Please help me pick strains for sub-tropical climate at 16°N

Maria Sanchez said:

Yeah, it's the damn humidity that's the killer.
My plants usually handle temps up to 37C okay, if I they get enough water.
But constant super high RH... that's the problem a cultivar needs to be able to deal with.

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Hola, te saludo desde México central, te recomiendo cultivar sativas de preferencia sembrar a finales de la temporada de lluvias entre nov y septiembre, de manera que le llegará la floración en invierno, de ahí más o menos podrás cosechar máximo hasta principios de marzo, antes de que los días vuelvan a alargarse.

Si cultivas indicas o híbridos de predominancia indica, en estás latitudes nunca alcanzarán su verdadero potencial, debido al fotoperiodo, en ese caso te recomiendo armarte un pequeño indoor o complemento lumínico para darles un vegetativo adecuado y poniendolas a florecer en exterior (evitando los momentos álgidos de la temporada de lluvias que en definitiva no van a resistir.

Eso obviamente en mi zona si andas en lugares más cercanos al ecuador, en mi región la temporada de lluvias dura más o menos de junio a octubre -nov

OntologicalTurn said:

Hola, te saludo desde México central, te recomiendo cultivar sativas de preferencia sembrar a finales de la temporada de lluvias entre nov y septiembre, de manera que le llegará la floración en invierno, de ahí más o menos podrás cosechar máximo hasta principios de marzo, antes de que los días vuelvan a alargarse.

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¡Hola!
Gracias por la respuesta. Mi español es terrible, así que usaré el traductor de Google, jaja. Estoy en una latitud similar al centro de México. Nuestra temporada de lluvias es de principios de julio / finales de agosto a octubre. Creo que intentaré plantar fuera en algún momento entonces.

Si cultivas indicas o híbridos de predominancia indica, en estás latitudes nunca alcanzarán su verdadero potencial, debido al fotoperiodo, en ese caso te recomiendo armarte un pequeño indoor o complemento lumínico para darles un vegetativo adecuado y poniendolas a florecer en exterior (evitando los momentos álgidos de la temporada de lluvias que en definitiva no van a resistir.

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He cultivado algunas plantas índica dominantes aquí, pero incluso las autoflorecientes rápidas no pueden vencer el molde.

Eso obviamente en mi zona si andas en lugares más cercanos al ecuador, en mi región la temporada de lluvias dura más o menos de junio a octubre -nov

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¡¡Gracias!!

Maria Sanchez said:

¡Hola!
Gracias por la respuesta. Mi español es terrible, así que usaré el traductor de Google, jaja. Estoy en una latitud similar al centro de México. Nuestra temporada de lluvias es de principios de julio / finales de agosto a octubre. Creo que intentaré plantar fuera en algún momento entonces.



He cultivado algunas plantas índica dominantes aquí, pero incluso las autoflorecientes rápidas no pueden vencer el molde.



¡¡Gracias!!

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Sorry, from your username and latitude I assumed you could speak Spanish.
What is important is to prevent your plants from flowering in the rainy season, and take into account the almost permanent light conditions of 12/12 with a variation of more or less one hour around the year, which are not enough for a vegetative in indica plants. but if you have access to artificial light you can use them to give them the growth you want and only take them out to flower outdoors, in this way you can be harvesting almost every month (avoiding the rainy season).
I also recommend using a preventative treatment against mold such as trichoderma and bacilus subtilis

OntologicalTurn said:

Sorry, from your username and latitude I assumed you could speak Spanish.
What is important is to prevent your plants from flowering in the rainy season, and take into account the almost permanent light conditions of 12/12 with a variation of more or less one hour around the year, which are not enough for a vegetative in indica plants. but if you have access to artificial light you can use them to give them the growth you want and only take them out to flower outdoors, in this way you can be harvesting almost every month (avoiding the rainy season).
I also recommend using a preventative treatment against mold such as trichoderma and bacilus subtilis

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Hola,

No problem. Yeah, that's not my real name. Unfortunately in this climate of anti-herbal fascism we are often forced to remain anonymous on the 'net. I'm in a War on Drugs state so can't be too careful.

