Stunger's Organic Soil Stealth Balcony: Landrace Mulanje & Other Sativas

Congratulations on a fabulous amount of bud off your plants, and the many seeds! I'm interested to see what solutions you will find to the cloche challenge :)
 
Congratulations on a fabulous amount of bud off your plants, and the many seeds! I'm interested to see what solutions you will find to the cloche challenge :)
Thanks Carmen! I am so pleased to get the seeds. Speaking of cloches that would have to be able to handle wind. Today it is gusting 110kph!
 
Plenty of top shelf smoke, and a ton of quality seeds for the future. Nice one.

I'm just imagining a grow room made of cardboard, hanging off the balcony, tied down with bungee cords and duct tape, trying to survive the winter storms and wind :rofl:
 
Plenty of top shelf smoke, and a ton of quality seeds for the future. Nice one.

I'm just imagining a grow room made of cardboard, hanging off the balcony, tied down with bungee cords and duct tape, trying to survive the winter storms and wind :rofl:
Thanks Joe! I didn't scrimp on the screwups, but importantly I did get some great bud and seeds, as well as the experience of growing sativa which flowered a month longer outside than I'd ever had before. It was cool to find out it was doable.

The mental picture of cannabis plants hanging off the balcony in a storm is a bit wild, but I'm glad you can see my concerns! :laugh: But still, it has got me thinking, as it would be great to have some sort of (well secured) cloche approach if it allowed a plant to happily grow over winter.
 
Thanks Joe! I didn't scrimp on the screwups, but importantly I did get some great bud and seeds, as well as the experience of growing sativa which flowered a month longer outside than I'd ever had before. It was cool to find out it was doable.

The mental picture of cannabis plants hanging off the balcony in a storm is a bit wild, but I'm glad you can see my concerns! :laugh: But still, it has got me thinking, as it would be great to have some sort of (well secured) cloche approach if it allowed a plant to happily grow over winter.
If you could turn the balcony into a greenhouse of sorts, secure from the wind and rain, that would be ideal.

Or maybe convince the Mrs you don't need that much room in the bathroom and there's plenty of space for a tent... :rofl:
 
Harvest Update!

Greeting 420 enthusiasts! My apologies for the slowdown of posts. The final Mulanje seedling died after slugs and injury got the others. It looked well aside from a half chewed cotyledon, but I think a lack of water combined with getting 'pot cooked' in some rare sunshine didn't help. And besides, I really couldn't see it working out at this time of the year, but I didn't want to chuck a load of time into it, not outdoors in winter.

Anyway, altho I grew 4 females, my early star girl, the Mulanje, took a bad turn and she was given an early chop. It was bloody unfortunate, she had looked so majestically promising. It was suggested that I may have overdone the top dressing with her, I respect those opinions and they are most probably right. But nagging at the back of my head I feel I may have stuffed up the watering of her (as well), when the summer was starting to heat up I became (in hindsight), too bloody 'splash happy' about the watering. My pots are all heavily drilled out, and as I measured the temperatures coming off the balcony stone tiles at over 50C/122F, the plants would visibly wilt every day. I had given her up to 2 drinks a day, but some hot days, especially after I measured the balcony and I realised how hot it was getting, I gave her even 3 drinks a day. I can't help thinking that may have contributed to her decline even if the top dressing didn't help either. For future grows I will go back to once day unless badly wilting - lesson learnt. Anyway, I trimmed off about 2 oz of the early Mulanje as it was too good to chuck. Even though it is early picked it gives a middle grade high that is still better than a lot of bag weed. I forgot to put that in the picture but it was immature and I didn't count it in the harvest totals.

Harvest numbers

215g Mango Sherbert
151g Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje
141g Honduras/Panama x Purple Honduras
---------------------
507g or 17.9oz
============

Just over a pound, I can't complain about that!

Harvest jarred up

The big jars are 1.5L in volume.


Seed harvest

You can see the Mulanje seeds are definitely not the best looking, I mean they don't look good for germination chances, but I have already sprouted 4 of them so they 'hatch' quite fine.

The 3 others of course are beautifully mature, I didn't count them but must be a few hundred of each.

4 resulting seeds types;

Mango Sherbert x Mulanje (labelled 'MS')
(Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje) x Mulanje
(Honduras/Panama x Purple Honduras) x Mulanje
Mulanje x Mulanje


Still to come is a smoke report of this harvest. So far I have only tried the final Mango Sherbert, and that is only because I chopped her first.

Of the 2 sativas I have only tried the 17-18 week harvested buds and they are very nice, the Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje seems especially fire. So I am quite interested to see what the final harvest at 20 weeks will be like, the nice thing with the Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje is that only half an oz was harvested early, the majority of the plant went the full 20 weeks and is yet to be tested!

