[vcasqui]

Soooo, another season is coming and I'm looking for Sativas to grow here, at 43ºN.

This will be my 3rd grow, 2nd with ACE's gear. Last year I grew:

PCK x Kali China -> A pleasure to grow, but I lost quite a bit of production because of botrytis. The high was good, dreamy and relaxed, not too narcotic for an indica I guess.
Bangi Haze -> I lost one for external reasons. The one that survived was the best plant of the season for me. Clear high with no body. Mold was not a problem for this one. She didn't like my LST.
Malawi -> I had 2; one caught botrytis in a good % of their heads and the other one did not. The main difference between them was the structure and the consistency of the buds. The high is heavier than the BH, but it doesn't have too much body either.

That said, this season I'm looking for something like the BH I had last year, but hopefully I can harvest before November. They will be in the top of a roof, so I need them to be tough. These are the traits I'm looking for:

-Tough against extreme conditions (heat, cold, wind and rain).
-Good against mold
-LST-friendly (I need to control the height)
-Clear high (or at least something that don't make me wanna stay in the couch all day)
-Need them be ready before November.

That translates into a plant that have medium-lenght internodes, medium density/size buds and strong branches to take the LST but flexible enough so they can take the wind. I was thinking about Bangi Haze, that is almost perfect, but ACE don't have them in stock (fem version) and it's a good time to "experiment".

So this is what I came out with: 2xCongo, 1xTikal, 1xPanama.
This season I don't have space, so I will use 3x11L + 1x7L pots. (or 2x11 and 2x7, depending on how I feel).

Maybe the Congo have too dense buds? Will they be ready before November? I was also thinking about Queen Mother, but couldn't gather that much info about her.

What do you think?

Saúdos.

[48N]

congo will be ready before november
the buds are rather dense, i had a bit of mold on both congos i grew
i think the queen mother will finish a lot earlier
i only grew a cross so far called her majesty (queen mother x first lady) which was a really nice clean high with great taste
from my small experience with delicatessen seeds i think is worth to give it a try altough theres not a lot of information about the strains
next year ill probably give queen mother a try
i think its a really well bred strain

have a nice evening!

[vcasqui]

Thanks 48N

I was also thinking about Lilly (Congo x Queen Mother, from Original Delicatessen too), but people say that it is not very strong against mold, and ACE don't have it on stock.

The problem I'll have with the Queen mother might be the height (maybe with the panama I'll have the same problem); with the Tikal might be the harvest time; and with the congo the density of the buds. I would really like to have at least 1 panama and 1 congo; the tikal looks amazing too, but I can't have it all so... what about this?

3x Queen Mother (1-2 x11L and 1-2 x7l pots)
1x Panama / Congo (probably Panama) (1x11L or 1x7L pot)

If I buy Queen Mother seeds from Ace's website I'll have 3 of them this season , because they come in packs of 6. But I'm afraid they will grow too tall (same with Panama), and I'm not sure about the endurance they will have against weather (botrytis is what concerns me the most).

or (if I buy a pack of 3 QM seeds from a growshop)

2x Queen Mother (11l and 7l pots)
1x Congo (11L pot)
1x Panama (11l or 7l pot)

I want to buy all my stuff around next week, but it is so fucking hard to decide xD. I don't know... probably I'll go with 3xQM and another one, just because I can buy them directly from Ace's shop.

If anyone have any recomendation, go ahead

Pd: Nice link you have there 48N. That was an interesting reading.

[Koondense]

Hi vcasqui,
your choices seem quite good for your outdoor.
When I think of candidates on Ace site to be grown at 45°N, I think of BangiHaze, Congo, maybe Zamaldelica(should be able to almost finish in end november), Panama, HerMajesty(O.Delicatessen, got some of those for outdoor) and Caribe(Cannabiogen). Of course others can be better candidates but since you are more focused on the "sativa" side, the options are limited.
I'm trying some Panama x Bangi plants indoors but I imagine on average they wouldn't be very resistent against botrytis or mildew if grown in a damp outdoors setup.

When growing outdoors it mostly depends on season, I'm sure some years people were able to almost finish OriginalHazes here, but some other years even early flowerers struggle to stay healthy. Sometimes it happens on same year and sometimes viceversa.

I would suggest you(if your space and setup is not very limited) to start in smaller pots(5l) and transplant in 15-20l pots in july, meanwhile shaping the plant growth so they don't get too high and you can fill up your space more evenly. Just an idea.

