Your recommendations; My results - Nirvana & Mandala

[InvisibleEmpire]

So i've upgraded to a much larger setup after (almost) completing 3 successful grows under a 400 watter. Bumped up to 2kw, but the biggest dilemma i'm facing is what strains to run.

I do not have the funds to have an elaborate setup with clones, mothers, veg areas, etc. I have 1 tent and 1 tent only, so I have to go from seed (for now). After 1 or 2 successful grows I can then start cloning and then obviously my concerns will dissipate..

I've grown out only nirvana's white widow and white rhino. I've had a 50-50 ratio, if not higher, of males/females. First round was 4 males, 4 females, second round the same. Third round I decided to change it up a bit..

Ran:

4 WW/WR
2 Nirvana Bubbelicious
2 Mandala Hashberry

8 total. Now...from the start I can say that the temps at 'nite' time are a bit low, nothing crazy as I have had 3 successful grows prior. Both Bubbelicious and both hashberries turned male. Out of the 4 white widow / white rhinos, 3 females 1 male.

Now...is this just poor genetics, luck of the draw, or what?

I did notice that in my seed pack (from Gypsy @ SeedBoutique) 2 of my bubbelicious were smashed. This left me with 8, and the remaining 8 didn't look all that great as far as visuals (color, size, etc.)

I have a bunch of Nirvana and Mandala (saved me money) I'm about to run under the 2kw, including 8 miles high, hashberry, bubbelicious, ice, citral...i'm going to do my best to keep temps where they should be as i can control that now...but i hope to god i didn't get the 100% male ratio as before (from the bub & hashberry)

Anyone have experience running these strains? I've seen both complaints and successful logs of both strains, but seriously...are there "known" issues with these?

Also, can anyone recommend me a cash cropper strain with good genetics that will (most likely) provide a 50/50 ratio of females/males? I hear Serious Chronic is a good one, but they're also very expensive. I don't mind spending the money IF I had the ability to clone...but I can't right now. I REALLY want to run ChemD/SourDiesel, but clearly that is also a strain you run when you can clone if you want to run it more than once.

Thanks.

 

[burningfire]

it's really just luck of the draw.. 100% out of 2, 2 isn't a big enough sample size, you just got unlucky...

 

[HempAlchemist]

sry to hear about all the males, but its just bad luck.
I ran nirvana's ice a few years back and really wished i saved a clone. that was very nice smoke. very soft berry notes and a hint of gasoline in the smell and taste. very heady with a good amount of body on the high
good luck
HA

 

[ibjamming]

It happens...I've popped 10 and gotten 8 girls...I've also gotten 8 males...it's a random mix...it happens.

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

Grow fems. Much/most of the negativity is doo-doo

 

[Iron_Lion]

i've had good luck with fem seeds. last year I ran a few nirvana strains they were all pretty much junk, so many options available these days I wouldnt even bother with that shit.

Female Seeds are pretty good, a friend of mine loves their iced grapefruit and always gets 100% females and some good quality buds.

The only real gripe I've had with fem seeds is that up until recently there wasnt many connoisseur strains available. thats all changed, so many really good fem options available from S1's of elite clones to feminized F1 hybrids.

 

[InvisibleEmpire]

Thanks for the input, will keep Female seeds Grapefruit in mind...80 bucks a pack compared to the rest being 50, seems like they know how to price the good strains...lol

Off 4 females under a 400 watter my first time i got 8 ounces of quality white rhino/white widow...second run 8.5oz, third run 9 ounces.

I enjoyed the high, but very mellow and narcotic. Nothing "insane"...

Nirvana gets a lot of praise because of their low price and decent strains, if you are expecting a mind-blower from $25 a pack seeds then of course you'll give it a negative review..


1.) Female Seeds - Grapefruit

What else can I add to my purchase list for a high that will surprise most smokers but also yield good?

On a side note i will run some Sativas, but they will be strictly for personal use due to lower yields. Toss in some suggestions also if you have em.

 

[Noobian]

Have you been vegging them under HPS lights? If you are that's why you keep getting all those males, you need to veg under MH or daylight CFL's to get a good m/f ratio. The red spectrum is very likely causing your seedlings to turn male instead of female in greater numbers. I don't know why that happens but it definitely will affect how the seedlings express their sex. Another thing is to keep your temps down, if you're having really high temps in veg you're going to have a higher percentage of males show. Again I don't know the science behind it but it has played out pretty much like that in my (admittedly limited) experience. Last point is don't listen to people saying Nirvana seeds are crap, they're not top tier, but you will get at least one plant out of the pack that you can be proud of I'm sure.

 

[HempAlchemist]

i just finished up a run with nirvana's Black Jack (female seeds) and that has been some of my best smoke to date! although its said to be a mostly sativa strain, there are a lot of indica influences. just want to let you know that there are some really nice beans from nirvana, you just might need to pick thru a few to find it

 

[FunkBomb]

I've been growing Mandala strains for the past few years and love it. You save so much money because they don't require lots of fertilizers like other strains. I think people underestimate the power of true land race genetics.

I've also grown a few different lines from Nirvana. You have to watch out for the keepers because you'll get a lot of not so goods as well. Their White Widow and Rhino are great, as well as Northern Lights. If you do find a keeper do yourself a favor and clone the shit out of it. You will be happy you did down the road.

A friend of mine has mentioned over and over how good CH9's fem seeds are. I'll be growing them out this winter and I'm looking forward to it.