Anyway thanks for dropping by, keep well, and may your gardens be blooming! :ganjamon:
Wow what a wonderful harvest brother…. Congratulations on a great summer growing and enjoy the fruits of your labour. The buds look delicious
 
Wow what a wonderful harvest brother…. Congratulations on a great summer growing and enjoy the fruits of your labour. The buds look delicious
Thanks BC, for saving @Stunger 's post within your response, which we all wouldn't have otherwise, since he apparently deleted it after posting, which is of course ok because, while I could read his report sent as a notification by email, but when I went to look here on 420 it wasn't there, as it had been deleted, so you did us all a service and thanks! He has gone silent these past few weeks, so now we can all see why, the photos are the perfect ending to this grow.

@Stunger great harvest report matey! Hope all is well with you!

Emeraldo
 
Congratulations on the super harvest @Stunger! Over an elbow from three plants works for me every time! Very impressive, great work. Great journal as well. As we’ve come to expect from you! Happy 4th!

Edit: my apologies for accidentally tagging Rex. I know who I’m congratulating. Lol. Sorry! Fixed it!
 
Update - Final days - another partial harvest - Hon/Pan - Malawi/Ethiopian x Mal - immature Mulanje seedling

Greetings 420 enthusiasts! We are getting increasingly closer to the sharp end of the grow. I spotted a few small bits of either stem/bud dying off or pest damage that I removed. The majority that I removed has no damage but contains within it small bits of damage so I am using the removal as a partial harvest at around 19.5 weeks of flowering.

The final days of the plants on the balcony


Partial harvest/pest damage removal

I did another round of partial harvesting to include removal of some small bits of pest damage. In total I guess I have lost about 25% of the Hon/Pan to damage, but the actual damage to the Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje has been so small it would probably fit in a matchbox.



Honduras/Panama x Purple Honduras



Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje






Some seeds harvested so far from the Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje



Mulanje seedling growing from an immature 16 day old seed

This is out in the weather, and has already been hit by wind, rain and slugs which have eaten 1 cotyledon as well as the tip of 1 of it's first leaves. The other 3 seedlings look worse for wear, slug eaten and weather beaten and are not likely to make it.

Thanks for dropping by, keep well, and may your gardening efforts be dank and productive! :ganjamon:
@Stunger ,

In the next day or two I'm going to harvest a plant I tried to pollinate and I think I can see a few seeds poking out of their husks so looks like my pollen chucking was at least partially successful.

Since I've never done it before I wondered if you had any tips or tricks to get all the seeds or if I just have to hunt them down bud by bud.

Since you seemed to get a nice haul from your efforts last grow, I figured you'd be the one to ask. :thanks:
 

Ahoy Dear Freind,
Your photograph of heavily droughted Mango Sherbert has solidified my opinion of your gardening prowess.
You have truly become a Cannabis Crafter. :love:
We are gathering data on this end and believe that during drought the plant actually produces a different and yet to be elucidated cannabinoid that might account for the dramatic increase in potency.

Awesome job bro.:hookah:
 
Ahoy Dear Freind,
Your photograph of heavily droughted Mango Sherbert has solidified my opinion of your gardening prowess.
You have truly become a Cannabis Crafter. :love:
We are gathering data on this end and believe that during drought the plant actually produces a different and yet to be elucidated cannabinoid that might account for the dramatic increase in potency.

Awesome job bro.:hookah:
Different and yet to be elucidated? That’s all we get?
:rofl:
 
Thanks BC, for saving @Stunger 's post within your response, which we all wouldn't have otherwise, since he apparently deleted it after posting, which is of course ok because, while I could read his report sent as a notification by email, but when I went to look here on 420 it wasn't there, as it had been deleted, so you did us all a service and thanks! He has gone silent these past few weeks, so now we can all see why, the photos are the perfect ending to this grow.

@Stunger great harvest report matey! Hope all is well with you!
Cheers Emeraldo, As far as I know that post was never deleted, it should still be here. With nothing on the balcony except empty sulking pots there's not a lot to contribute, but I'll post a smoke report before too much longer and then in Spring I'll be kicking off the next grow!
Congratulations on the super harvest @Stunger! Over an elbow from three plants works for me every time! Very impressive, great work. Great journal as well. As we’ve come to expect from you! Happy 4th!

Edit: my apologies for accidentally tagging Rex. I know who I’m congratulating. Lol. Sorry! Fixed it!
Thanks Jon, I am just thankful to be able to fill some jars with some good potent buds.
In the next day or two I'm going to harvest a plant I tried to pollinate and I think I can see a few seeds poking out of their husks so looks like my pollen chucking was at least partially successful.

