*Apollo11 by Bros. Grimm* Pics and Questions

[KolorBlind]

Hi everyone!

A little while back I grew a decent amount (9-12 plants at once) of Diesel Ryder and I decided to throw in a few Apollo11 beans since I had them. I knew nothing about Apollo11, and wasnt even paying much attention to it due to the fast growth rate of the Diesel Ryder.

Once the Diesel Ryders were finished, the Apollo11 was getting close and was about 36" tall. I smoked some cured DR and like it a LOT!! I then finished the Apollo11, which was an AMAZING looking plant (will get to pics very soon) and without even a day of curing, the high was phenomenal!! I cured it for MAYBE a week and it was by far the best MJ I have EVER smoked, and I say that with 100% confidence and truth.

Unfortunately, I planted 6 A11, 1 died, 4 males and 1 female. They were all grown under a 150w HPS from day 0 to day 30, then put into a fridge with a 70w HPS, 175w MH and 4 68w CFLs on 12/12. It got to about 26" tall and the top bud was so fat I had to prop it up towrads the end of flowering.

The day before I chopped her she leaned over into one of the football sized 68w CFLs and one small part of the top bud got fried as seen in the 3rd picture. I have kicked myself in the ass MANY MANY times for not pollinating or revegging and cloning this baby, for I miss her so! Here she is in all her pride and glory, and believe me when I say, the pictures just dont do her justice!! Keep in mind that the primary source of light for flowering was a measly 68w CFL placed 1" above the plant. I had 4 other plants in the fridge hogging all the HID and the other 3 CFL lights.


The dayI chopped her, measured at 26" from base to the top of the top bud.

Closeup shot of some of the side buds. Pretty amazing considering the extremely low amount of light it was given.

Last but not least, the top bud. Note the one burned spot from resting on a CFL for about 6 hours This bud was just beautiful, looked like dozens of little tulips crammed together to form one MASSIVELY dense bud. Oh and the little blurry spot was my lens, not mold

I yeilded just over 1oz dry, and smoked it all before I could remember to take pics of the harvested bud It was the highlight of mine and many of my friends' summer for sure. People still ask me all the time if I can get anymore of the Apollo (no one knew I grew it, because Im smart like that haha).


I am looking for anyone who has kept an A11 mom and grew from clones to give me and advice as that is what I am getting ready to do. I am germinating my last 16 beans right now, and I have a 250w HPS I will be putting in my closet. I will have a mom/clone chamber just above it with all the proper ventilation going through the attic and out the roof.

Here are some of the things in specefic that I am looking for help with:

-What to look for in a mom
-Should I pollinate this mom for seeds or use another good looking female?
-Best way to grow (SOG/ScrOG/etc.) in a 43x17x59 (LxWxH in Inches) space
-Best time to start flowering (my mom/clone chamber will only be approx 21" tall)


Also, if anyone has any experiences and ESPECIALLY pictures of their A11 grows, I would LOVE to see them. The strain I am growing is the original Apollo11 from Bros. Grimm ordered a couple years ago from an unknown website. 22 were originally gifted to me.

Im looking forward to any and all feedback, even if its just to share your love of the strain as I know it is a favorite for many! Thanks in advance!!


Peace
KB

 

[4 Dragons]

Never smoked Apollo 11 by itself but I have had it crossed to C99 and I have also grown and smoked and made a cross of Genius.
Take a couple of cuts from each plant and label them corresponding to the mother you took them from. You could either flower out the cuts or the mothers and see which you like the best. If you want to make seeds, keep the strongest male with the best structure and have at it.
Good luck, 4D

 

[KolorBlind]

Never smoked Apollo 11 by itself but I have had it crossed to C99 and I have also grown and smoked and made a cross of Genius.
Take a couple of cuts from each plant and label them corresponding to the mother you took them from. You could either flower out the cuts or the mothers and see which you like the best. If you want to make seeds, keep the strongest male with the best structure and have at it.
Good luck, 4D

Thanks for the quick feedback Dragons!