Point taken. The indicas just flower so soon here. I did a few Mandala Safaris a few years back and they showed sex at about 3-4 weeks old and 15 cm tall. Nice smoke, but so tiny! All because of the natural light cycle. Was doing a lot of autos at the time, as they veg away for 3-5 weeks irrespective of the light cycle, and had some success. But, even the hybrid sativa-indica autos would get mold hit in the conditions (I was up in the mountains, in the clouds and fog all the time).

So thought I'd move to some straight sativas, that don't care about the light cycle too much, will do their veg in their own time, and have open flower structure that doesn't trap the water and mold. Had a nice La Buena Hierba 'Thai Gold' (Thai X Guerilla Gold), sativa-dominant, that did very well like this. Want to try more. Looking at pictures it seems Thai / Laos / Cambodian and Indian / Nepalese / Burmese type strains have the most open flower structures and look less like they'd get mold in constant wet conditions.

Can't do artificial light at home. Too risky here, as a plant in your house is a sentence of God knows how many years. I don't have a 'dry season', just a 'not extremely-wet season'. There's always rain and humidity. More than most of Thailand and India in my experience. So I figure my driest time of the year, then count back the flowering times of the cultivars I want to grow out, but then I need to know how long from planting out to start of flower, to know when to plant out. I started another thread on it here:

@OntologicalTurn -- If you have any thoughts on this, or any cultivars that you know are good for tropical / sub-tropical light cycles and very humid / wet climates, please do share with me! How wet is it in central Mexico where you are? Are you in the jungle? What do you grow there? Local? Michoacan? Jalisco? Point me to your outdoor grow journals please!

Hi @Maria Sanchez beside sativa strains suitable for your climate/location.
What kind of sativa genetics would you like to experience (effects, terpenes, potency, etc ...) ?

dubi said:

Hi @Maria Sanchez beside sativa strains suitable for your climate/location.
What kind of sativa genetics would you like to experience (effects, terpenes, potency, etc ...) ?

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Most important thing is resistance to very high humidity and rains.
I don't want too long flowering period as don't want huge plants (stealth).
I like the sativa uplifting high rather than the indica narcotic stone.
Needs some potency but doesn't have to be crazy potent.
For flavors, I like lemon citrus, fruity, creamy, incense, cedar / pine types, most things actually, not so important.

I have spoken to someone at ACE via email a while ago.
They suggested the following, in order of my preference, but will prob just get 2-4 cultivars:

Golden Tiger:
https://www.aceseeds.org/en/brands/ace-seeds/golden-tiger-feminized-seeds.html
Zamaldelica:
https://www.aceseeds.org/en/brands/ace-seeds/zamaldelica-feminized-seeds.html
Bangi Haze:
https://www.aceseeds.org/en/brands/ace-seeds/bangi-haze-feminized-seeds.html
Tropical mix:
https://www.aceseeds.org/en/sales/tropical-mix-regular-cheap-seeds.html
Thai A5 Haze
https://www.aceseeds.org/en/strains/feminized/thai-a5-haze-feminized-seeds.html
Panama x Bangi Haze:
https://www.aceseeds.org/en/brands/ace-seeds/panama-bangi-haze-feminized-seeds.html
Congo:
https://www.aceseeds.org/en/brands/ace-seeds/congo-feminized-seeds.html
Honduras x Panama:
https://www.aceseeds.org/en/brands/ace-seeds/hondurasxpanama-feminized-seeds.html
Thai Chi:
https://www.aceseeds.org/en/thai-chi-feminized-seeds.html
Super Panama Haze:
https://www.aceseeds.org/en/brands/ace-seeds/super-panama-haze-feminized-seeds.html
Zenith:
https://www.aceseeds.org/en/brands/ace-seeds/zenith-feminized-seeds.html

Thinking of some regs and some fems, making a big range of crosses with whatever does best in my climate. Then using those for future generations.

Thanks for your time!

Maria Sanchez said:

Hola,

No problem. Yeah, that's not my real name. Unfortunately in this climate of anti-herbal fascism we are often forced to remain anonymous on the 'net. I'm in a War on Drugs state so can't be too careful.