Since I've never done it before I wondered if you had any tips or tricks to get all the seeds or if I just have to hunt them down bud by bud.

Since you seemed to get a nice haul from your efforts last grow, I figured you'd be the one to ask. :thanks:
Cheers Azi, I have always selectively pollinated where I tie a 'marker' around those stems. I do 'whole plant drying' and when it is done and ready for jarring I go thru the 'marked' stems closely for seeds. As you saw, I got plenty of seeds from where I deliberately pollinated so I didn't bother looking too closely for the occasional seed elsewhere.

On my recent Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje the seeds were beginning to fall from their bracts by 18 weeks of flowering so I removed those stems and left the majority of the plant to go for 20 weeks which worked out nicely and very potently.
Ahoy Dear Freind,
Your photograph of heavily droughted Mango Sherbert has solidified my opinion of your gardening prowess.
You have truly become a Cannabis Crafter. :love:
We are gathering data on this end and believe that during drought the plant actually produces a different and yet to be elucidated cannabinoid that might account for the dramatic increase in potency.

Awesome job bro.:hookah:
Thanks Maritimer! It was a wild and fun ride stressing her like that. I am looking forward to any and all advances in research on how to improve the cannabinoid profiles further. Always good to have the actual experience of trying things out oneself.
 
Cheers Carcass, oh yeah, I wouldn't want a light going on the balcony, even if it was in a light box/wind proof box I'd have no way to get the electricity to it. Nah, I am only considering a glass/plastic box that affords some protection from the cold and weather the winter brings.

Cheers Tim <edit> sorry, I have edited that as my wording could give an unintended message. But here are a couple of droughted Mango Sherbert bud pics, see what you think. :)


:green_heart:
 
Breaking the post drought - the Smoke Report


Greetings 420 Enthusiasts! Today I want to make a post beginning with a smoke report to sum up the 3 strains that I grew this past season, and ending with some comment on the testing of one of the cobs I made last year which is now into it's second year of curing and I felt worth cutting open and having a bit of a 'tester' to see how she's going, the other cobs I have left sealed.

This last grow ended with 3 strains from the original 4 girls that I started with due to the unfortunately demise of the Mulanje. This post is about the Mango Sherbert that was heavily droughted, and 2 Sativa in the form of a Honduras/Panama x Purple Honduras, and a Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje.

The overall quality :thumb::thumb::thumb:
On recent past grows I have been fortunate enough to grow more than I need, so I am very keen to grow quality over quantity, as it gives a better high and lasts longer. At this point I feel very pleased with the quality of this harvest. I would rate the jarred bud of all 3 plants as being top shelf.

Sativa
This is the first time I have grown pure Sativa, altho I would have certainly smoked Sativa in my younger days and over the years, but back then it was never mentioned by strain name, just weed or dak or similar, so I never had an appreciation of weed in terms of species (Indica/Sativa). However, having now grown out 2 Sativa with up to 20 weeks of flowering this past season, I can appreciate how the resulting highs last longer to what I am used to, and that's something I won't complain about.

Energetic or 'In da couch'? :surf::yahoo::goof:
I am not sure if I have ever had an 'in da couch' experience with any strain. Sure, I've had plenty of in the couch times simply because the party happened to be around a couch at the time. But so far in life, I have found all good weed that I've tried, has been enhancing for activities, and all 3 of these strains in my experience work very nicely with actively doing things.

Declaration of usage
Before growing my own weed, I always had 'dry' periods when no weed was about, and once the drought had broken then the experience of the high/stone was often really good (i.e. if you managed to score a bag of good 'shit', otherwise a total disappointment). However, nowadays I indulge daily and all year round, usually by having several vap caps over the day. And every evening about an hour or two before sleeping I chomp into some decarbed bud, and with a bit of magnesium I sleep soundly the whole night through. I am saying all this because in my experience the main thing I want, is for the bud quality to be able to 'do the job', and the buds of these plants do. I think if someone only smokes once in a blue moon then any good bud is probably going to be a treat. These 3 strains have produced top class bud, I think some infrequent smokers might find them a bit too much.

Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje - Sativa


I'll cut to the chase here. This one is my favourite. All 3 do a great job, but I like the high of this strain. It is powerful, embracing, and lasts for hours, it is like there is a nice euphoria generator just purring over inside you circulating pleasantness all the way to your finger tips.

It has a distinct piney slightly limey fragrance, it is a little bit sharp but in a lovely beckoning way much like a lemon tart might be at treat time. Her buds smell very appealing, so much so I want to keep my nose in them. Her colas were long, thin and aerated, but absolutely loaded with sparkling trichomes, I thought her 'glitter' was the most picturesque of the 3 plants. As much as I like big fat colas, the thinner colas of this plant may have helped avoid the budrot tendencies of the other 2, I feel this strain adapted really well to my location and environment - a keeper!