-Funk

 

[Junkhead]

Bubblicious sucks

Bubblicious sucks

I grew out bubblicious a couple months ago. I can say I was pretty well dissapointed. I got 4 fems out of ten. None were that vigorous at all, and the potency was average to low, with an extremely dull high. One of my females was exceptionally crystal covered. But it was weak and tasted like I had rolled the nugs in dirt. It seriously tasted like dirt. The other tastes I remember were hay and one that was the slightest bit sweet like skunk1.

 

[InvisibleEmpire]

This account may be new, but I am not I was around during the OG days...

And no, I didn't veg under HPS. I use CMH for veg and first week of flower then I switch to HPS.

One thing is for certain...there is no way to just outright say that a specific strain is crap unless there are multiple reports from various growers indicating the same thing...for example...

Greenhouse seeds...many have bought them over the years and recently many are saying that quality control has dropped tremendously and that germ rates are horrible while quality of the plant itself is also horrid unless you are one of the lucky ones to get a vigorous, healthy grower...which seems to be rare. When you have multiple people chiming in saying the same exact things about the same seed company...it makes you THINK, at the very least..

The strains I have left:

- Mandala HB
- Mandala 8 Miles High
- Mandala Kalichakra
- Mandala Safari Mix (5) freebies
- Nirvana Ice
- Nirvana Citral
- Nirvana Aurora Indica
- Nirvana Bubbelicious (4 left)

My next grow(s) will be the following until i can make some more money back to pay off the debts incurred getting such a setup initiated:

- Homebox L, 400 watt CMH for veg/400 watt HPS for flowering, air-cooled/carbon filter etc

- GrowLab 145L, 2 x 400w CMH for veg/2 x 1000w HPS for flowering, air-cooled/carbon filter etc

In each setup, based on recommendations and viewing other grows in such setups 3-4 females work out best in the Homebox L in 5 gal's, and most are saying 10 or 12 females in the GrowLab 145L is prime (5gals).

This means that given a 50/50 ratio, I need to start 8 seeds under the 400 and 20 under the 2 x 400's. To compensate, I may run 22 or 24 under the 2 x 400's incase I get too many males or a runt here or there. Worst case is I have too many females...LOL, then who knows what i'll do. I'm doing it this way as it's what I can afford and provides the most secrecy and security (tents). The Homebox L will be my personal smoke while the GrowLab will be for other reasons.

Based on what I'm hearing I might just get rid of the last 4 bubbelicious.

1 x 400: 2 x Ice, 2 x Citral, 2 x Kalichakra, 2 x 8 miles high

2 x 1000: 8 x Ice, 4 x Aurora Indica, 4 x Citral, 2 x HB, 2 x Kalichakra


This should hopefully provide me enough of a mix...and hopefully with temps 100% controlled (hopefully) my male/female ration will be better.

On a side note, as a new grower (started last year, 3 successful grows) I have had 100% germination with simply soaking the seeds in a cup of water until they sink, planting them 1/4th to a 1/2 inch deep in wet medium (normally a mix of FFOF & canna coco) and just keeping the lights on a normal cycle of 18/6 while keeping the top layer of dirt moist. They pop and start within a week usually. I might throw in a safari mix seed or two also, idk 100% yet.

 

[bigAl25]

Ok here's my deal. Ran 2 female bubblelicious, 2 female AK48s from Nirvana and 2 strawberry bubba kush from OG, guess who they will remove the rest of his name. Veg under MH, flower under HPS and MH at the same time. All the strains ended up with high quality smoke. Like them all and not at all disappointed with Nirvana fems, nor OGs great smoke. Organic soil with 800 watts in veg and flower. Nirvana's fems are reasonable and with only one room, I only grow fems. Good luck, and I like my bubblelicious smoke. Topped and fim the plants for more bud sites.

 

[jm420]

Have you been vegging them under HPS lights? If you are that's why you keep getting all those males, you need to veg under MH or daylight CFL's to get a good m/f ratio. The red spectrum is very likely causing your seedlings to turn male instead of female in greater numbers."
B/S

 

[ibjamming]

Have you been vegging them under HPS lights? If you are that's why you keep getting all those males, you need to veg under MH or daylight CFL's to get a good m/f ratio. The red spectrum is very likely causing your seedlings to turn male instead of female in greater numbers."
B/S

In my limited experience...it's more random than anything else. I've had batches that come out 50/50, some 80/20, and others 20/80...all under basically the same conditions.

My last grow was about 80/20 the first run and 20/80 the second...everything was equal. I really think it's random...but I'm no expert.

 

[Phedrosbenny]

I have Nirvana White Rhino that I have cloned and keep a cut around that came from fem seeds.I have never had a problem with it.I have had it for about a year or more.I love it.

I have heard that their Bubilicious is junk though.Never ran it.

I think I have noticed that high temps can maybe be the problem when I have what seems to be more males than usual.

 

[someotherguy]

you will always be limited by your ratio's until you
learn to clone, that is the only way to fully benefit
from mj cultivation, until then, you can't save any
'keepers' so you're stuck popping seeds every grow.

thats not to say popping seeds is a bad thing as i pop
a few myself, lol, but i also have 15 mothers too so
nothing goes into the flower box unless it is a known
female. (i sex my seedlings elsewhere, lol)

anyway, cloning doesn't require any elaborate set-up,
here you see a cloner sitting on a milk crate with a
single CFL below generating heat and a few CFL's up
top for light, no big whoop. (near 100% success)



anyway, good luck, believe me, cloning isn't as hard
as they say and it's very rewarding once you master it.

peace, SOG

btw, have you considered learning how to make your
own feminized beans with coloidal silver! that way
you'd have an unlimited supply of femmed beans at
your disposal. (if you need the link, let me know)