GROW DIARY: Kalichakra and Satori from Mandala, Tribal Vision from Afropips

Hello all my ICMag pals,

Having grown mostly indica dominant strains, I've decided to go for some sativa-leaning ones: Satori and Kalichakra from Mandala seeds, and Tribal Vision from Afropips. I'm fed up being semi-paralysed after a joint, plus I'd like to avoid the heavy, brain-damaged indica hangover in the mornings.

I went for the Mandala ones because I really like the care the seem to put into their seeds and detailed advice they give about growing their plants on this forum.

I also wanted an African sativa 'cause that's the stuff that used to be sold where I am a few years ago and I love the high. Tribal Vision wasn't my first choice from Afropips, but seedboutique was out of the strain I ordered so I went with it in the end.

Here's the advertising blurb for each one:

SATORI
Type: sativa-indica
Contains land race genetics from: Nepal
Cultivation: indoor/outdoor
Flowering time: 65-70 days/October
Yield: 550-600 gr/m2 (dry weight)
High: a clear, cerebral high and strong potency sets in quickly; it supports concentration & creativity; very inspiring and stimulating. Ideal for writers, artists, musicians, or other creative people.
Potency: 9-10/10; long-lasting; no nervous side-effects (racy heart,etc.); suitable for regular med users.
Aroma: fruity-citrus, pungent.
Medical Use: Satori shows her therapeutic potential in relieving depression and anxiety; this strain can ease sleep disorders from auto-immune diseases and Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS).

KALICHAKRA
Type: sativa-indica
Contains land race genetics from: South India / S.E.Asia
Cultivation: indoor/outdoor
Light: 400 W/m2
Flowering time: 63-68 days/October
Yield: 500-550 gr/m2 (dry weight)
High: a potent sativa high with an energizing body effect; sensual and stimulating. Good for active recreation, but heavy indulgance can lead to a temporary state of being blissed-out.
Potency: 8-9/10; long-lasting; suitable for regular med users.
Aroma (dry): fruity-floral; earthy; incense
Medical Use: Kalichakra shows her therapeutic potential in helping against depression and may assist with alleviating some types of moderate pain.

TRIBAL VISION
Tribal Vision is a multihybrid based on the extremely psychoactive Malberry line. Sweetened with the candied Sweet Tooth 3, Grapefruit line & combined with a Congo Nepalese. An Exotic Blend of Swirling Highs. A Fast flowering Beauty with Delicious fruity sweet smooth Malberry Congolese taste. Buds can exhibit lovely mauve hues. Finishes within 75 days of 12/12 indoors. Outdoors in N' Hemisphere it finishes around the end of October. Fast & easy to grow with very good mould resistance 10 seeds

I planted three Satoris and Kalichakras and two Tribal Visions tonight. Details to follow...

My set up is as follows:

I've a small grow chamber used for the early part of the vegetative phase and mothers, with four 50 watt (allegedly - so it said in the shop) cfls and a small fan blowing on the plants.

My flowering chamber features a 250w HPS in a C22-style cabinet, to use the American parlance.

I grow in soil.

Temps in the two fluctuate between 80 and 90 degrees.

In accordance with the instructions on mandalaseeds.com I put the seeds straight into the soil without any pre treatments. They're all in 10cm pots in a ready mixed seedling mix which has plenty of perlite and I've used before with good results.

Usually I'd soak the seeds for 24 hours and then use the paper towel method, but Mandala specifically advises against this. I'm apprehensive, but hopefully the seeds will germ. I did the same with the Afropips seeds too. Incidentally the seeds for all three strains have really big, healthy looking striped seeds.

I moistened the soil with tap water which was brought down from a pH of 8 to 6.8 using dry pH down. I know a lot of people advise against using dry pH down but I've nothing else around.

Then I put the pots in the veg chamber where temperatures are around 85 degrees. I'll water them with bottled mineral water tomorrow.

Photos below. The other plants in the veg chamber are two rather sickly oens, a White Rhino from Nirvana and a Black Domina from Serious Seeds.

Any advice/comments welcome!

After days of worrying and swearing about this new germinating method I'd tried, nine out of ten seeds have popped through the soil! Only one of the Satoris has yet to make it. The Tribal Visions were the first to appear.

That's a better success rate than the paper towel method I'd always used previously. I'd always manage to let the paper dry out or damage a tap root transferring to soil. This was no hassle at all with this method, I just kept the soil moist and the temperature in my veg room at around 30c, which it usually is anyway [Mandala recommends at least 25c for germination].

So not much happening at the moment but all good so far. More updates later...

The first pic shows my veg room with the new babies alongside a Nirvana White Rhino and a Black Domina. The second is a rather boring shot of one of the new Tribal Visions.

Anthony

Very nice looking setup you've got going. I think you will be happy with the Mandala strains. I've only grown the Sadhu and Hashberry and they were both spectacular. Best of luck throughout your grow


-Funk

Thanks very much. The final Satori appeared in the last couple of hours.

I am very excited about the Mandala strains alright. I was going to put this diary on the Mandala forum but reckoned it might be better to put it on the main forum so 'non-Mandala' folks could check it out too. I also have Sadhu but am staying away from Indicas for a while.

Incidentally, I recently cracked a major problem with my setup, one I just didn't think of. I was having major problems with all the strains I was growing. They were weak, yellowing, not growing. I had tried loads of things to no avail - new soil, new bulb, lowering/raising the fert doses. No real joy.

Then I went away for a few weeks and had somebody else water the plants and they did so with just pure tap water - no nutes. Miraculously the plants took off. Turned into monsters. I was at a loss as to what had gone right, seeing as nothing else in the setup had changed.