Point taken. The indicas just flower so soon here. I did a few Mandala Safaris a few years back and they showed sex at about 3-4 weeks old and 15 cm tall. Nice smoke, but so tiny! All because of the natural light cycle. Was doing a lot of autos at the time, as they veg away for 3-5 weeks irrespective of the light cycle, and had some success. But, even the hybrid sativa-indica autos would get mold hit in the conditions (I was up in the mountains, in the clouds and fog all the time).

So thought I'd move to some straight sativas, that don't care about the light cycle too much, will do their veg in their own time, and have open flower structure that doesn't trap the water and mold. Had a nice La Buena Hierba 'Thai Gold' (Thai X Guerilla Gold), sativa-dominant, that did very well like this. Want to try more. Looking at pictures it seems Thai / Laos / Cambodian and Indian / Nepalese / Burmese type strains have the most open flower structures and look less like they'd get mold in constant wet conditions.

Can't do artificial light at home. Too risky here, as a plant in your house is a sentence of God knows how many years. I don't have a 'dry season', just a 'not extremely-wet season'. There's always rain and humidity. More than most of Thailand and India in my experience. So I figure my driest time of the year, then count back the flowering times of the cultivars I want to grow out, but then I need to know how long from planting out to start of flower, to know when to plant out. I started another thread on it here:

Sativa time to show sex in sub-tropics (or 12/12 from seed)?

Hola growmies, My name is Maria. First thread here on IC but I'm on some other forums, especially the Autoflower net. I'm a new/old grower. Grew mainly indoors in the 90s, but only started again outdoors in 2016. I sometimes do autos, sometimes photos, have experience with both. I want to ask...

www.icmag.com

@OntologicalTurn -- If you have any thoughts on this, or any cultivars that you know are good for tropical / sub-tropical light cycles and very humid / wet climates, please do share with me! How wet is it in central Mexico where you are? Are you in the jungle? What do you grow there? Local? Michoacan? Jalisco? Point me to your outdoor grow journals please!

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Hi María.If you live in the jungle very close to the coast with its very high relative humidity, I recommend that you look for the most aerated varieties. If possible, get seeds grown by someone local (I feel like they are Ticos haha) because they will probably already be adapted to the microclimate. If you use local seeds, look for the cheapest and ugliest brick weed bag, because in my experience they are the ones that have the most possibilities of being more sativas and grown outdoors and although the bag is ugly, well cultivated, they can be true jewels.

I would say that you sow at the end of summer, so that it can take advantage of the vegetative state with at least a little rain. As the winter solstice approaches, flowering will begin, but if you have a sativa sativa it will have a great stretching, and a long pre-flowering period, if the rains reach you in pre-flowering, there is not that much of a problem, but if it falls in advanced flowering, botrytis will arrive anyway, apart from preventatives such as the trichoderma that I mentioned and look for genetics known for their specific resistance to botrytis (here Dubi has some) I would go for the wildest and closest to the equator, since it takes into account that the bench sativas, even the landrace, mostly go through a process of several generations to adapt them to the climate of marked seasons of the northern hemisphere, in many cases losing some of the characteristics that make them better adapted to the tropics (breeders please leave some of your sativas in their wildest, late and recovered versions). erden that a large part of the world population lives in the intertropical zone)

If it is within your possibilities, I recommend building a small greenhouse, but (and this is important) only the roof with plastic, leave it without walls or only with an anti-aphid mesh)

From Dubi in your cloud I would perhaps go for something with oldtimers haze, some of its hybrids with zamal morada, Ethiopia x Mauricio, Thai, Thai x Panama, those are the ones I am going to try this season, just for reasons, looking for something with Low density, long stretching and long flowering.

forget the northern season, think about sowing at the end of summer, beginning of autumn, to harvest at the end of winter, beginning of the following spring, before the equinox

Glad our team already gave you recommendations @Maria Sanchez kindly check in detail the strain descriptions and choose the one more appealing for your taste

dubi said:

Glad our team already gave you recommendations @Maria Sanchez kindly check in detail the strain descriptions and choose the one more appealing for your taste

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I'm a kid in a candy store!