One question about the pollinating though. Should I ever pollinate my mother that I plan on cloning from? Or should I just take a cut from her to pollinate? I just don't wanna ruin a good mom in any way shape of form, and I am brand new to cloning.

Thanks!
KB

 

[ArcticBlast]

i hear its a bad idea to seed the mother and then take clones from her... but that shouldn't stop you from pollinating one of her clones!

ArcticBlast

 

[inthelight]

Polinate a cuts only!

Polinate a cuts only!

I wouldnt even risk that on the mom you want to keep long term. Only pollinate her cuts. Also I would probably guess some sort of training being SCROG or LST would be beneficial It almost ALWAYS is the best way to increase yield. good luck. A 11 sounds amazing.

 

[KolorBlind]

Thanks guys! Very helpful indeed!

As far as pollinating a cut goes, I am still unable to find the exact info Im looking for on the male plant, Ive been looking all night haha! Out of the 16 seeds Im starting, I will pick a healthy male for the pollinating.

My only worry is that by the time the cutting is ready to be pollinated my male will be an old fart. Will this matter? If I keep him in a separate cab in a separate room the whole time on 12/12 will he just keep popping out pollen?

If that is the case, then that works great for me, as I have a minifridge with a 150W HPS in it that I was planning to use for the "Sex Cab" That way I could just put the cutting in there as soon as its nice & rooted and let nature do the rest.

My biggest fear is that I will have to collect the pollen, and then accidentally spoil it or something and be out of luck. I have read up on collecting and saving pollen, but it all sounds a bit dodgy to me, and easy to spoil. but if its what I gotta do, then Ill do the best I can for sure!

Thanks again!
KB

 

[4 Dragons]

You can keep clones of males too! Take cuts of ALL your plants, make sure they are rooted, as soon as the males in flower show themselves identify the strongest and healthiest then get rid of them pronto or you will seed your whole crop. When your grow has gone by and you now have cuts of your desired male and female plants put them both into flower and let mother nature take her course.
Good luck, 4D

 

[KolorBlind]

Oh my GOD Dragon you are a GENIUS!! I consider myself a fairly intelligent person and in the back of my head I KNEW that males were cloneable, but I just never thought about it for some reason. That is why I love this site so much!

That is exactly what I will do, I will clone the male at the exact same time I clone the female. That way I can let them grow together and pull him out when I think the job is done.

Again, thanks for getting the gears turning for me Dragon, best bit of advice in a while! +rep for sure bro!!

KB

 

[juncko67]

You can also just pollinate a bud or a branch of your keeper mom if you are very careful, just collect your pollen and paint it on the desired bud/branch with a paintbrush. Just make sure to shut off all fans and any other ventilation equipment so that there is no air movement in your growroom so that the pollen only gets on the buds you want it on.

 

[cork144]

lucky boy, very lovely looking girl there,


id hit up all the storng males and females from the 16, remove any weaklings

 

[blizz]

i also enjoy spice brothers a-11 ran like 3 or 4 pack found a stud of a male an used him in a few projects i'm workin on good luck on ur project sendin positive karma ur way

 

[4 Dragons]

Glad to help!

 

[Catharsis]

Those are amazing! Great work!

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

great job on the a-11. one of my favorite strain of all time

 

[Charlie_Citrine]

That doesn't look too much like A11 to me in terms of growth, but you say it's Bros. Grimm (and I'm not knocking ya!). (EDIT: You did say it was Spice Bros., in the picks...Bros Grimm will knock it's socks off, IMO!) Should be way branchier naturally (without topping), but that's just opinion based on running it in one form or another for 6+ years. It's my favorite and most understood strain. They always branch out and are very hard to keep in that single stature you're showing...I've tried!
Extraordinarily nice high...from pensive to outrageous, clearly an up high and social...

That said...

As far as pollinating a cut goes, I am still unable to find the exact info Im looking for on the male plant, Ive been looking all night haha! Out of the 16 seeds Im starting, I will pick a healthy male for the pollinating.

