TGA, but they didn't yield as well as the AK48 in either run. It's a real nice high though. I've found that it does a good job of making back pain less bothersome without putting me on the couch, so I can still get out and mow the lawn or whatever. In the first round, her buds looked fine. They were, in general, smaller than the others, and this time they were much smaller and fox tailed badly. I'm sure it's just the environment I provided them, but that's the environment I have, so for now, I'm going with the strains that perform best for ME.
The Bubba Kush is probably the lowest yielder, but her buds are gorgeous. Nice dense frosty nugs that harvest real easy. She's not a bad yielder, she just doesn't grow as aggressively in veg. I took HUGE clones of her to try and help her yield. The others I will do more topping and training, as I think this strain does not really respond to it as well.
The Blueberry high is a lot like the TGA, but perhaps a little more balanced. She yield as well as all the other strains, except maybe the AK48. You can certainly still get stuff done on her, but pain will certainly go away. This high also feels more 'happy' to me, ie a stronger euphoric effect. She's beautiful too. I'm going to try and get some good bud shots when I weigh everything this week, but the old P&S camera I found has went MIA again.
I'll do my best with the cell phone.
I'm not growing the Critical this next round either. This plant is about in the middle of yield. She does make nice looking buds! She is always the first to swell, but doesn't really finish earlier (based on trich color) than the other strains. At 4-5 weeks of flower, this strain WILL be every visitors', and growers', favorite plants. The smoke however is only OK. While they have different terpene profiles, the Critical and AK-48 give me the same impression of a rather flat smoke. Again, this plant may not have been cured well. All strains dry at different rates, so perhaps I didn't cure this strain as well. Either way, I chose not to run this strain again. While she looks great during the grow, the AK-48 yields more and looks as good, or better. The Critical does have one interesting characteristic. 2 of the plants in this grow turned very dark purple. What I'm unable to explain is why it was only these 2 plants. They were side by side, but there were other clones of this same mother. I did sample a small bit of it. It smokes the same as the prior harvest of this strain. While the purple color is certainly interesting, I'm not sure I can reproduce it reliably, and there is little else to recommend it. Like the TGA mothers, I'm not culling this one yet. I may try her again in the future, but honestly it's unlikely. She has one last strike against her, she has hermied both times.
Lastly, I'm not growing the White Widow anymore. I haven't culled the mother yet, but I'm considering it! She makes huge buds, but they are also prone to rot if a leaf dies inside a big bud. She also hermies real bad. I've not found any seeds during the trim, so I may have caught them in time. This plant did it last time too without causing seeds. I don't think the male flowers had opened yet. She also never lived up to her name in regards to crystal production. ALL of the other strains look much frostier. I considered doing some breeding with her, but her tendency to hermie will likely see her end up in the compost pile.
I don't consider this really a smoke report. After I finish the formalized study I mentioned above, I can post some of those on that forum as well. This is more of a grow report if you will.
If anyone is still reading after all that rambling...
should I start a new journal or continue this one? Does anyone care?
I'm inclined to just keep this one going. I still haven't settled on A mother, but I never will. I'm not sure what I will do yet. This journal isn't done yet. I will still post some final weights