OntologicalTurn said:

Hi María.If you live in the jungle very close to the coast with its very high relative humidity, I recommend that you look for the most aerated varieties. If possible, get seeds grown by someone local (I feel like they are Ticos haha) because they will probably already be adapted to the microclimate. If you use local seeds, look for the cheapest and ugliest brick weed bag, because in my experience they are the ones that have the most possibilities of being more sativas and grown outdoors and although the bag is ugly, well cultivated, they can be true jewels.

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Hi!

I'm definitely looking for those aerated, open, fluffy buds. Trying to see the best pics from whatever the breeder websites can offer. Most places are so proud of their 'hard dense buds', but I don't want any of that! Haha!

No Ticos around here, though. Very, very few local growers, and I don't want to meet them as I'm too recognizable, and there are many paid police informants. (I have history.) Local seeded flower would be great, but it's safer to get some seeds online from Ace, or The Real Seed Company, or places like that. Most local is from elsewhere in the country, with a much better climate than me here, as they have better sunlight and a dry season, though higher temps.

OntologicalTurn said:

I would say that you sow at the end of summer, so that it can take advantage of the vegetative state with at least a little rain. As the winter solstice approaches, flowering will begin, but if you have a sativa sativa it will have a great stretching, and a long pre-flowering period, if the rains reach you in pre-flowering, there is not that much of a problem, but if it falls in advanced flowering, botrytis will arrive anyway, apart from preventatives such as the trichoderma that I mentioned and look for genetics known for their specific resistance to botrytis (here Dubi has some) I would go for the wildest and closest to the equator, since it takes into account that the bench sativas, even the landrace, mostly go through a process of several generations to adapt them to the climate of marked seasons of the northern hemisphere, in many cases losing some of the characteristics that make them better adapted to the tropics (breeders please leave some of your sativas in their wildest, late and recovered versions). erden that a large part of the world population lives in the intertropical zone)

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Yeah, I'm looking at end of the summer rains to start them. I used to start about now, Feb to March, and then mature around June to July when there is a dry spell as the heat kicks in. Aug through to maybe Oct is heaviest rains. I've done Dec to March grows, though, but they were very small. Aiming for maybe Sept-October to February, seems about right.

Definitely looking at a few landraces or landrace heirlooms, not overly worked.

OntologicalTurn said:

If it is within your possibilities, I recommend building a small greenhouse, but (and this is important) only the roof with plastic, leave it without walls or only with an anti-aphid mesh)

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That would be great, but unsuitable here. I need stealth. You don't want to know the penalties for cultivation in these parts, but 'draconian' is no exaggeration. Definitely without walls, though, if you do it, otherwise it's mold-city. I wouldn't even do fine mesh, as it would still impede air-flow. I've almost never had bug problems here, actually. Snail and slug problems on little seedlings, yes, but seldom bugs once they get past seedling stage.

OntologicalTurn said:

From Dubi in your cloud I would perhaps go for something with oldtimers haze, some of its hybrids with zamal morada, Ethiopia x Mauricio, Thai, Thai x Panama, those are the ones I am going to try this season, just for reasons, looking for something with Low density, long stretching and long flowering.

Click to expand...

Almost all the Thai and Thai hybrids have that lovely open structure that the rain just flows through. Maybe the same with Zamal, and I've seen it in a few other landrace and heirloom types, like Lao and Cambodian (like Thai), and several Indian types like the Kerala. Some of the Nepalese types look good too, because they are highland and get big rains and humidity up in the Himalayas, like Dakshinakali, Nanda Devi, Rasoli. Maybe some of the 'Hazes' like OTH would be good too. The Panama and Malawi just look too dense to me, delicious as they are.

OntologicalTurn said:

forget the northern season, think about sowing at the end of summer, beginning of autumn, to harvest at the end of winter, beginning of the following spring, before the equinox

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That's the plan! Spending a lot of time looking at rainfall and climate maps, and reading local monthly and annual climate data for rainfall, temperatures, humidity, sunlight hours, and so on. Research!

Thanks for your thoughts and feedback!