My opinion is that you should find a few males and open pollinate. You don't want to bottleneck genes, you want the full range of expression. If you're running that many seeds, my opinion is to pick the best few females and pollinate with at least 3 or 4 males as a cocktail. Mix the pollen you collect and put it on the female buds after they've been flowering for a few (4) weeks.

A11 runs the gamut from Genius to Cinderella (as those are its parentage), and there's very rarely a mutant in there...they're usually very uniform in style, slightly different in smoke and effect, but growth is quite even overall. I've grown Ray Davie's concoction (the best so far), a friend's Genius x C99 and now Bros. Grimm stuff. All pretty much the same, with the exception being the vigor of the f1's from the Grimm's (though Ray Davie's was as vigorous).

So...You want a few males to open pollinate to keep as much of the mass of genetic material in the mix. If you pick a male without knowing exactly what you're looking for, you're closing the window on what your progeny will and can produce; it's only as good as its parents. The more male genes in the mix, the more opportunity for a wonderful f2 crop.

This runs into this situation here...

My only worry is that by the time the cutting is ready to be pollinated my male will be an old fart. Will this matter? If I keep him in a separate cab in a separate room the whole time on 12/12 will he just keep popping out pollen?

It shouldn't matter. If it autoflowers, it's telling you it's inappropriate as a parent donor. Any male(s) that keep their stuff in their pants - as it were - in vegetative state, may be what you want to add to the mix. You don't really want autoflowering in your genes.

-What to look for in a mom

Solid, quick growth with many bud sites. As I stated before, you don't see a tremendous amount of variation in this realm so it comes down to smoke.
I have a #2 and a #1 selection (my numbering from my pack) and the 2 is a more thoughtful, background high. Smoke it anywhere, anytime and function with a nice buzz in the background to function, think and so on.
#1 is more heavy in the head, a bit trippier but not outrageous. Very social.
I had a #6 that was clearly Cindy-laden and it made my heart POUND so I got rid of her.
I have a #8 that grew in a more sativa-dominant style - taller, sparser bud sites but nuggeted up real nice, and it's akin to the #1 in smoke...

You find what high you like...And when it comes to A11, I'd recommend at least 2 moms to keep...there's some real nice, if subtle, variation in terms of smoke.

The plants will grow quickly, feed well, and be ready as early as 49 days, but will reward with some body to it in the 60's...

-Should I pollinate this mom for seeds or use another good looking female?

Take a cut and pollinate separately, IMO. Keep the mom and bonsai her, IMO. A11 does REALLY well with bonsai training and keeping.
If you take a few cuts and root them (take your time, rooting isn't hard but it's also not always easy, I'm with ya on that) and then pollinate them as suggested with a bunch of good looking males, you'll have seeds to play with forever and never a dull moment. I promise ya!

-Best way to grow (SOG/ScrOG/etc.) in a 43x17x59 (LxWxH in Inches) space

IMO, SCRoG. That's supposed to be a branchy mofo, so you should be able to produce multiple, easily trimmable delicious bud sites.

-Best time to start flowering (my mom/clone chamber will only be approx 21" tall)

If you SCRoG properly, it won't matter timewise. They are hearty plants.
If it's a mom from an f1 pack of original Bros. Grimm, it's HEARTY and will reward you.

Good luck, enjoy. Some of the finest smoke out there, IMO.
I love other stuff for variation, but A11 ALWAYS fills my jars and keeps me going. Almost 7 years now and never getting tired of it.

These shots were a friend's f2's of A11...

 

[Charlie_Citrine]

Now the Bros. Grimm
Start of flowering, then 30 days in

 

[Charlie_Citrine]

Finishing pics @ 49 (not trying to take your thread, will only let me upload 4 at a time!)
These are just the #1 and #2 I mentioned, I have more.

I showed the SOG attempt on #1 I did...it worked, but it was hard to keep the branching down!