Coincidentally I stumbled on a thread here about how manufacturers don't put best before dates on their nutrient bottles and it clicked... I had my nutes for two years plus. Biobizz grow and bloom. I now presume both had gone off and I was 'poisoning' my plants every time I used my ferts.

Right, a little over a week since they popped and things are motoring along nicely. Apart from one Kalichakra however. I let it dry out a little too much and it responded by dying.

The Tribal Visions are still in the lead:



The Satori in second, who have done very little wrong:



Third is Kalichakra. One died as described above, another had weird yellow discoloration on its first set of serrated leaves, and another has minor leaf gnarls. Hopefully they will straighten themselves out:



A shot of them all together:



I'm still just watering them with pH adjusted tap water. I'll probably transplant them in about a week and maybe start giving them a mild dose of ferts.

hey man-- very nice. your plants look healthy and happy. I am very interested in the tribal vision-- so keep it up bro...

Should be interesting. Why does the Tribal Vision catch your eye?

I'm not 100 per cent sure what to expect from it. I imagine it's a sativa/indica mix, maybe 50/50? It's certainly vigorous so far. Keep an eye on here and I'll post regular updates and hopefully get a female.

I am a hog for new strains and I might plant another seed to make up for the Kalichakra - out of blind greed, seeing as I have pretty limited grow space. I have Malawi Gold and Swazi Red but I might grow them together in my next grow, which leaves Power Plant feminised from DP or one of the other three.

I'll be watching those mandala's go, grabbing my seat.

B/R

16 days since the seeds popped.

The Tribal Visions and Kalichakra are growing nicely, but two of the Satoris are having problems, one more than the other. Both the Satoris in question had warped leaves which are now beginning to yellow around the edges. The very points of the leaves in question are pointing downwards and going a rusty yellow colour.

I'm going to do a bit of research now to see what the story is, and maybe post a few pics in the sick plants forum.

I'm going to transplant them all later today. Still just watering them with pH adjusted water, but I soon might give them a very low dose of Dr Hornby's Iguana Juice to see how they respond.

Now for some pictures.

Tribal Vision:



Satori:



Kalichakra:



And the unhealthy Satori:

Some of my other plants also are beginning to show yellowed tips.

The good gentlemen over at the sickbay have (after a bit of a fight!) diagnosed an excess of calcium and magnesium in my grow medium due to a combination of the soil , the tap water and the dry pH down I am using.

I've now given the plants a hardcore flush and am going to buy a new pH down, and I might change soil too.

Full info on the diagnosis here: http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=82032

nice start!!
i c some burnt tips, bit too much nutes... no biggie.
i got some white satin and satori i cant wait to see your come through!

KALICHACKRA DREAMS

KALICHACKRA DREAMS

I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS GROW. AS SOON AS I CAN GET SOME PRIVACY-NO REALTORS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO A KALICHAKRA,TRUE BLUEBERRY AND A BLUE OAXACAN GROW. ABOUT 4 OF EACH I SUPPOSE. BEST OF LUCK. THANKS FOR TALKING ABOUT GROW PROBLEMS THAT HELPS ALOT OF PEOPLE. LOL

Thanks very much guys. Going to transplant shortly once I have the burned tips problem sorted out and will have an update then. Cheers for stopping by

Just a quick update - I've misplaced my camera so no pix unfortunately.

I had excessive micro-nutrients in my soil which was causing me problems (EDIT - for the full details see the link to the sick plants forum above). I quit adding dry PH down to my water and changed soil to Biobizz light mix and the plants have recovered nicely.

I've transplanted to slightly bigger plants and the plants are starting to show different characteristics:

Tribal Vision:
Both fairly similar - vigorous growth, beautiful sativa-style leaves and tight internode spacing.

Kalichakra:
Two different types showing already - one taller plant with relatively long spaces between nodes and thin, sativa-style leaves, the other more squat with fatter, indica-style leaves.

Satori:
Suffered the most with the soil problems so a little behind the other two strains. The three are fairly uniform at the moment - low and squat with broad leaves.

More info later when I find my camera


Anthony Blunt

anthony blunt

anthony blunt

the tribal vision, have you ever grown this before? what is the smoke like? i did'nt go back and read your posts maybe you already answered this. but then i can read an old issue of skunk or weed world and it's still kinda new to me. lol!!!

Day 23 update

The damage done earlier has fucked up the bottom leaves pretty badly but the new growth is mostly fine.

I've already started topping the plants because my veg room is pretty small and I want to sex them as soon as possible so I can dump the males. I'm then going to LST them. I'll have to veg them entirely under my fluorescents because the 250watt is flowering a White Rhino and a Black Domina.

I'm still just watering them with tap water but I reckon next time round they'll get some Dr Hornby's Iguana Juice grow.

Veg room on day 23:


Tribal Visions. Lower leafs quite badly affected by soil problem:


Kalichakras. The more sativa leaning pheno on the right has been topped:


Satoris:


And the clone of the Kalichakra:

the tribal vision, have you ever grown this before? what is the smoke like?

Click to expand...

Farmerlion - never grown it before and I haven't seen many grow diaries and reports on it around here. She's been nice and easy so far. Seeds still fairly easily available on seedbay.com and drchronic.com

ANTHONYBLUNT

ANTHONYBLUNT

THANKS ANTHONY, I HAD'NT HEARD OF IT BEFORE. THE NAME TO ME INDICATES IT MIGHT BE SOME BADASS SMOKE. I WILL ENJOY FOLLOWING THIS THREAD ..LOL!

Yes hopefully I will get some females and even one with the 'mauve hues' that the breeder's description mentions