Another exciting thing about this strain, was it's resilience and indifference to pests. Very little troubled it, and it went 20 weeks flowering! As I grow outside with limited direct sunlight and a long way south of Africa, it was amazing that this plant took all the 100+kph winds and rain that blasted the balcony, and yet she was seemingly unperturbed by it all. I am very interested to see how the seeds turn out that I made from her with the Mulanje pollen from the male I grew this year. I intend to try the seeds out this coming grow season, but these seeds will be 75% Mulanje and I have no idea what genetic expression will result. If I find that I prefer the original I grew this year, which is 50% Malawi/Ethiopian and 50% Mulanje then I still have some seeds left of those and I would grow them out the following year.

Honduras/Panama x Purple Honduras - Sativa


This is also very nice, euphoric, a soft lifting high that also lasts a wee bit longer than the hybrid strains I am familiar with. This plant grew big 'baseball bat' colas but unfortunately it was a pest and budrot magnet in all the wild weather that nature threw at the balcony. I finally chopped her at about 18 weeks of flowering, but by that stage I had already lost a lot to rot and pest damage. Viewing this practically, I probably won't grow this strain again in the near term, as for my 'balcony' environment it seems a bit too damage/pest prone for me to do it justice.

Mango Sherbert- Hybrid


I also grew this strain by the Humboldt Seed Company on my grow the previous year. It does have a slightly fruity fragrance but not particularly evident as being 'mango like' as I imagined, it also has a very slight fuel tone to her scent too. HSC rates her THC at 24% - 28%.

She was probably my favourite strain the previous year, with the Godfather OG a close second. She gives a great relaxing euphoric high, which when I compare to this year's sativas the Mango Sherbert has a bit more 'body stone' to her that perhaps adds a slight 'muddiness' to the effect compared to the sativas, and I feel the sativas high lasts a little longer. As a strain she is certainly a looker, buds laden with sticky trichomes.

The Mango Sherbert I grew this year as I have already previously noted in my journal was heavily droughted. I applied repeated cycles of 'droughting' over a 25 day period which in my opinion resulted in additional trichome production and must have resulted in some changes (hopefully benefits). I am not under any pain as such so I have been unable to determine what pain benefit there is from it. A couple of years ago I developed Shingles which was very unpleasant and for what it is worth I didn't find relief from any of the cannabis strains I had at the time.

However, the 'strength' of the Mango Sherbert is such that it too deserves to be on the top shelf.

Reviewing a Mango Sherbert cob after a year of curing

After last year's grow I used a bunch of these buds, squashing and fermenting into Mango Sherbert cobs.





Mango Sherbert Cob after curing for over a year





Last year using just over half my harvest, I made 12oz of buds into cobs. For those unfamiliar with the practice of making cobs, I'd recommend checking out this 420 thread based on Tangwena's style of cob making.
it has discussion and inputs from many others. A big shout out and thanks to @tangwena, for sharing his experience and knowledge gained from years of living in Africa and experiencing the qualities of real well made cobs.

A few days ago I cut open one of last year's vac-sealed Mango Sherbert cobs to test it out. It has it's own funky cob smell that hints of it's promise. I had previously smoked cob, as well as vaping it, but to be honest it is a little bit challenging to do so that way because of it's sticky 'clumpy' nature, altho I imagine it would be great added to a joint for a turbo effect! This time I simply cut off a fine slice and chewed it. Somewhere around 0.1g - 0.2g. After over a year of curing the cob, it is even more aged looking in a good way. Chewing it is a little bit like chewing plasticine, but the high it gave worked very well and lasted for several hours. It is really quite amazing that the bud hasn't been decarbed as such and yet after fermenting/curing it delivers a high as if it has. Tangwena has mentioned how he prefers chewing cobs rather than smoking or vaping to avoid the unwanted impact on the lungs. When you're young with young lungs, you can of course go hell for leather with smoking, but I'm feel for me that I am better off now with either vaping or edibles so I am really encouraged by quality of the high from this cob testing, and too, the increased length of time of the high that the consumption of it brings.

Next grow I will look to grow out some of the (Malawi/Ethiopian x Mulanje) x Mulanje seeds and hopefully all going well I will make some cobs of it which should be exceptional. For anyone interested, I did an overview of cob making in my last journal here. And here is a link to a pictorial of my cob making in my previous journal last year.

Thanks for dropping by, wishing you all well and I hope your gardens are blooming.
:ganjamon:
 
Well written, and very interesting, Stunger!
Thank you for the update, and it's great to see you!
 
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