Cheers

[vcasqui]

Originally Posted by Koondense

I would suggest you(if your space and setup is not very limited) to start in smaller pots(5l) and transplant in 15-20l pots in july, meanwhile shaping the plant growth so they don't get too high and you can fill up your space more evenly. Just an idea.

Cheers

Sadly I can't. Last year I grew 2 PCKxKaliChina in 11L pots (same spot. Sprouted around 7th of June), and they reached ~80cm with LST, and my max is about 1m tall. The plan is the same as last year:

Start the seeds in 1'5L pots, then move them to 5L and finally to 11L. Or 1'5>3'25>7L for the 7L ones. Hopefully I can get some light mix soil for the start, and then I'll use Compo Universal+20% coco.

I think i'll go with the 3 Queen Mother + 1 Panama, and maybe I'll use 1 or 2 extra QM seeds to try a guerrilla grow (and idea that just crossed my mind right now).

I did a little bit of research about QM in this forum and people say: Pretty clear high, but more "feel good" and less "do something". Some say that it is a high yielder, and some say it isn't. Apparently the stems/branches are pretty thick and woody (which should be acceptable for LST).

I'm going to keep reading, but I think I'm 70% sure by now.

Thanks.
Saúdos.

[orfeas]

Hola, vcasqui!
When it comes to low profile growing(height wise), late sowing and small pots are the main factors to go by...that's what you practised last year...you might need a little more LST with the strains you've chosen or start a couple of weeks later...vine style is a good idea...

Wish you luck!

Orfeas

[vcasqui]

Hey, Thanks orfeas.

This year I'll indeed try to LST them more, and hopefully better . I'm just wishing they don't give me too much trouble.

I'll probably seed them as soon as the good weather comes, and keep them in the "second step" pots longer. Last season all my strains were a little bit too late (flowering), so I'm thinking that could've been because they were not mature enough to start flowering sooner? I don't know how many weeks of veg from seed a plant needs (they sprouted 7th of june) to be ready to flower when she is supposed to (indirect question xD).

Anyways, let's see how it goes. I'm not even sure about the strains because I'm loving the bangi haze from last year, and maybe I'ts time to "step up" to regular seeds... If only I had more space...

Saúdos!!

[Borderliner]

Originally Posted by vcasqui

Hey, Thanks orfeas.

This year I'll indeed try to LST them more, and hopefully better . I'm just wishing they don't give me too much trouble.

I'll probably seed them as soon as the good weather comes, and keep them in the "second step" pots longer. Last season all my strains were a little bit too late (flowering), so I'm thinking that could've been because they were not mature enough to start flowering sooner? I don't know how many weeks of veg from seed a plant needs (they sprouted 7th of june) to be ready to flower when she is supposed to (indirect question xD).

Anyways, let's see how it goes. I'm not even sure about the strains because I'm loving the bangi haze from last year, and maybe I'ts time to "step up" to regular seeds... If only I had more space...

Saúdos!!

not sure about how many wks of veg. I consider em mature when start alternating side stems off the mainstem alternating nodes.

[vcasqui]

One more question:

Let's say I seed them late May, and they sprout the 1th of June; then I top them when they have 5 nodes and use LST: should they have enough time to recover and grow properly before flowering? That is about 8-9 weeks of vegetative right? And then another 10-11 weeks for the flowers, making the harvest time about late October.

Thanks
Saúdos.

[vcasqui]

Well, a friend just gave me a Pulsar seed (Buddha Seeds I think), so I decided what to grow now:

2x Queen Mother (Sativa, fast, feminized, cheap. I also got the last pack I think)
1x Orient Express (I want to try something from ACE. OE seems like a pretty solid choice.)
1x Pulsar (mainly because it was a gift from a friend, even tho the package looks cheap as fuck...)

I think I'm gonna be growing in 3x11L + 1x7L pots. It may be a little risky because of the QM and the Pulsar, that are suppossed to grow tall; but if I keep them short It should be alright. Anyways, I can adjust and go 2x11L and 2x7L (or just 3x11L...), so I have time to decide.

I also got all my fetilizers and shit. I'll use Plagron Green Sensation and Sugar Royale for flowering. I'll also try enzimes this year to see how it goes. And as always, CalMax from Grotek and Supervit from Hesi.

The weather is not good for the moment. A lot of wind and rain, and the temps are still too low (16ºC max today). So I will wait untill the rain stops. I guess that would be around the last days of May to the ten first days of june (hopefully a little earlier).

And going back to the last question: If the seeds sprout the first week of June: Do you think they will have time to develop properly if I TOP and then LST them? In order to keep them short (I'm asking mainly for the QM and OE).

See you.
Saúdos.