Happy holidaze!

 

[KolorBlind]

Wow Charlie....just wow.

I cant imagine a more thorough response to my questions. I know exactly what you mean when you say it doesnt grow like an A11. I think the only reason this one did not branch much is because it was flowered under a 68w CFL after vegging under a single 150 HPS.

It had 4 or 5 lower branches, but they were growing out from no more than 4" up the main stalk, after that it was pretty much a straight shot. These were also not the original seeds ordered, but a cross from one of the original males & females. i hear that should be pretty fool proof though.

The person who gifted them to me said they had also grown some Green Giant along with them but was pretty sure there were no Green Giant males, but not certain. He actually referred to them as GG x A11 when I first received them simply because I had never heard of either strain and that way I could look up info on both just in case.

After comparing but shots (not plant growth) I came to the conclusion that the A11 is definitely dominant if not 100% of the gene makeup. But I will have to see how the rest of these 16 grow because I would love to scrog me up some A11 in my closet. I peeked on my beans this morning and 2 were starting to crack open, so here's hoping

Again, thanks for all the info, Im sure I will read it over and over again as I grow, I am looking more forward to this grow than any I have done. I will more than likely start a thread once Im really up & going and Ill post a link here for all who are interested.

I do, however, have one question about scrogging. I assume, for ease of use, that I could attach a screen to the pot or pots themselves to make watering easier. It seems more feasible than one large screen attached to the cab making it impossible to remove the plants till harvest. Have you scrogged much? What method do you use? i was actually suggested a while back to just add enough water to soak the soil but not drain out the bottom, which is much easier than it sounds. Any thoughts?

Peace
KB

 

[Charlie_Citrine]

If it helped any, or inspired (more appropriately, IMO), I'm glad.
It's just fun to grow, and A11 has given me more joy overall to grow than any other, perhaps besides a bubba kush
Hope you enjoy it, and find what you're looking for. I'm not worth much in growing, but I'll definitely talk shop about A11.

I do, however, have one question about scrogging. I assume, for ease of use, that I could attach a screen to the pot or pots themselves to make watering easier. It seems more feasible than one large screen attached to the cab making it impossible to remove the plants till harvest.

That's a great question. Personally, I've seen it done both ways to great effect. If you have a smaller space, more mobile setups (i.e., your one-pot, one screen plan) are probably the way to go. But that's where I stop, I'm just not handy at that stuff, I go for dirt simple dumb. But I have read and seen many good, ingenious setups that make mini-scrog screens to single pots, easily rotated. If you're crafty, go for it. The sky's really the literal limit.

I have SCRoGged a bit, but prefer to do larger bushes now (nothing major) due to sufficient vertical space. I will be doing it again soon in a 4' high cab with 2 x 250 HPS...sometime.
In that case I'll probably put two square recycling tubs, one on each side, and run 2 plants on each side. Maybe something lower profile, but as wide, with some depth...
I'll probably put up some variation of poles off the tubs with screens of chicken wire. I'm sure it'll be ghetto. But it will do the trick.

And if you're doing bigger pots, I prefer to water from the bottom up and top down.
Soak up dryer rootzones from the bottom, they'll drink and drink (it's wild) and then add some saturation up top, with perhaps some slight drain-off.

But I do it all that way and preference 'cause it works for me. Perhaps not for you, so just keep an open mind and read and look at other people's work. I will try to find some links to some ingenious SCRoG setups.

Again, best of luck, enjoy the ride.

 

[KolorBlind]

CC - I love the watering form the bottom up & the top down idea! I assume a tray is required for that? We all know that when the top layer gets crusty and shrinks, water will flow striaght down the sides right out the bottom a little, so bottom up could really save a mess!


I also just realized that I titled this thread "Apollo11 by Spice Brothers" when indeed the seeds I have are the Bros. Grimm strain. I apologize for the mixup, I have just been reading up a lot on A11s and I goofed up the title. Any way I can fix that? lol

Peace
KB